I’m not a skateboarder, but it sure looks like fun in Julie Flett’s picture book Let’s Go! It’s a story about a kid mustering the courage to try something new (using Mom’s childhood skateboard!) and then finding — and helping build — community around shared interest.
That’s our mission too. In the Horn Book’s one hundred years of “blowing the horn” for fine books for young people, our primary focus has been reading enjoyment and our primary audience a dedicated, creative bunch of “children’s literature enthusiasts.” See Five Questions for Sylvie Kantorovitz, author-illustrator of varied graphic-format titles, whose entertaining new early-reader comics encapsulate love of reading and learning to read.
Our annual Summer Reading recommendations are different from our many other themed booklists (Notes from the Horn Book, Book Bundles, and more) in that they’re eclectic by design. When compiling the lists — thirteen selections (a baker’s dozen!) for all age ranges — we seek out page-turning fiction, nonfiction, folklore, and poetry. We approach these lists in the spirit of exploration and curiosity and with the important reminder that “the individual child is the real criterion.” Maybe not every book will be for every reader — but what better time than summer, with its extended out-of-school hours and often less prescriptive schedule, to pick up a potential new favorite?
Print out the handy-dandy PDF version of our Summer Reading booklist, with cover art by Julie Flett from Let’s Go!, and bring it with you as reference to your local library or to any/all of your favorite independent bookstores.
Vehicles are a staple of picture books, and Sylvie Kantorovitz’s new early-reader comic A New Car for Pickle (Holiday, 5–8 years), capitalizes on that favorite topic for readers who are speeding toward independence—and with plenty of humor and whimsical panel illustrations, it’s perfect for summer reading. See Kantorovitz’s March/April 2022 Horn Book Magazine article “Graphic Memoirs: Why We Read Them. Why We Need Them” for some thoughts on books those same readers might enjoy further down the road.
1. How is working on an early-reader comic (A New Car for Pickle; Monti and Leo) similar to working on a graphic memoir for older readers (Sylvie)? How is it different?
Photo: Barbara Lehman
Sylvie Kantorovitz: The obvious similarity is that they rely on visual storytelling and require the drawing of lots of mini-pictures. With early-reader comics, I always aim for the same thing: readability. I try to keep my panels simple, clear, uncluttered.
There is an aspect that contains both similarities and differences: the three books you mention all present situations familiar to children, such as new friendships, facing problems, making choices. What is different is that they are created for readers with different levels of life experience...
Intermediate Suggested grade level for all entries: 4–6
Maggie Lou, Firefox by Arnolda Dufour Bowes; illus. by Karlene Harvey (Groundwood)
The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas Day; illus. by Brett Helquist (Random House Studio/Random)
The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo; illus. by Julie Morstad (Candlewick)
Max in the House of Spies [Operation Kinderspion] by Adam Gidwitz (Dutton)
My Head Has a Bellyache: And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups by Chris Harris; illus. by Andrea Tsurumi (Little, Brown)
A Little Bit Super: With Small Powers Come Big Problems edited by Leah Henderson and Gary D. Schmidt; illus. by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Clarion/HarperCollins)
Bumps in the Night by Amalie Howard (Delacorte)
The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow)
Continental Drifter by Kathy MacLeod (First Second)
Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem [Blue Stars] by Kekla Magoon and Cynthia Leitich Smith; illus. by Molly Murakami (Candlewick)
The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines by Mo Netz (Clarion/HarperCollins)
The Queen of Thieves [Moonwind Mysteries] by Johan Rundberg; trans. from Swedish by A. A. Prime (Amazon Crossing Kids)
A Royal Conundrum [Misfits] by Lisa Yee; illus. by Dan Santat (Random)
