The Children’s Book Review | July 1, 2015
Hot New Releases & Popular Kids Stories
If you love books as much as we do, we know you’ll love our selection of titles that highlights some of the best new kids books; including a never-before-seen picture book by Dr. Seuss and some highly anticipated sequels! This month’s hot new release kids books will keep kiddos reading all through summer.
Publisher’s Synopsis: Everyone in the house is sleeping, but outside, the night world is wide-awake.
It’s a wonderful night to explore!
Perfect for bedtime, this book from Caldecott Medalist Mordicai Gerstein celebrates the secrets of the night world and the joys of the sunrise.
Ages 3-6 | Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | June 16, 2015 | ISBN-13: 978-0316188227
By Dr. Seuss
Publisher’s Synopsis: This never-ever-before-seen picture book by Dr. Seuss about making up one’s mind is the literary equivalent of buried treasure! What happens when a brother and sister visit a pet store to pick a pet? Naturally, they can’t choose just one! The tale captures a classic childhood moment—choosing a pet—and uses it to illuminate a life lesson: that it is hard to make up your mind, but sometimes you just have to do it!
Told in Dr. Seuss’s signature rhyming style, this is a must-have for Seuss fans and book collectors, and a perfect choice for the holidays, birthdays, and happy occasions of all kinds.
An Editor’s Note at the end discusses Dr. Seuss’s pets, his creative process, and the discovery of the manuscript and illustrations for What Pet Should I Get?
Ages 3-7 | Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers | July 28, 2015 | ISBN-13: 978-0553524260
By Daniel Miyares
Publisher’s Synopsis: A boy’s small paper boat—and his large imagination—fill the pages of this wordless picture book, a modern-day classic from the creator of Pardon Me!that includes endpaper instructions for building a boat of your own.
A little boy takes a boat made of newspaper out for a rainy-day adventure. The boy and his boat dance in the downpour and play in the puddles, but when the boy sends his boat floating down a gutter stream, it quickly gets away from him.
So of course the little boy goes on the hunt for his beloved boat—and when the rain lets up, he finds himself on a new adventure altogether.
This seemingly simply story from Daniel Miyares is enriched with incredible depth and texture that transcend words.
Ages 4 – 8 | Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers | June 9, 2015 | ISBN-13: 978-1481415248
Written by Chris Colfer
Publisher’s Synopsis: Fairy tales are just the beginning.
The Masked Man is on the loose in the Land of Stories, and it’s up to Alex and Conner Bailey to stop him…except Alex has been thrown off the Fairy Council, and no one will believe they’re in danger.
With only the help of the ragtag group of Goldilocks, Jack, Red Riding Hood, and Mother Goose and her gander, Lester, the Bailey twins discover the Masked Man’s secret scheme: He possesses a powerful magic potion that turns every book it touches into a portal, and he is recruiting an army of literature’s greatest villains!
So begins a race through the magical Land of Oz, the fantastical world of Neverland, the madness of Wonderland, and beyond. Can Alex and Conner catch up to the Masked Man, or will they be one step behind until it’s too late?
Fairy tales and classic stories collide in the fourth adventure in the bestselling Land of Stories series as the twins travel beyond the kingdoms!
Ages 8-12 | Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | July 7, 2015 | ISBN-13: 978-0316406895
Publisher’s Synopsis: In the stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling School for Good and Evil trilogy, everything old is new again, as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their fairy tale.
Former best friends Sophie and Agatha thought their ending was sealed when they went their separate ways, but their storybook is about to be rewritten—and this time theirs isn’t the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the forces of Good are in deathly peril. Will Agatha and Sophie be able to work together to save them? Will they find their way to being friends again? And will their new ending be the last Ever After they’ve been searching for?
Soman Chainani delivers action, adventure, laughter, romance, and more twists than ever before in this extraordinary end to his epic series.
Ages 8-12 | Publisher: HarperCollins | July 21, 2015 | ISBN-13: 978-0062104953
Publisher’s Synopsis: The New York Times- and USA Today- bestselling series soars to even greater heights with a new prophecy and five new dragonets ready to claim their destiny!
The war is over. The false prophecy has been fulfilled.
But the dragonets still have enemies. A dark evil, buried for centuries, is stirring. And a young NightWing may have had the first true prophecy in generations…
Something is coming to shake the earth
Something is coming to scorch the ground
Jade Mountain will fall beneath thunder and ice
Unless the lost city of night can be found.
Don’t miss the next chapter in the epic, bestselling Wings of Fire series!
Ages 8-12 | Publisher: Scholastic Press | June 30, 2015 | ISBN-13: 978-0545685375
By Robert Beatty
Publisher’s Synopsis: Disney Hyperion presents an exciting new novel for children & adults: a spooky historical mystery-thriller about an unusual girl who lives secretly in the basement of the grand Biltmore Estate.
“Never go into the forest, for there are many dangers there, and they will ensnare your soul.”
Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of Biltmore Estate. There’s plenty to explore in her grand home, but she must take care to never be seen. None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists; she and her pa, the estate’s maintenance man, have lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember. She has learned to sneak and hide.But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows who the culprit is: a terrifying man in a black cloak who stalks Biltmore’s corridors at night. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of the Biltmore’s owners. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak’s true identity before all of the children vanish one by one.Serafina’s hunt leads her into the very forest that she has been taught to fear. There she discovers a forgotten legacy of magic, one that is bound to her own identity. In order to save the children of Biltmore, Serafina must seek the answers that will unlock the puzzle of her past.
Ages 8-12 | Publisher: Disney-Hyperion | June 14, 2015 | ISBN-13: 978-1484709016
Publisher’s Synopsis: Callie Vee, Travis, Granddaddy, and the whole Tate clan are back in this charming follow-up to Newbery Honor-winner The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.
Travis keeps bringing home strays. And Callie has her hands full keeping the wild animals-her brother included-away from her mother’s critical eye. Whether it’s wrangling a rogue armadillo or stray dog, a guileless younger brother or standoffish cousin, the trials and tribulations of Callie Vee will have readers laughing and crying and cheering for this most endearing heroine.
Ages 9-12 | Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. | July 7, 2015 | ISBN-13: 978-0805097443
For more of the best new kids stories and popular books for kids, follow along with our tag for Popular Kids Stories.