[Saturday Reads] New Titles from Sterling Children’s Books

Fats here.

Every Saturday we hope to share with you our thoughts on reading and books. We thought that it would be good practice to reflect on our reading lives and our thoughts about reading in general. While on occasion, we would feature a few books in keeping with this, there would be a few posts where we will just write about our thoughts on read-alouds, libraries, reading journals, upcoming literary conferences, books that we are excited about, and just book love miscellany in general.

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September seems like a very busy month for me this year. Busy but fun! Speaking of fun, I’m excited to share with you two new picturebooks published by Sterling Children’s Books. One came out the day after Labor Day and the other will be released in three days! We are very grateful to Lauren Tambini at Sterling Publishing for providing us copies of the books! Check out these wonderful titles!

Look At Me!
Wild Animal Show-Offs

Written and illustrated by Jim Arnosky
Published by Sterling Children’s Books
ISBN: 9781454928096
Cover photo provided by Sterling.

From the dust jacket: What’s that showing off? A sockeye salmon? A hummingbird with a ruby throat? A bighorn sheep? You’ll know once you’ve come up close and personal with the animals in this book… Acclaimed naturalist and illustrator Him Arnosky will bring out your inner explorer as he explains why the African bullfrog can inflate its body twice its normal size, how the frilled lizard of Australia raises and spreads its neck skin to form an umbrella-like collar, and why a beaver will suddenly slap its big flat tail on the water’s surface.

A few days ago, Myra featured another juvenile non-fiction book by Jim Arnosky, Monster Hunt. Full disclosure: I have not read any of Jim Arnosky’s books. When I received our copy of Look At Me! and I flipped through the pages, I was so thrilled. I immediately wanted to put his other books on hold!

Look At Me! offers a fantastic guide to animals for young readers. The book is divided into chapters that describe a certain group of animals such as Skin Spreaders, Noise Makers, and Fancy Feathers, to name a few. The book specifically talks about different animal traits and the spectacular ways in which they display the fine creatures that they are. The text in each chapter is short but what I find fascinating are the pencil sketches done by Jim Arnosky. He also used chalk and paints for the other illustrations but the pencil art added a unique and personal touch to the book.

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast:
Mission Defrostable

Written by Josh Funk
Illustrated by Brendan Kearney
Published by Sterling Children’s Books
ISBN: 9781454928119
Cover photo provided by Sterling.

From the dust jacket: Everyone’s about to become frozen food… Someone has put a chill on the fridge that’s hardened Pudding Pond and frozen Yogurt Falls. Agent Asparagus is on the case, and she needs Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast to join her superspy mission to the freezer. But when Asparagus disappears, there’s only one man for Pancake and French Toast to turn to: Baron von Waffle! Will he help them save the fridge, or will they be stopped cold?

When I was searching for books for our current theme on mysteries, I came across the second book in the Pancake and French Toast series: The Case of the Stinky Stench. Although I did not read the first book, I’m guessing all the books in the series feature rhyming verses, which make these perfect for read-aloud storytimes.

Breakfast is one of my favorite things so Josh Funk’s scrumptious book easily found its way to my tummy. (I mean, heart.) Mission Defrostable follows a style similar to the The Case of the Stinky Stench. Readers follow Pancake and French Toast as they make their way to the freezer. This simple story offers a lesson on friendship and teamwork.

Mission Defrostable comes out on September 25th!