I LOVE Blueberries by Shannon Anderson and Jaclyn Sinquett

I LOVE Blueberries 

by Shannon Anderson 

Illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett

Published April, 2025

Feeding Minds Press

32 Pages

Hardcover 

Informative Fiction

Summary From Publisher

Berry-loving Jolie is back, and this time she has a new friend! Margot has just moved to town and misses Maine — especially the blueberries. Determined to help, Jolie turns to their teacher to learn how hydroponics helps the strawberries in their classroom grow. Unfortunately, it’s a costly system and there’s no money left from the grant that helped the class start their indoor strawberry patch. Undeterred, Jolie, Margot, and their diverse group of classmates brainstorm ways to get the equipment they need, and they come up with just the thing: a Blueberry Bash!

The students invite the local community to a show-and-tell — featuring homemade decorations (blue, of course), blueberry muffins, and even a blueberry-themed poem! — where they explain their gardening goals, and inspire the community to come together and help the class achieve their berry-growing dreams.

Sinquett’s illustrations of Jolie’s exuberant, scrapbook-style journal and Margot’s sketchbook bring Anderson’s delightful tale to life, and will keep kids engaged as they learn all about the wonders of hydroponics and indoor gardening, and the many health benefits of blueberries.

My Thoughts

Maine is known for its blueberries so I was drawn to this book immediately. I liked how the characters worked together to solve the problem and kept track of things using their notebook. The notebook images added a lot to the book and show readers how to use writing in a real-world way. Facts are woven in naturally, but the story still shines through. I can see readers wanting to use hydroponics in their  classrooms or homes after reading I LOVE Blueberries. 

Back matter includes nutritional facts about blueberries and how to start using hydroponics. 

In my opinion, this book could be used K-5, but 2-5 would likely benefit the most. 

Image from Amazon.com

About the Author: Shannon Anderson is an award-winning children's book author, professor, TEDx speaker, frequent keynote presenter, and certified brain coach. She taught for 25 years, from first grade through college level and was named one of the 10 teachers who "awed and inspired" the Today Show in 2019. Shannon loves doing author visits, providing Professional Development for teachers, mentoring aspiring writers, and speaking at events. Her book I LOVE Strawberries! was named the top rated 2022 picture book by Good Housekeeping magazine and the national book of the year by the Farm Bureau Foundation. Learn more at shannonisteaching.com.

About the Illustrator: Jaclyn Sinquett grew up playing in her dad's garden, feeding worms to box turtles, and tossing french fries to seagulls at the Jersey shore. She now spends her time avoiding sunburn at the beach with her daughter, catching up on a certain great baking show, and illustrating books for children. She lives in Brick, NJ. See more of her work at jaclynsinquett.com.

About the Publisher: Feeding Minds Press is a project of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. The mission of the Foundation is to build awareness and understanding of agriculture through education. The goal of Feeding Minds Press is to publish accurate and engaging books about agriculture that connect readers to where their food comes from and who grows it. Learn more at feedingmindspress.com.



Praise for I LOVE Strawberries!

“A multi-layered story about a resourceful girl who is determined to grow strawberries received the highest scores from parents and kids of all the books tested. A series of handwritten diary entries, along with a bit of regular text, chronicle (often with humor) the girl’s efforts to convince her parents that she’s mature and hard-working enough to raise berries. ‘This book explores themes of responsibility, passion and entrepreneurship while explaining the process of growing one's own food and the lifecycle of a plant,’ says judge Sandhya Nankani, founder of The Story Seeds Podcast.”
—Good Housekeeping, 2022 Best Kids’ Books Awards

Awards and Honors

2023 American Farm Bureau Foundation’s Agriculture Book of the Year
2023 Benjamin Franklin GOLD Award for Picture Book
2023 Jr Master Gardener Program’s Growing Good Kids Book Award
2023 Hindi's Libraries’ Best Females of Fiction Award
2023 Penelope's Prize Children's Book Award Judge's Selection
2023 Indiana Farm Bureau’s Book of the Year
2023 Virginia Ag in the Classroom’s Book of the Year
2022 Good Housekeeping’s Best Kids Books
2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year BRONZE Award

