This beautifully illustrated fictional picture book explores the experience of getting lost in the world around you—only to become more present than ever. A young child awakens, trying to remember a dream, and embarks on a journey through their surroundings, where imagination and reality intertwine. Through poetic language and immersive, dreamlike illustrations, the story captures the magic of everyday moments. A simple puddle on the street transforms into a vast underwater world, like a portal to Atlantis, revealing the wonder hidden in the ordinary. The flowing, surreal artwork enhances this sense of discovery, drawing readers into a world where small details can be extraordinary. A gentle and meditative read, this book invites children to slow down, observe, and embrace mindfulness through the act of truly seeing and feeling what is around them. An absolute joy to read and highly recommended for all children!

Wellwater, Karen Solie’s sixth book, provides thoughtful, occasionally wordy poems that interrogate the housing, environmental, and economic crises of the present. In free-verse, the poems follow something of an emotional narrative, ruminating on malaise before transitioning to a fresher series on nature. Solie brings out lyricism from decay while still underlining its ache and undesirability. Recurring imagery of agricultural practices–economic exploitation of land, at times technical diction of herbicides, GMO seed patents, trademarked chemicals, and several mentions of glyphosate–gives some poems a deliberately analytical feeling. Landlords, rent, and other pains pervade the poems; in “Toronto the Good”, landlords are suddenly able to make apartments habitable only after “renevicting” their longtime tenants. Occasionally, some elements in the poems were left a little too unsaid; for example, “Basement Suite” is about an Airbnb, but the poem’s meaning is more obvious from the back cover than the poem itself. Wellwater would be a good addition to Canadian poetry collections in public libraries.

Sometimes I Eat with My Hands illustrates Feven’s journey as she tries new foods and a variety of eating methods. The final scene shows Feven and her family eating injera together with their hands. Ultimately, this picture book portrays the importance of trying new things and that there are different but equally suitable ways to eat. The colourful images and minimal text make this book suitable for ages 3 to 6. An author’s note at the end provides information about Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine and customs for educators. Sometimes I Eat with My Hands would be a great addition to school and public libraries and can spark discussions about how culture shapes how we view table manners.

As its name suggests, Shadow Price is a collection of poems that explores the hidden cost we attribute to everything, serving as a symbolic nod to the capitalist society we live in. Farah Ghafoor prompts us to question our collective humanity and the blissful ignorance of our actions, as well as their hidden impact on the environment and humankind. With surreal imagery and poignant wording, the reader is confronted with uncomfortable truths that challenge them to reflect on how their everyday actions contribute to larger global issues. Whether referencing the absurdity of the stock exchange, climate change denial, or the irony of self-care product marketing, Ghafoor’s words hold up a mirror to society, asking whether we still have time or if it is already too late. I personally found this collection of poems gut-wrenching, considering our current climate. The complexity of language and thematic symbolism throughout the poems make them perfectly suited for an audience of adults that are interested in social justice, climate change awareness, and environmental advocacy. I believe it would make an excellent addition to any library due to its cultural relevance and the creative way the book addresses these topics.

The Creation of Half-Broken People is a work of literary fiction told from the perspective of an anonymous woman who sees visions of three other women. Entangled with the Good family (descendants of King Solomon’s Mines’ Captain John Good), the anonymous woman travels to Holdengarde castle in Zimbabwe to plan a centennial celebration for the Good Foundation. During her time there, she writes the stories of the misremembered, misbegotten, and forgotten women in her visions. Though not immediately attention grabbing, Ndlovu writes in a simple yet flowing prose that sweeps the reader along in an overall engrossing story that transcends generations. Addresses topics of colonialism, mental illness, and race. For ages 15+.

Benny, who has mosaic Down syndrome, and Salma, who is new to the area, become fast friends on their first day at school together. After a series of thefts, an inspector threatens to close the retirement home where Benny and his mother live and work. Benny and Salma navigate bullies and prejudice at school and spend their evenings trying to figure out who is stealing from the home's residents. Mr. Tom, an eighty-six-year-old resident and Benny’s best friend, helps the sleuths on the sidelines. More than just a nail-biting, page-turning mystery, Benny on the Case is a heartwarming story with the added value of its setting and its main characters navigating treatment as outsiders by their peers. A must-read for all Canadian kids aged 8 to 12, this middle-grade novel begins with a glossary of the Newfoundland terms that figure prominently in the story and adds to its charm.

