Congratulations to the 2020 Washington State Book Awards winners! Winners selected are outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2019. This is the 54th year of the program, formerly called the Governor’s Writers Awards. An award is given based on the strength of the publication’s literary merit, lasting importance and overall quality to an author …
This gorgeous picture book features affirming, uplifting, nurturing text and stunning artwork representing 22 national parks. (Don’t miss the backmatter that gives more details about the parks shown.) When I read this book at storytime and invited the audience to join in the refrain of “you are home,” the inclusion, warmth, and pride brought tears …
Treat yourself to an immersion in the community feeling and sense of self-worth that shine throughout this gorgeous book. It’s difficult to choose, but I think my favorite pages might be the second-to-last about tipping the barber. This picture book has earned many crowns: Winner of the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers A Newbery …
Arguably one of the most outstanding Americans of the 20th century, yet seemingly almost forgotten today, George Washington Carver gets an enlightening biographical treatment in this beautifully illustrated picture book. The book focuses on George’s childhood, as he tends a hidden garden and teaches himself botany through observation and experimentation, but his social and scientific …
I don’t know if I’ve ever related more to a main character… The cake-lover/ attempted cake-ignorer/ cake-eater/ cake-baker is earnest and honest and oh-so-endearing even as I sympathized with her poor mom– and her dog’s reactions delighted me even more. The illustrations perfectly capture the temptations, agonies, and delights I feel around cake. I can …
Wordless book often have the most to say, and Hike in particular exemplifies in particular what I look for in a memorable picture book: nature, diversity, and grit alongside illustrations that you want to step into. This is one of my favorite new spring picture books. –Jesica Sweedler DeHart, Neill Public Library, Pullman, Washington If …
As a PNW native, Sunny went straight to my damp and rain-soaked heart. With formidable and determined optimism, Sunny faces the stormy weather in this tender yet vulnerable tale about where our strengths lie and also our breaking points where friends can step in. Imbued with feisty imagination and spunk! –Jesica DeHart, Neill Public Library, …
Yoshitake’s Still Stuck, the story of a boy who can’t get his shirt off, is one of our very favorite picture books [plus a Paulina Springs Books favorite, too], and in his latest, a child is confronted by an even more common, and more challenging, difficulty: being bored. Turns out being bored can lead you to wonder: …
Rocky is very bad dog; she doesn’t do tricks or listen to her human’s orders. She’s very good at catlike things, though, like clawing things up and sleeping. Bad Dog has adorable seeping out of every page as Rocky’s human tells readers all about her! Every cat owner will find their own fluffy friends in …
The first time I saw a collection that took my breath away, it was on a small island in the San Juans, on the mantel of a fireplace at a friend’s mom’s house. It was an assortment of rocks that had been gathered and gifted over many years. There were different sizes, colors, and textures …
