Enchanted Lion – serie

From Marginalian creator Maria Popova and acclaimed illustrator Sarah Jacoby comes this gorgeous picture book about the dark side of the moon, and creative solitude as an antidote to loneliness.A Publishers Weekly Big Indie Children’s Book of Fall 2025! One of Betsy Bird's Top Unconventional Children's Books of 2025! A Politics & Prose Children & Teen Favorite of 2025!Feeling like the loneliest creature on Earth, Re decides to go live in the coziest place on the moon. Re packs a suitcase and takes off on a beam of light, shooting out into the cosmic aloneness of space.Re's aim is to go into the cozy nook that the moon is said to possess. But shortly after arriving, Re makes a surprising discovery: Re is not alone. Indeed, another lonely soul has beaten Re there! And so, Re meets Mi, and while each lives in their own chamber of the nook, these two single souls still become, at times, a kind of togetherness.Each remains alone but less lonely, and now each can watch over the solitude of the other. Moreover, on certain nights, the solitary songs of them both might be heard cadencing the night together, in harmony, across the vast and starry sky.

A boy’s usual routine is shaken up by the sudden appearance of a bear in Out of the Blue, an award-winning Danish picture book from author Rebecca Bach-Lauritsen and illustrator Anna Margrethe Kjærgaard about embracing surprise, adapting to change, and welcoming new friendships.Translated from Danish by Michael Favala GoldmanA 2025 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year!One of Betsy Bird’s Top 15 Translated Children’s Picture Books of 2024! In a house where everything is arranged just so, there lives a boy whose days are filled with peace, quiet, and solitude. Every morning, he wakes up and follows the exact same routine, without fail… until the day something new appears, out of the blue: a bear! In this imaginative and empowering picture book, a meticulous child steps out of his comfort zone of control and opens himself up to unfamiliar and unexpected experiences. Thanks to author Bach-Lauritsen’s poetic text, fluidly translated by Goldman from Danish to English, and the spare, highly communicative, and absorbing illustrations from Kirkus Prize for Young Readers finalist Kjærgaard, this is a sensitive, encouraging story about how embracing change can lead to trust and friendship!

LA photographer Ed Valfre imagines stories from snapshots of ordinary life, inviting readers to discover the magical in the everyday.A cup of coffee with a swirl of cream. Clouds reflected on a tabletop. A shopping cart abandoned on the sidewalk. Photographer Ed Valfre captures these little moments of everyday life in his pictures and subsequently imagines the extraordinary universes, striking feelings, and unexpected narratives each moment might contain. By turns surreal, humorous, and profound, Valfre reveals the magic to be discovered in the everyday with this collection of photographs and accompanying short stories.

A beautiful picture book of cosmic dimensions about the tranquility and happiness that come from no longer feeling alone, by Korean singer-songwriter Lee Juck and award-winning illustrator Lee Jinhee.A 2025 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year!A long, long time ago, in a far, far corner of the universe, there lived a lonely little star. One day, a comet appears—is this finally the star’s chance to make a friend? Inspired by Halley’s Comet, this picture book written by Korean singer-songwriter Lee Juck and illustrated by acclaimed artist Lee Jinhee is about the moments of connection—however brief or rare—that give us the joy and hope to shine bright across the vast universe.

