PLEASING PICTURE BOOKS:

"Who Made This Cake?" written by Chihiro Nakagawa, illustrated by Junji Koyose (Front Street)
Miniature workers use tiny construction vehicles to mix, bake, and decorate a giant cake. Grade level: Preschool. 40 pages.

"Don’t Look Now" written and illustrated by Ed Briant (Porter/Roaring Brook)
When the ground opens up and swallows two squabbling brothers, depositing them in a jungle, the two must use their combined wiles to escape. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

FUN FOR EARLY READERS:

Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter & Ivy and Bean Bound to Be Bad
both written by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Chronicle)
In their fourth and fifth books, friends Ivy and Bean make the best of a bad situation when left in the care of Bean’s older sister, then resolve (and fail) to be so good that animals will flock to them a la Saint Francis of Assisi. Grade level: 1–3. 123 and 121 pages.

THRILLS AND CHILLS FOR INTERMEDIATE READERS:

The Swamps of Sleethe written by Jack Prelutsky,
illustrated by Jimmy Pickering (Knopf)
With comically creepy illustrations and flawless meter, Prelutsky’s macabre poems introduce readers to strange and fantastic (sometimes frightening!) planets. 40 pages.

Well Witched by Frances Hardinge (HarperCollins)
Three children fall under the power of an elemental divinity after stealing coins from a wishing well in this deliciously creepy tale. 390 pages.

ADVENTURES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS:

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass (Little)
In this moving story, three middle-schoolers’ lives intersect at a campground during an eclipse. 326 pages.

Nation by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins)
In an alternative nineteenth century, a tsunami shipwrecks Ermintrude on a tropical island, where she meets Mau, the only survivor of the island’s nation, and the two forge a poignant friendship. 370 pages.

Reprinted by permission of The Horn Book. To sign up for The Horn Book’s free monthly e-newsletter for parents, visit www.hbook.com/newsletter/index.html.