A swarm of zombees invade a town on Halloween night. They are a ghastly green and drag a glowing sack. Did they come to eat our brains? The town gets out their smokers to ward off an attack. The text is rhyming and leads us on a frolicking tale with a twist at the end.

The illustrations are color and bright with the “ghastly green” drawing readers in. Each page contains two lines of rhyming text.

Perfect choice for a not so spooky Halloween read. Fans of Creepy Carrots will delight in this tale.

John Lewis wanted a books. Lots of them. John’s family couldn’t afford books and his school didn’t have very many books. What John needed was a library card, but in 1956 John, age 16, was denied a library card at Pike County Public Library in Troy, Alabama. There were many laws that were unfair to Blacks and John decided to fight against them. He organized sit-ins at lunch counters and stand-ins at movie theaters.

This biography of civil rights leader John Lewis follows the storyline of his desire to read and get a library card. It shows how he fought back against the unjust laws of the time and the impact he has had on our nation. At the end, there is a timeline of John Lewis’s life and a bibliography to learn more.

Braids are brave. This is the only line on a two page spread to start the story. The illustration shows a woman braiding someone’s hair. We then see it is a mom braiding a boy’s hair. He thinks the tugging and untangling hurts, but he is trying to be brave. While watching his father, he hopes to have long hair like his. The boy is teased at school for his long hair, but the boy decides to be brave and stand up to them. The father then tells how their hair was traditionally worn and the times that he and his family were made to cut their hair because they were not allowed to practice their traditions and culture.

This powerful story between a father and a son explores the intergenerational trauma and the effects of being forced to cut their hair and reclaiming their Native pride. The illustrations depict Native Americans in the present day as well as in the past.

A young boy wakes his dad up early one day because it Jollof Day! He joins his dad in the kitchen to chop onions and tomatoes, clang pots and pans, and dance in the kitchen while they make jollof. The cheerful illustrations, the way the text dances on the page, and the onomatopoeia makes you feel the joy in the kitchen. A recipe for Jollof Rice is included at the end of the book.

Every Monday Mabel does the same thing. Mabel thinks Mondays are the best day. She drags her chair down the hall and outside to make sure she does not miss her favorite thing. Her family doesn’t seem to understand, but Mabel doesn’t want to miss it and neither does Mikey and many more people. The illustrations are bright and colorful. The changes in font, the onomatopoeia, and the illustrations make you feel the excitement of Mabel about her Monday routine. I can’t wait to read this book aloud and maybe because I was one of those kids excited about the garbage truck!