A radiant fusion of evolutionary science, poetic storytelling, and watercolor art, this book offers a profound reminder of our place in the natural world. Perfect for fans of Rachel Carson and Robin Wall Kimmerer, it makes an unforgettable gift for curious minds, nature lovers, and readers of all ages.Interweaving science and storytelling, spirituality and art, a neuroscientist and an artist guide us toward a deeper understanding of how radically interconnected all of life is. The Forgotten Teachers charts the evolution of life on Earth under the mentorship of six teachers: Ocean, Air, Theia (through collision with this planet, Earth was set on its tilt), Sun, Plants, and Symbionts.Ideas from the field of evolutionary biology, accompanied by watercolor illustrations, guide this factual yet mytho-poetic exploration of life. Motivated by their shared concern over the severance of science from the sacred and humans from their place within nature, Isett and Biçen set out to write a scientific wonder story for our times—to enchant readers with the strangeness and beauty of evolutionary biology, while reintegrating us into the natural world.As Rachel Carson did in her time and as Wendell Berry has done as a poet and essayist across the years, Isett writes with precision and urgency to remind us that we participate in a story that is far larger than ourselves, and that to see ourselves more truly would be to see the many ways in which we belong to the molecules and mysteries of the living world.A Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview selection *  Selected for The New Yorker Holiday Gift Guide★ “A luminous and lyrical blend of science, spirituality, and environmental advocacy... Ideal for classroom libraries, environmental studies, or anyone seeking to fall in love with the living world. Highly recommended.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

Written with style and heart by Wolverton Hill and illustrated with whimsical art by Laura Carlin, this love letter to Edward Lear brings him wonderfully to life for young readers. A New York Times Best Children's Book of 2025!A 2026 Bologna Ragazzi Award Amazing Bookshelf Selection!Selected for The New Yorker's Holiday Gift Guide and the Politics & Prose Holiday Book Guide!One of New York Magazine / The Strategist's Best New Books for Kids Published in 2025!A Politics & Prose Children & Teen Favorite of 2025!Awarded a Gold Medal at the Society of Illustrators 68th Annual, Books Category!Edward Lear popularized the limerick as we know it and invented the modern literary genre of nonsense, made famous by Lewis Carroll. But did you know that as a teenager, he was a natural history artist on par with John J. Audubon? He has a memorial in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, placing him among the UK’s most important authors. Yet even still, Lear seems underappreciated. This picture-book biography will change all of that. Not only does it tell of what Lear did, it also shows who he was by conflating the naturalistic and nonsense, as Lear himself did, and by daring to be both fanciful and playful, for the facts of a life alone can never give you the full picture of a person.Lear liked children and children liked Lear, for they shared an innate sense of play and silliness, as well as a tolerance for the absurd and unusual. As Lear understood so well, being silly isn't just about having fun, as a sense of play is foundational to a resilient life. And of course, nonsense as practiced by Lear was a sharp weapon of satire against rigid Victorian conformity. Whether in his keenly observed work as a natural history painter or in his nonsense verse, Lear animated the world through a deep sense of empathy, and it is in this way that author Hill and illustrator Carlin deliver Lear to us. Rich backmatter includes some Lear poems and paintings, a chronology, and notes from the author and illustrator.

In this enchantingly whimsical tale from Italy's great children's author Gianni Rodari, a young onion named Cipollino sets out into the world to study scoundrels, and in so doing, he undoes the tyrannical Prince Lemon, while making a legion of friends along the way.A 2026 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book!One of 100 Scope Notes’s Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books of 2025!One of New York Magazine / The Strategist's Best New Books for Kids Published in 2025! A Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview selection!Cipollino is young, brave, clever, and determined—exactly the kind of valiant hero that’s bound to triumph in fairy tales.In this colorful, episodic adventure story, in which nearly everyone is animal, vegetable, or fruit, Cipollino leaves home and sets off into the world to free his wrongfully imprisoned father. In the process, he faces off against scoundrels of all kinds with wit and humor, while winning both allies and friends.What hangs in the balance is the freedom of an entire kingdom from the ridiculous rules of the all-powerful Prince Lemon and the dignity of each blueberry, string bean, and spider!This is a charming, comic, highly readable work of fiction for readers 9 and up, which also has the distinction of being one of Hayao Miyazaki’s
"50 Favorite Children’s Books" of all time.

