Here Comes the Sun | April 2022

Sunflowers Art © by Marit Tornqvist

Art © by Marit Tornqvist

Dear Reader

Is it spring already? I swear there was snow on the ground just yesterday. No really! As the cherry blossoms bloom, and the days stretch out, and our allergies awaken, let’s take a moment to think about new beginnings. April is also National Poetry Month and we have three new reads that are brimming with all the poetic vibes.

In Hans and Monique Hagen’s illustrated picture book You Are the Loveliest, we find a collection of poems that reveal the joys, worries, flights of imagination, and new discoveries  young kids experience.

Here’s a love note from a child (the reader assumes it’s to a parent, but it could be to a grandparent, cousin, sibling or friend):

FOR YOU

I need a word

A brand-new word

A word that no one knows

Like loviest -- wonderfulest --- sweetistmost

 But bigger than all those 

This is poetry that centers the child's perspective. And Marit Tornqvist’s brilliantly colored illustrations evoke empathy. In times like we are all going through right now, little more empathy could go a long way.

—Team LQ

Stack of LQ Books

Stack of books by LQ staff.

DID YoU SAY…AWARD-WINNING?

  • Children’s Book Committee at the Bank Street College of Education announced their Best Books of the Year list and LQ has 11 books on the list! Three books received an asterisk for "Outstanding Merit” including The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera, Middletown by Sarah Moon, and The Sea-Ringed World by María García Esperón and David Bowles. Check out the complete list.

In other awards-news…

  • Anton Treuer won the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Non-Fiction for Older Readers for Everything You Wanted To Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask.

And that’s not all folks….

  • The Global Literature in Libraries Initiative (GLLI) 2022 Translated Young Adult Book Prize was awarded to OKSI by Mari Ahokoivu and translated by Silja-Maaria Aronpuro. And the Translated Young Adult Honor Book was for The Immortal Boy: El immortal by Francisco Montaña Ibáñez and translated by David Bowles.

LQ @ TLA

Are you hading to Fort Worth next week? We are too! Visit LQ at the Chronicle booth for the first in-person Texas Library Association Conference in two years. We will be giving out Spring 22 ARCs and other LQ swag.

LQ in the News (PODCAST EDITION)

LQ AUTHORS ON TOUR

AUTHORS ON TOUR

April 23, 24 — Darcie Little Badger & Donna Barba Higuera @ LA Times Book Festival (LA)

May 2 — Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem & LQ’s Birthday Party (rescheduled) @ Rizzoli Bookstore (NYC)

April 27 — Camille Gomera-Tavarez & Lorraine Avila @ Cafe con Libros (Virtual)

May 5 — Jim Grimsley @  Flyleaf Books (Chapel Hill, NC)

May 7 — Cat Min & Arthur Levine  @ Montclair Literary Festival (Montclair, NJ)

May 6-8 — Jetta Grace Martin, Waldo E. Martin, Donna Barba Higuera @ Bay Area Book Festival (Berkeley, CA)

May 19 — Donna Barba Higuera & Andrea L. Rogers @ SLJ Day of Dialogue (Virtual)

New Releases

YOU ARE THE LOVELIEST

★ “A symbiotic, child-affirming union of poignant verse and charming illustrations: lovely, indeed.”—Kirkus (starred)

“A contemplative gem” —Booklist

“This beautifully translated, poetic story gives young readers a unique understanding of the intricacies and range of human emotions.”—School Library Journal

FRANK AND THE BAD SURPRISE

“Highly relatable”—Horn Book 

“A series opener that will delight cat AND dog fans.” —Kirkus

“Cute and hilarious” —Booklist

HIGH SPIRITS

★ “Authentic and immersive…A labor of love imbued with dedication to family.” —Kirkus (starred)

★ “Deeply personal and relatable. Steeped in nostalgia and harsh but fierce love, this is a memorable family saga in its own right.” —Booklist (starred)  

★ “Full of vivid and poetic imagery… settings worthy of drinking in, and thematic material ripe for contemplation about identity, intergenerational memory, and patriarchy and toxic masculinity, Gomera-Tavarez’s soulfully crafted debut is a sensitive, intrinsically feminist work.” — Publishers Weekly (starred) 



Team LQ