I Love Salmon and Lampreys: A Native Story of Resilience by Brook M. Thompson

I Love Salmon and Lampreys: A Native Story of Resilience 

by Brook M. Thompson

Illustrated by Anatsasia Khmelevska

Published March, 2025

From Heyday

Hardcover

Picture Book 

Summary (from Storygraph)

For young readers, an inspiring story about a river, a successful Native-led movement for environmental justice, and the making of a scientist.
Growing up in the Yurok and Karuk Tribes, Brook Thompson learned to care for the fish that nurtured her and her family. She knew that along the Klamath River in Northern California, salmon and lampreys are a needed part of life. But she also saw how these fish were in danger. People had built dams along the Klamath River, making it very hard for salmon and lampreys to live. Tribal people and their friends organized to have four of the dams removed, and they won. In I Love Salmon and Lampreys, Thompson tells this inspiring tale, and she shares how it motivated her to become a scientist. Featuring adorable illustrations by Anastasia Khmelevska, as well as fun facts about salmon and lampreys, this is a stirring story about stewarding nature for the generations to come.

This book exposes readers to many different things. Readers will read a story of how tribal people fought for the safety of the salmon and the closing of several electric dams. They will learn factual information about salmon and lampreys as well as cultural information about how native ancestors have protected the river and the fish for generations.  The book is based on real life events of the native author who is also part of the neurodivergent community and has dyslexia. The font, Open Dyslexic, is used for the text of the book. This font is designed to make reading words easier for people with dyslexia. 

I Love Salmon and Lampreys is perfect for spring and Earth Day! 

Alfred Blooms by Carrie Kruck

Alfred Blooms 

by Carrie Kruck

Illustrated by Carmen Mok

Published March 25, 2025

Random House

Hardcover

Fiction

40 Pages

Review copy provided by publisher

Summary (from Goodreads)

When Alfred sees Lulu’s magical yard filled with flowers and friends, he’s sure that if he can cultivate a beautiful garden, friends will flock to join him. Alfred tries but nothing grows in his brown patch of dirt. Determined to make one last attempt, Alfred heads to the store to buy fresh flower seeds. As he hurries home, he sneezes—and the seeds fly everywhere! And this time they begin to grow wherever they land—in his pockets, in his hair, even in his ears! A very discouraged Alfred gets stuck in the mud. But the aroma of warm blueberry muffins coming from a nearby bakery reminds him of Lulu’s favorite treat and, tucking the flowers under his hat, he heads there. Alfred shares muffins with Lulu and finds out that he doesn’t need a garden; time spent together is the best way to make a friend.

This charming friendship story is sensitive and delightful with just a touch of whimsy.

This book takes a different spin on the typical "friendship" book. Alfred's flowery condition opens the door to a conversation with Lulu, whom he wants to befriend. He thinks he needs to bring her gifts and needs to have a nice garden, but he really just needs to be himself. 

The illustrations, created with gouache, colored pencil, and graphite pencil have a whimsical feel. The characters have different skin tones and appear to be from different cultural backgrounds. 