An episodic novel that is heir to the Moomin novels of Tove Jansson, The Jamblings of the Kreek is a dramatic, metaphysical adventure story that like all such stories is also a search for homeThe Jamblings of the Kreek is an episodic novel that follows two characters—the Gleb and the Kreek—as the Kreek searches for this seemingly desirable thing called “home.” Over the course of their adventures, the Kreek jambles about the where, why, how, and what of itself and all it is feeling and experiencing.The journey of the Kreek and the Gleb, though it is through a beautiful natural world bursting with life, isn’t without risk, however; quite the contrary, as when the oblivion of the Time Sands and the despair of the Never Again become part of the Kreek and the Gleb’s journey, too.Told in playful, poetic prose that bristles and blooms with the fragrances and textures of the natural world, The Jamblings of the Kreek gives us touching, relatable characters within an enchanted yet shadow-tinged world, much like our own. Large-hearted, inventive, sweet, and wise, this is a story for the ages!

A Marginalian Favorite Book of 2025! • From award-winning author Martine Murray (dubbed Australia’s Kate DiCamillo) and artist Anna Luisa Read comes a timeless and timely tale about the monstrousness of envy, and every creature’s—even a monster’s—need for love.It starts with a whisper in your ear. A prickly feeling that something isn’t quite right. And it builds until a sneaky, possessive thought wriggles into your mind, and an insidious want burrows into your heart.Before you know it, you’re discontent, convinced that you’re owed more than what you’ve got. This is the work of the Wanting Monster.One day, the Wanting Monster arrives in a small village, but no one notices him, despite his antics. Feeling snubbed, he starts sowing discontent and envy of one’s neighbor. So infectious is the wanting and greed awakened by the Wanting Monster that even the stars are plucked, one by one, from the sky.Covetousness and distrust reign. Will the village people ever return to their senses? Will they ever learn that it’s the monster of wanting that’s been poisoning their minds? The Wanting Monster almost triumphs . . . fortunately, he is finally seen for what he is, and this recognition unleashes the purifying force of collective lamentation and a coming together to reroot and rebuild.

From acclaimed Italian artist Alessandro Sanna, an astonishing wordless series of paintings about humans, inhumanity, and war that also contemplates the creative and destructive power of our hands.A Kirkus Reviews Best YA Book of 2025Selected for USBBY’s Outstanding International Books List, 2026A stone falls to the Earth. It picks up speed, rolling down the steep side of a mountain until it comes to rest in an empty plain. But the plain won’t remain empty for long: out of the shadows emerge two figures, who immediately start to grapple, using that very stone as a weapon to kill.But those same hands, our human hands, holding the same weight of stone, also shape and forge, chisel and build, creating as they destroy, rendering beauty and violence alike. What is the relationship of those twin impulses? In these pages, artist Alessandaro Sanna uses the shaping force of his hands to explore the seemingly endless, perversely steadfast human capacity for destruction. Unflinchingly tracing humanity’s long history of war, from the havoc of armies on horseback, to the violence of the conquistadores, to the carnage of the First World War, to the ghastly terror of the atomic bomb, and the cruel, shockingly intentional attack on the Twin Towers, Sanna records our compulsion to destroy. The hands mold clay, streak color across a sky, define a world, give beauty to the eye; and yet fires burn, an acrid smell arises, smoke blots out the sun. For what and why?Includes an introduction from esteemed poet and scholar Ammiel Alcalay, as well as an artist’s note.

This magnificent new title from Icinori starts as a word book of things to be thankful for and turns into a thrilling adventure story along the wayA BookPage Best Picture Book of 2024!A 2025 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year, Outstanding Merit!One of 100 Scope Notes’s Most Astonishingly Unconventional Books of 2024!One of Maria Popova’s Marginalian Favorites of 2024!What starts as a series of “thank yous” addressed to common objects that inhabit our daily lives gradually builds into a fantastic journey across landscapes, seasons, and inner discoveries.Deceptively simple, each page acknowledges the contributions of a different object (spoon, rock, beasts) or concept (summer, slumber, surprise), with each image building on the next to create a dazzling narrative that invites readers to puzzle and play, explore and discover, appreciate and marvel.Aaron Becker’s Journey meets Carter Higgins’s Circle Under Berry in this visual tour de force and invitation to look at the world with new eyes.