Weather-obsessed Zeke is very concerned about evolving spring melt conditions that are perfect for a flood. The story follows Zeke over 12 days as he tries to balance unwelcome class play, interactions with classmates he doesn’t like, his fulfilling new “job” as Weather Watcher, and saving the town from the flood. The book has a vibrant cast of characters who are all passionate about different things and contains many well-written sections of factual information about weather conditions, satellites, seasons, etc. The narrative incidents are fun and the illustrations charming. The pages with factual information have a gray background so it’s easy for readers skip the facts and follow the story only or return to the facts if they want. Note that climate change is mentioned several times, which can spark discussion, and temperature is reported in Fahrenheit throughout (with Celsius discussed in a facts section).

The South Wind is the third installment in the Four Winds series but can be read as a standalone novel. This second chance romance follows Princess Sarai of Ammara who is cursed to fall into an endless sleep on her twenty-fifth name day. She hopes an arranged marriage will alter her fate, but an ex-lover’s return complicates everything. Sarai will have to overcome her distrust of the man she once loved if she is to save her kingdom and discover how the mysterious labyrinth on the palace grounds is involved. The South Wind is an exciting read for anyone passionate about romantic storylines that include dark twists and strong-willed female characters who are still able to show vulnerability. The South Wind does contain some sexually explicit content; therefore, it would be better suited for the adult section of a public library.

A young girl comes up with an idea to build something. When she goes outside to her “out-of-the-way workspace”, she notices someone is already there. The girl decides to work with her neighbour as she comes up with a new “magnificent idea”. However, things don’t go to plan, as the neighbour offers suggestions and unsolicited advice to help improve her plan. The two eventually butt heads over their creative differences. However, they soon learn that two heads are better than one and overcome their differences as they learn to work together. This adorably-illustrated picture book can teach young children the value of teamwork, how to handle disagreements, and how to work well with others. The Most Magnificent Team is a perfect addition to school libraries with a Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) collection, for classrooms, and for home.

Tired from always working busily at their pickle pop stand, Sloth and Squirrel decide to go on a vacation to Paradise Park. Excited, Squirrel gets started with lots of fun activities, while Sloth prefers to lounge on his floatie. When Squirrel accidentally pops the floatie, he offers to let Sloth take a nap while he buys him a new one at the gift shop. On the way to the shop, Squirrel is sidetracked by many more fun activities; he decides to try them out to see if Sloth would like them, too. However, Squirrel soon gets tired and realizes he misses Sloth. Meanwhile, Sloth wakes up from his nap and searches for his friend, going through all the activities Squirrel did, all the while missing his friend as well. Will the silly duo finally reunite and realize that, while it’s fun doing your own thing, some activities are more fun with each other. This whimsical picture book with adorable illustrations is perfect for young children, as it sends the message that we can be different and have different preferences, yet still remain friends. It would be a nice addition to any children’s library.

Octavio has a hard time seeing. When he gets his first pair of glasses, they make a world of difference! He can see far away, up close, and things he’s never seen before… Octavio and His Glasses is a standout children’s book and a great read for kids with low vision and as a conversation starter about accessibility. It’s clear care was taken in the design of this book. The contrast between the black charcoal hand-drawn illustrations on a yellow background make the book more accessible to people with low vision. My only critique is that I find the words on the page are a bit small. At one sentence per page, there is plenty of room for larger text. A must-have for every primary classroom and public library.

Agent Binky is no ordinary cat. He is a member of P.U.R.S.T. (Pets of the Universe Ready for Space Travel) tasked with protecting humans from aliens (aka bugs). In this second installment of the series, Binky realizes his favourite stuffy Ted is trapped in outer space (the backyard) and surrounded by Stingbuttus ouchimus (code name: wasp). He and his friends race to their secret lab in the basement to formulate a plan to save him. Based on a TV series, this comical picture book is full of lively and colourful illustrations. Unfortunately, it is quite wordy for the recommended age range and would be better suited for children aged 5 to 8. Nevertheless, No Mousie Left Behind would be great for story time in libraries and at home.

Louisa, freshly out of the foster system, has always loved a famous painting of the sea because of the three almost unnoticeable people painted in the corner. When she meets the artist by chance, he bequeaths the painting to her and Ted–the artist’s friend and one of the figures in the painting–attempts to give Louisa the painting and move on. But Ted cannot shake Louisa as she pushes her way into his life and unravels the story of the friends in the painting and the summer it was created. The narrative moves between the past, where the friends each face personal struggles but find strength in each other, and the present, as Ted and Louisa travel together. Although lengthy in places, Backman captures the intensity of the adolescent experience while also addressing topics of domestic violence, grief, and friendship. Good for a public library collection and young adult readers.