See what others have to say about Alfred Blooms:

Kirkus

Cracking the Cover

The Power of Quick and Frequent Practice: Joyful Small Moves with Big Impacts on Elementary Literacy by Tammy Mulligan

The Power of Quick and Frequent Practice 

by Tammy Mulligan

Published Dec. 2024

Routledge 

166 Pages

Paperback

Professional Book-Literacy Instruction

Description from Publisher

What can students really accomplish when they practice something for just a few minutes a day? Quite a lot, as Tammy Mulligan illustrates in The Power of Quick and Frequent Practice: Joyful Small Moves with Big Impacts on Elementary Literacy.
Come along as we follow classroom teacher Tammy Mulligan’s journey to plan and facilitate small but powerful moments of practice that help students grow as readers, writers, and community members. Chapter by chapter, Mulligan explores how to bring different categories of quick and frequent practice to life in the classroom including:

● Quick and Frequent Phonics Moves
● Quick and Frequent Fluency Moves
● Quick and Frequent Comprehension Moves
● Quick and Frequent Moves To Help Readers Lead
● Quick and Frequent Moves to Connect with Families

Written with the practical lens of a teacher, The Power of Quick and Frequent Practice outlines how to make these practice moves a part of daily and weekly instructional routines, utilize simple tools you already have in your classroom, and weave moments of student leadership throughout the practice times to help children celebrate their growth. Mulligan shares strategies, routines, and tips for planning, managing, and implementing the kind of engaging and meaningful literacy practice that learners need.

The Power of Quick and Frequent Practice illustrates that small moves can have a big impact on children's literacy learning!

My Thoughts

Tammy Mulligan is a seasoned educator with decades of experience as a literacy consultant and classroom teacher with a deep understanding of literacy development and the cycle of assessment-driven research-based instruction. In this book she demonstrates how she uses formal and informal assessment to identify specific needs, set goals, plan and deliver brief, but frequent interventions for striving readers and writers. She walks readers through one school year and how she used powerful, yet straightforward, approaches to help her students to develop literacy skills and to see themselves as capable learners. 

As educators, we all struggle with finding enough time to help all of our students. Tammy shows exactly how we can find and use small moments throughout our days to give students some brief instruction and practice. Then she provides the instructional approaches she uses and how she enlists and organizes the help of colleagues and volunteers to help. 

All educators will get ideas from this book whether you are a classroom teacher, special educator, or interventionalist. It is full of schedules, checklists, student work, and resource ideas, including specific texts, and websites. I found myself rereading the section about how she prepares students to have student-led discussions and thinking about how I could modify my discussion work in the library. The section focusing on reader's theater includes specific texts and websites that she uses to find engaging reader's theater resources for her students. I found myself thinking about how I could incorporate this powerful instructional strategy into my library work. 

One thing that sets Quick and Frequent Practice apart from other texts about intervention are the chapters about finding ways to Help Readers Lead and Connect with Families. Her whole-child approach allows students to learn about themselves, to see the results of their consistent work, and to help them feel confident in their abilities. 

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic by Candace Fleming

 

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic 

by Candace Fleming

Illustrated by Deena So'Oteh

Expected publication Oct. 22, 2024

Anne Schwartz Books

Nonfiction Picture Book

Hardcover

40 Pages

Review copy provided by publisher 

Goodreads Summary

Venture to the Arctic Ocean and discover real life underwater unicorns--narwhals--in this stunningly illustrated nonfiction picture book.You are a narwhal. Shy... Swift... Small... Humans call you unicorn of the Arctic.When winter ice covers the Arctic Ocean, a narwhal pokes his head through a patch of open water, his tusk--a six-foot long tooth--pointed to the sky.Join this mammal as he jousts with another narwhal, floats with his pod, and uses echolocation to find his prey. When warmer weather arrives, he will migrate towards summer ground. But he must be careful! Predators--orcas and polar bears--will be hungry and looking for a meal.... How will the narwhal escape? Will he be able to return to the winter bay? Paired with atmospheric illustrations by debut illustrator Deena So'Oteh, nonfiction master Candace Fleming delivers a picture book, uniquely told in second person, that expertly explores the mysterious and fascinating unicorn of the Arctic.

My Thoughts

I am a big fan of Candace Fleming's work. This book is just gorgeous! The facts are interwoven in poetic 2nd person narration. The pages are filled with color from edge to edge making the reader feel immersed with the narwhal. 

Trust me, you just need to add this to your collection.