This stylish ABC book about books and book-making is a wry, witty compendium, pervaded by a love of books.“A book about books for book lovers of all ages. B Is For Bibliophile is the meta-abecedarium for all the current and future teachers, librarians, writers, and readers in your life.” —Brian Selznick, Caldecott-winning creator of The Invention of Hugo CabretB is for bibliophile.D is for dog-eared.M is for marginalia.V is for verso.In these pages, book lovers of all ages are invited to tour through the ABCs of books, with cartoon protagonist Guy as their guide. Excitingly, the book also works to perform what it shares, giving us a gatefold to define gatefold, a die-cut to exemplify what a die-cut is, and so on. Cleverly conceived and beautifully made, this book is both delightful and edifying—a sheer pleasure to hold in the hand and leaf through. This is a fully illustrated book about books that belongs on the shelves of book lovers both young and old.

In this picture book inspired by the meditations of the Persian poet Rumi, an adventurous frog leaves her familiar pond, goes beyond the rocks, and returns home—changed.From the moment Froggy was born, she’s lived in a familiar world of frogs and fish, surrounded by others who are just like her. But what lies beyond the pond she calls home? Encouraged by her conversations with a wise fish, she decides to take the leap into the unknown.There, she discovers another universe, making friends with creatures she hadn’t known before, as well as some that remind her of home. Time passes, and Froggy learns more than she could ever have imagined. And then one day, just as she once felt the call of the unknown, she hears the call of home—to which she returns, but not quite the same frog as when she left.

From the acclaimed creator of the Chirri & Chirra books, Kaya Doi, comes this absolutely adorable picture book about Tama the cat and her baby sister.Tama has never seen a baby before, so when a newborn comes to her house, she’s in for a big surprise. Babies, as Tama quickly learns, cry and fuss and sleep and sleep—but they also laugh and play and explore, offering the sweetest smiles and the warmest hugs.Before long, Baby starts to crawl and follows Tama everywhere, and the two become the best of sisters and the best of friends. And no matter how much Baby grows—getting bigger and older than the cat herself—she will always be Tama’s baby sister.Written and illustrated by Kaya Doi, Tama and Baby is a playful, heartwarming story about welcoming a new baby into the family—perfect for baby showers, new siblings, and families adjusting to joyful change.

In this charming translated work from Finland, an imaginative child makes a scrapbook of "lasts" instead of "firsts," inviting readers to reflect on what they hold onto and save.Some people collect pens, shells, or stamps. Others collect friends, trips, or world records. This picture book shares one girl’s unusual collection: a collection of lasts. With a feel for the poignant, the bittersweet, and the odd, an observant, emotionally astute child shares the whimsical, eccentric, and touching lasts she has collected, from the last day cold enough for a wool cap, to the last anxious breath before a high dive, to the last person in her class to lose a tooth, to the last piece of chocolate, to the last words of a whole life. Beautifully illustrated in pencil and watercolor, this is an exploration of lasts that might set something new in motion—or might bring finality. There are feelings of fear, sadness, contentment, longing, and happiness here, making for a wistful picture book in which a young girl’s collection of last moments is depicted with a warm touch. Odds and Ends is a collection of memories which invites open discussion of each reader’s personal lasts.

This picture book reissue from 1967, from internationally renowned Japanese Canadian woodcut artist Naoko Matsubara and famed artist and author Fritz Eichenberg, celebrates the island of Nantucket and its varied history, as well as woodcut printing at its best.Twenty-five miles off the coast of Massachusetts, there is a little island that is only four miles wide and 12 miles long, and yet it contains as much history per square mile as can possibly be imagined. From the Native American tribes who first lived on Nantucket and the English settlers who prospered there, to the booming whale industry and the battles of the American Revolution, Nantucket is a special place whose story is told here through a gripping text and striking woodcuts in vivid greens, blues, oranges, and blacks. This is a gorgeously produced picture book that is ripe for rediscovery, from an artist of the highest caliber worth celebrating!

