From award-winning husband and wife team, an unforgettable masterpiece about nature, family, wonder, and the ocean. The lyrical, informative text and stunning art make this a perfect picture book for seasonal promotions, classroom units, and storytime sharing all year round.
LITTLE HOUSES
by Kevin Henkes
illustrated by Laura Dronzek
HarperCollins Children’s Books, April 2022
When a young girl visits her grandparents at the beach, she stays in a little house and walks along the shore gathering seashell s which were once little houses of their own. As she wanders the beach, she wonders about the creatures who used to live in each shell, about the hidden treasures of the sea, and about what it would be like to know the answers to everything. Kevin Henkes’s text features striking imagery, depth of meaning, and a lovely multigenerational relationship. He deftly captures the feeling of wonder and imagination that is fostered by a trip to the shore.
Paired with Laura Dronzek’s lush, saturated paintings, this book will be a true treasure for parents and children and a must have in the classroom.
Kevin Henkes is the author and illustrator of more than fifty critically acclaimed and award-winning picture books, beginning readers, and novels. He is the winner of the American Library Association’s2020 Children’s Literature Legacy Award; he received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon in 2005; and Waiting won a Caldecott Honor and Geisel Honor in 2016.
Laura Dronzek is a painter whose work has been exhibited nationally. Her picture books include the acclaimed When Spring Comes, by Kevin Henkes; In the Middle of Fall, by Kevin Henkes; Winter Is Here, by Kevin Henkes; Summer Song, by Kevin Henkes; Birds, by Kevin Henkes; Oh!, by Kevin Henkes; White Is for Blueberry, by George Shannon; Tippy-Toe Chick, Go!, by George Shannon; Moonlight, by Helen V. Griffith; and It Is Night, by Phyllis Rowand. She lives with her family in Madison, Wisconsin.
Jacob is nine years old when his life changes. He wants a litter of puppies. But instead his parents have a different surprise. Jacob will be an older brother soon. And there won’t be only one new baby. There will be three! When the triplets are born, Jacob thinks puppies are cuter. The babies look identical to him and he gives them a name: “the Trips.” For a school science project, Jacob decides to study the Trips. It feels like magic as they begin to smile, talk, and grow. Slowly, he gets to know each of them. They call his mother “Mama” and his father “Da.”
Eighteen-year-old Zarela Zalvidar is a talented flamenco dancer and daughter of the most famous Dragonador in Hispalia. People come for miles to see him fight in their arena, La Giralda. And one day La Giralda will be hers to run. During their five hundredth anniversary show, the family’s dragons mysteriously break free from their pens, causing death and destruction in the ring, and in the carnage, Zarela’s father is horribly injured. Facing punishment from the Dragon Guild, Zarela must keep the arena—her ancestral home and inheritance —safe from their greedy hands. She has no choice but to take her father’s place as the Dragonador of La Giralda. Seeking the help of Arturo Diaz de Montserrat, an infuriatingly handsome former Dragonador with his own secrets, she trains for the role of her life.
Tess Morelli is living a dream: she was selected for an incredible exchange program in Rome, where she’s spending a month taking in the beautiful sights and sounds and tastes of Italy. Her Italian counterpart, Sofia, is staying with Tess’s family while she’s away. Sure, her host parents barely speak English, but they seem cool enough.
When Eleni comes home from a lonely summer at camp only to get dumped by her BFF since kindergarten, she figures there’s got to be something wrong with her. Who loses two friends in span of a couple of months? So, she sets out to revisit her top five “friendship fails” in an attempt to figure out where she went wrong and what makes a good friend.