The Slightly Spooky Tale of Fox and Mole by Cecilia Heikkila. Translated by Polly Lawson. Floris Books, 2025. 9781782509530.
Fox and Mole are alone in the autumn. Fox made cookies and jam to get him through the winter. Mole spent the summer having fun instead of preparing for the winter but is happy to help himself to Fox’s food and tea during his visits. Soon Fox has had too much of Mole’s selfishness, and Fox’s food is completely gone. Fox transforms into something hungry and scary and heads to Mole’s house. (Minor spoiler: sharing and storytelling help Mole save himself (and his friend).)
Heikkila’s art makes this one of the most striking picture books I’ve seen in a while.
Drawn Onward words by Daniel Nayeri, pictures by Matt Rockefeller. HarperAlley, 2024. 9780063277168.
This is a tale of grief and love, a palindrome of a story told with a minimum of words. It involves a quest in a fantasy world that seems terrifying at first but is ultimately revealed to be filled with beauty, love, and friendship. It’s a stunning achievement.
The Big Book of Butts by Eva Manzano and Emilio Urberuaga. NubeOcho, 2023. 9788419607218.
This book covers little-known “facts” about our butts (they love getting presents) as well as actual facts, like their development about 540 million years ago and why humans have such big ones. Most of the book explores the butts of the animal kingdom including their colors, the language of butts, the feel of butts (yaks have among the hairiest), the smell of butts, and two of the strangest of all, which belong to caterpillars and sea cucumbers.
This is everything I hope for in a nonfiction picture book!