A fun and thoroughly entertaining ode to bedtime books that still promises to leave the little ones heavy lidded and ready for sleep. This delightful picture book starts with a very big—and very relatable—problem: No matter how hard she tries, our protagonist just can’t seem to fall asleep. Could she have skipped a step in her bedtime routine?Just in case, it’s best to do it all over again! So she brushes her teeth, puts on her pajamas, and says good night to Daddy. But no luck—she still can’t get to sleep! So she ventures outside, where she meets a very sleepy bear who shares her same problem. To help him, she runs inside for a book to read him a bedtime story. In the blink of an eye, the bear is snoring away, and the girl suddenly gets it. That’s it! She forgot to have her dad read her a bedtime story. And so, it’s back to the house, back to her dad, back to bed, and finally . . . to sleep! Children and parents alike will love this story that celebrates the magic of bedtime stories.

From Azita Ardakani and acclaimed artist Rebecca Rebouché comes a timeless story about how everything comes to be—and how, in the making of the world, we are made by both stardust and one another.Before there was the world we know, there was only silence and shimmer—a great dark ocean of matter and possibility. Ocean of Stars follows the unfolding of creation: light forming from fire, water gathering from stars, and life arising from their meeting—until the living world begins to know itself through us.Told in lyrical prose and brought to life through Rebecca Rebouché’s breathtaking illustrations, this picture book invites readers into a cosmic meditation on connection: how the stars became water, how water became life, and how all living things are threads in the same luminous web.Part poem and part lullaby, Ocean of Stars offers children and adults alike a gentle way to contemplate existence—how every being, from the smallest seed to the farthest star, carries the memory of creation within. This is a story to be read aloud, wondered over, and kept close for a lifetime.Ocean of Stars may be the biggest, little story ever told.“The luminous prose of Ocean of Stars offers an invitation to remember our fundamental kinship with the natural world. This quiet reflection across space and time lets us see stars everywhere.”--Robin Wall Kimmerer

For more than 2,000 years, the Dead Sea Scrolls were naturally preserved in a jar in a cave in the arid climate of the Judean Desert. The discovery of these parchments by a young Bedouin shepherd is beautifully and moving shared in these gorgeously collaged pages by the award-winning author Lesléa Newman and the equally acclaimed illustrator Vesper Stamper.Based on a true story, this book tells the tale of a young Bedouin shepherd’s discovery of scrolls 2,000 years old. This small yet enormous and astonishing event occurred in 1947, when the shepherd was tending to his flock and a sheep wandered off. Going in search of it, amid the limestone cliffs lining the northwestern rim of the Dead Sea, he came upon a cave. As the story goes, he threw several stones into the cave and was startled to hear the sound of pottery breaking. Upon entering the cave, the shepherd found a group of large clay pots. Some were empty and some held old scrolls blackened with age. The shepherd brought the scrolls to an antiquities dealer, who recognized at once that this was a very special discovery. The shepherd had found the oldest known copies of biblical works written on pieces of parchment and papyrus in ancient Hebrew. These, now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, have given us an unprecedented window into Judaism, the origins of Christianity, and the Old Testament itself, but what stands out in this lyrical account are the durability of what is fragile and how significance can come down to us in the most unanticipated and surprising ways.

A throwback to family reads of yore, this epic follows a troubled boy and a host of hilariously vexed animals who must save a river before it’s dammed, so they can save themselves.Gabriel (“G” for short) is wasting away in the Abiddon County Juvenile Center when he’s introduced to the Shongunk River by his dying uncle. The river valley—trash-heaped but chock-full of mysteries and fish—wins G over. But, as G has learned, good things can’t last. The Shongunk is scheduled to be dammed by a local developer. In a matter of days, it will cease flowing, and all of the talkative creatures who live there in the river valley will be as homeless as G. Just as G decides it’s no time to accept his fate, so too do the animals. To inspire an uprising, a young trout is nominated to make a fateful journey up the river; a raccoon swears a violent oath against humans; and a newly sober buck leads his skittish flock out of harm’s way. Together with G, they show that good can triumph and that there is power in all of us, even the smallest minnow.