This picture book is told in two layers—a narrative one and a factual one. The narrative layer follows a cloud as it grows, becomes a thundercloud, exhausts itself in a rainstorm, and returns to ground to re-start the water cycle. The factual layer is told by a red bird who speaks in informational sidebars related to the cloud’s activities. The narrative layer uses onomatopoeia and fairly simple language and the factual layer uses more complicated terms like “vapor molecules” and “condense”, so this book either requires an adult to explain or an older independent reader. The book ends with more detailed—but still simplified—information about the water cycle, types of clouds, and the life cycle of a thunderstorm. While the water cycle information isn’t particularly innovative, the cloud types and thunderstorm diagram are more unusual and could help get kids interested in different aspects of meteorology.

Agent Binky is no ordinary cat. He is a member of P.U.R.S.T. (Pets of the Universe Ready for Space Travel) tasked with protecting humans from aliens (aka bugs). While reading one day, Binky notices an Inchalong crawlicus (code name: caterpillar) on the windowsill. Unfazed by these are slow-moving aliens, Binky only presses the alarm once to signify a low-level threat—a One Paw Alert. As the days pass, the caterpillar is still on the windowsill, growing bigger and morphing day by day. Fearful of the “alien’s” power to change, Binky and his team round up in their secret lab (basement) to deal with the alien threat. Derived from a TV series, Bye Bye, Butterfly is rich with playful and colour-rich illustrations. There is quite a lot of text for younger audiences and would be better suited for children aged 5 to 8. This picture book is quite entertaining all the same, and would be a perfect fit for story time.

Beginning with his father’s death as a child, Kostya receives “aftertastes” of meals he’s never had. After accidentally summoning a spirit and meeting Maura, the clairvoyant love interest, Kostya learns that aftertastes are spirits trying to connect with the living and, if he recreates what he tastes, he can bring the spirit back for the duration of the recreated meal. The possibility of bringing his dad back, if only briefly, motivates Kostya as he works his way up through the New York City culinary scene; but, with little knowledge of the paranormal, Kostya unwittingly meddles with affairs in the Afterlife. Rife with food metaphor and description, Aftertaste is a fun paranormal romance read that also thoughtfully addresses grief and demonstrates how food can be a conduit for connection. Recommended for ages 16+.

I Hope You Remember is a collection of poetry that shines a light directly on all of the emotions that we otherwise leave buried deep within us. Josie Balka’s writing captures the gut-wrenching moments of insecurity, hope, and nostalgia that help shape each of our lives. The book is divided into three chapters: loving, longing, and living, a poetic alliteration of three words that, although they feel distinctly different, come together to embody what it means to truly be human. The poems within these chapters tackle lost love, immeasurable beauty standards, friendship, body image, breakups, and what-could-have-beens. As the reader, we are faced with the thought that maybe we aren't as alone as we thought. With clear prose and language I believe this book would appeal to an audience of both adults and young adults who are looking to make sense of what's beneath the surface.

Who Deserves Your Love is a helpful guide in navigating relationships and teaching readers how to create boundaries. The book is divided into three parts and discusses topics such as differentiating between mistreatment and abuse in relationships, how to emotionally regulate and understand what boundaries are, and how they should be used. The illustrations and teal-coloured text help emphasis the book’s content and break down topics into manageable parts, making it easier to read. There is a bibliography at the end of the book with citations and additional resources for each chapter. Who Deserves Your Love is mainly directed towards adults; however, adolescents can greatly benefit from learning about relationships and boundaries, as well. This book would be suitable for both public libraries and high school libraries.

Such a fun twist! The Bigfoot Field Guide to Campers is a guidebook written by Bigfoot to warn other Bigfoots about campers as they come into the forest. However, as Bigfoot spends time with and helps a lost camper, he realizes that campers are not as scary as he thought they were. It is a silly but tender story about misconceptions and the benefits of facing your fears. After Bigfoot spends time with the camper, the guidebook style continues but the illustrations give him away. The guidebook warns against eating campers’ food, but Bigfoot enjoys one of their granola bars. This book would make for a great discussion with children about what it means that Bigfoot is breaking the rules and why. Overall, The Bigfoot Field Guide to Campers is a humorous story with a heartfelt message about challenging your beliefs and making friends.

I found This is How a Ball Rolls to be a delightful experience that is both informative and engaging. Each page spread features a different type of ball, facts about the ball, and vocabulary about its look, movement, and games you can play. Its diverse cast of unique characters and details repeat page to page, making it easy to spend time lingering over the simple and colorful artwork. One of my favourite details of the book is that before you turn the page, there is a little hint about what ball will be discussed on the next page. I can see this especially being a fun guessing game during story time readings! Paired with some real-life versions of the balls featured, there is a lot of potential for memorable and educational reading with this title.