(illustration by Rocío Araya)
Calling all picture book-lovers: four new titles have launched on our website! With translations from the Spanish, French, Persian, and Ukrainian, these whimsical titles will be sure to brighten your bookshelf! Pre-order one of these (or all of these!) titles today.
Who Will Make The Snow? by Taras Prokhasko & Marjana Prokhasko, translated from the Ukrainian by Boris Dralyuk and Jennifer Croft. Out on December 12th, 2023.
Twin moles, Purl and Crawly, are born on the first day of spring. The newest members of their woodland world, they’re curious about everything. What is swimming? How do we get better when we’re sick? Do animals live in the sea? Why do grownups eat smelly cheese? What happens when we die? Every day is filled with another adventure as Purl and Crawly explore the peculiar characters that surround them in the forest. Home is always waiting for them, filled with the clacking of father’s typewriter, the sound of mother playing her upright bass, and the smells of quince jam and medicinal moss brews. During their adventures outside the home, they learn that the world is sometimes scarier and stranger than it seemed from the pocket of their father’s coat. Each new encounter leaves Purl and Crawly a little braver and wiser and with a few extra friends. Brilliantly illustrated with scenes of mischief and discovery by Marjana Prokhasko, Who Will Make the Snow? reminds us that the world is always larger and more wonderful than we can see from our own corner of the woods.
Pre-order here!
Meeselphe by Claude Ponti, translated from the French by Alyson Waters and Margot Kerlidou. Out on April 2nd, 2024.
Leaning out of her treehouse window, Meeselphe wonders what it’s like way down on the ground, a place she’s never been – but she’s certain there are many unfamiliar, delightful, and curious things to discover. So she jumps! Landing on the forest floor and striding fearlessly into the wackanana landscape of chocolate rabbits and Penrose quinces beyond, bristly-haired Meeselphe encounters friends and feckless foes. Malivicious monsters stand in her way and nothing is as it seems in this whimsical and sometimes unfriendly world, but Meeselphe isn’t fazed: she has an answer for every riddle and a red paintbrush for every self-conscious ladybug. In the final showdown, scheduled for pages 38 and 39, our bushy-haired heroine makes a triumphant stand against the malivicious monsters. In detailed illustrations and Claude Ponti’s trademark wordplay, cleverly rendered in this inventive translation by Alyson Waters and Margot Kerlidou, young readers will experience the thrill of adventure and the pleasure of coming home again.
Pre-order here!
Head in the Clouds by Rocío Araya, translated from the Spanish by Sarah Moses. Out on September 24th, 2024.
Sofía goes to school every day but she still has a lot of questions. Why are grown-ups always in a rush? What number comes after infinity? Sofía’s teacher says she has her head in the clouds, she’s seeing birds. In collages of graph paper, worksheets, and newsprint, punctuated by scratches of graphite and bold swaths of bright paint, Sofía’s world springs to life. When she gives one of her birds to her teacher, her teacher’s monochrome world of blank paper and gray lines bursts into color, affirming the joy and necessity of always being curious. Inquisitive children, with a supply of questions as limitless as their imagination, will recognize themselves in Sofía, delighting in pondering her questions – and in coming up with more of their own.
Pre-order here!
Amu’s Violets by Hadi Mohammadi and Nooshin Safakhoo, translated from the Persian by Sara Khalili. Out on October 15, 2024
In the land of Winter, queenly Naneh Sarma coats the mountains and valleys in ice and snow and when she is tired she rests in her spiky snow castle. But with no one to talk to, Naneh Sarma gets lonely. In this gentle story based on a household Iranian folktale, Naneh Sarma journeys to the far off land of Spring to seek Amu Nowruz, Spring’s herald, who sows the meadows with the seeds and flowers that fill his enormous knapsack. At the border between Winter and Spring, Naneh Sarma waits patiently for Amu Nowruz but by the time he arrives, she has fallen fast asleep. Gently, in her outstretched hands, Amu Nowruz plants violets.
Pre-order here!