From the award-winning author of Layla’s Happiness and a dynamic cut-paper artist making her debut, this fresh, collage-style bedtime story shares the feelings of working parents everywhere, while grounding mother and daughter in deepest love.Mommy and Daddy have an adventurous daughter, Rosa, who is a joy to behold. Both parents work but things are still harmonious more often than not. However, the balances tip when Daddy goes on a business trip, Mommy has had a long day, and Rosa has energy to spare. How will Mommy and Rosa get the rest they both need?Beautifully told and highly relatable, the melodious text from Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie and gorgeous, textured images from Mirlande Jean-Gilles, accomplish what they aim to do: soothingly carry readers into a place of tranquility and rest.

From the author of Noodlephant and an up-and-coming Palestinian artist, this rollicking fable about humans, nature, self-determination . . . and one giant watermelon will take you on a journey of big ideas and song!A vine is growing near Farmer Brown’s ditch. Soon enough, its tendrils reach through Farmer Purple’s pasture, across Francine Cranston’s parlor, around the local school, and all the way to the tippy top of the tallest slide in Franklin Flume’s Water Park. And that’s where a watermelon begins to grow and grow and grow.Soon enough, the townspeople start to argue over who really owns the watermelon. “It eats my compost!” “It sunbathes on my porch!” “It drinks my birdbath!” “Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!” But nobody thinks to ask the watermelon to whom it belongs. Just as the Runaway Gingerbread Man of prior times made clear, and as the townspeople will learn, not everything and everyone can be owned, and what we all share is the deep instinct to grow and live freely.

From one of Spain’s most exciting author-illustrators making her English-language debut, this whimsical illustrated novel has the fantasy of Miyazaki, the imagination of Tove Jansson, the tenderness of Charlotte’s Web, and the magic of E.T.In the middle of the night, three lights fall from the sky. What are they? They don’t look like fireflies. Mole and his earthworm friends are taken by surprise. What are they going to do with these newcomers? In these pages, Maria Ramos tells the story of a little improvised family that grows and changes together—one that will face many challenges to help the three little lights find their true home. Brimming with imagination and tenderness, and offering abundant, whimsical illustrations, this story enlivens the mind, while penetrating straight to the heart.

From the award-winning artist and storyteller Blexbolex, a riveting adventure story in which a young boy visiting his distant uncle due to trouble at home suddenly finds himself involved with the infamous Captain Brett in a world not bound by time or the rules of reality.Twelve-year-old Hieronymus is entrusted by his parents to the care of a whimsical, absent-minded uncle for the summer. Driven by both boredom and fascination to explore the unfamiliar city, he eventually loses his way and is taken prisoner by a crew of outlaw pirates! Now captive on a boat, he is dragged into a chase with the river police much against his will, after which he is brought to the pirates’ underground hideout. Though he is able to escape at a moment of chaos, it is just when Hieronymus thinks that he’s safe and sound again that he falls right back into the clutches of the mysterious and formidable Captain Brett. A story of childhood adventure in which the space for wildness still exists, The Days of Captain Brett might also be seen as a contemplation on the gains and losses of growing up.

A book like no other in its use of die-cuts and frames to capture the moments and memories of a lifeIn this book, the author evokes the pivotal moments of a life. These moments—like decisive leaps and rebounds—do not merely represent every passing age; rather, they linger on love, friendship, intense feelings, upheavals, lasting impressions, and the echoes of both joys and failures. The book impressively captures these moments through die-cuts that shift, change, and disappear across the book, thereby serving as windows that open onto memories—memories that endure, change, and disappear––together weaving the story of a life. The author’s unique structural approach to the passage of time and memory, by using the form and materiality of the book to look backward and within, beautifully serves the poetic depths and universal resonance of his themes.