Publisher's Weekly
SLEEPING BEAR PRESS - April 1, 2025
HOW TO DRAW A TREE
MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS - FALL 2025
BRAVE OLD BLUE
by Colleen Muske ;
illustrated by Christopher Thornock ‧
A heartwarming charmer.
Readers will root for this horse
all the way.
Embracing geographic and seasonal variability, LaRochelle’s observational text coaches would-be artists using simple tactics for noticing. After a basic directive (“Go outside and find a tree”), suggestions encourage appreciation of each selected subject’s varied attributes, including texture, color, shape, leaves, branches, and more (“Some trees smell like a chest in your attic”). Featuring background textures, Muske’s undulating artwork emphasizes arboreal diversity, with scenes featuring nonrecurring children, depicted with varied skin tones, spending fall, winter, spring, and summer days among species such as a live oak, Norway spruce, and Joshua tree, shown in endpapers. Emphasizing perception over creative technique (drawing-specific instructions never materialize), the creators successfully underscore the importance of mindful attentiveness as a first step toward art-making. Ages 3–7. (Aug.)
The poignant story of a tree’s life cycle.
The glowing watercolor-and-gouache illustrations are lovely, capturing the warm closeness between Linden and his friends. The neighbors are racially diverse.
Captivating and heartfelt. (Picture book. 4-7)
BRAVE OLD BLUE
BOOKS!
Out Now!
Out Now!
AUGUST 1, 2025!
Linden, The Story of a Tree