Does it feel like spring yet? My books for you this month don’t really have too much to do with spring, but I’m excited to read these great new titles outside! 
Picture Books
“The Baby Who Stayed Awake Forever” by Sandra Salsbury
This book will be all too relatable, for those who’ve been there and those still going through it. A baby is determined to stay awake all night, and employs a variety of strategies to accomplish her goal. Jumping, yelling, climbing, crying, the possibilities are endless! Mama, Papa and Sister do what they can to help, though their increasingly desperate attempts have little effect. Seventeen binkies are tossed in quick succession. Papa’s cuddles are just an opportunity for Baby to explore the inside of his nose and mouth. Will Baby truly stay awake forever?
“Thunderland” by Maggie Edkins Willis
Thunderstorms can be scary. Especially when they rumble and crack and crash all at the same time! The narrator retreats to the cabinet under the kitchen sink, to hide with her dog. Dad finds them and invites them to go to Thunderland with him, which is an impressive blanket fort that he’s constructed right by the big windows. Instead of hiding from the storm, Dad encourages her to play with the storm. They enter into a shouting match with the storm, name it “Nancy” and speculate on where she’s going and where she’s been. They even share their snacks with Nancy, and the narrator is a little sad when the storm passes over, but promises to ready Thunderland for her next visit. I love the way this book deals with a common fear through the example of a patient and compassionate dad.
Chapter Books
“The Peach Thief” by Linda Joan Smith
This is a historical fiction set in 1850 England. Scilla is a 13-year-old orphan fleeing from the workhouse, when she scales a garden wall to attempt to steal a peach. She’s caught, mistaken for a boy, and offered a job scrubbing garden pots to make up for the damage she caused. Scilla—now Seth—eagerly throws herself into life on the estate, and relishes the opportunity to learn about gardening. But she has to keep her identity hidden from everyone around her, which becomes difficult as puberty hits and as she begins to care more and more for the other servants on the estate. Reviews called this “nuanced, richly atmospheric, and exquisitely written.”
“Story Spinners: a Sisterly Tale of Danger, a Princess, and Her Crew of Lady Pirates” by Cassandra Federman
Tying back to our first book, this graphic novel is about two sisters who have to share a room with their baby sister who is not sleeping through the night yet. This understandably makes them all a bit grumpy, and big sisters Kennedy and Devon have a massive fight that results in their devices being taken away. To prove to their parents that they truly can get along and work together, the girls decide to tell their baby sister an epic bedtime story that will put her right to sleep. The problem is that Kennedy and Devon have very different ideas about how the story should go. Each girl’s contributions to the story are illustrated in various colors, which make it easy to follow the hilarious plot, as Princess Danger Sparklepuff leaves her castle seeking true love…but actually ADVENTURE!
