A touching portrayal of the loss of a grandparent. “When summer started, I got Grampa’s stopwatch,” a small child says. “I don’t want his stopwatch. I want him.” Grampa used to time everything. A race to the end of the street and back: 24 seconds. Eating bubblegum ice cream: 1 minute, 58 seconds. But now, Grampa’s gone. “There are no more Grampa minutes, Grampa seconds,” the child says. “Time just stops.” But as time goes on, the stopwatch becomes a cherished symbol of remembrance, and the child uses it to carry on Grampa’s favorite pastimes and traditions. A treasured ritual from the past can sometimes offer the perfect bridge to the future.

A touching portrayal of the loss of a grandparent. “When summer started, I got Grampa’s stopwatch,” a small child says. “I don’t want his stopwatch. I want him.” Grampa used to time everything. A race to the end of the street and back: 24 seconds. Eating bubblegum ice cream: 1 minute, 58 seconds. But now, Grampa’s gone. “There are no more Grampa minutes, Grampa seconds,” the child says. “Time just stops.” But as time goes on, the stopwatch becomes a cherished symbol of remembrance, and the child uses it to carry on Grampa’s favorite pastimes and traditions. A treasured ritual from the past can sometimes offer the perfect bridge to the future.

Every child has a voice -- if we take the time to listen. In this appealing, energetic picture book, two kids with different challenges and strengths find they are just what the other needs to navigate classroom life. Tyson does everything fast -- so fast he often disrupts the class. His teacher is always saying, "Too fast, Tyson!" And often he ends up playing all alone. Suze, the new girl, is nonverbal with special needs. Sometimes her classmates don't know what those needs are. But Tyson understands. Taking the time to interpret her cues, Tyson forms a special friendship with Suze, and teaches his classmates what it means to listen and understand others. Claudia Dávila's bright, energetic art captures the joy of moving at your own speed and connecting with a friend who can ride alongside.

This boisterous family needs to quiet down for their newly adopted baby. Or do they? When J.J. arrives at his new home, his family is so excited to meet him! The four children welcome their tiny brother, then, when he falls asleep, Dad asks everyone to try to be quiet. In no time at all, though, the clamor of family life grows loud, with drumming, shouting, chattering. But, surprise! J.J. sleeps through it all. Even with children running and yelling in his room, J.J. sleeps. Is there anything that will disturb him? Kids will delight in the delicious twist: when you’re with family, a noisy home is the most peaceful place to be.

A young boy’s original game coaxes a grieving grandpa to reconnect with the world in a touching intergenerational story of love and resilience. Henry loves talking with Grandpa, but Grandpa has stopped listening. Mom says to just give him time. But Henry wants to talk to Grandpa now. So Henry tries his favorite game: Top Threes. And something amazing happens: Grandpa starts talking again. Out of a tale of favorite sandwiches and zoo animals, outings and trains, emerges a moving story about love, loss, and the wonder of grannies and grandpas.

Grandpa's favourite thing is a stopwatch, and he and his grandchild use it to time everything: racing to the end of the street and back (best speed: 24 seconds); the time it takes to eat a whole bubble gum ice cream cone (1 minute, 58 seconds - brain freeze: 6 seconds); a snore-filled nap on the couch (20 minutes). When Grandpa dies, his grandchild inherits the beloved stopwatch. But the child doesn't want the stopwatch... 'I want him.' The child throws the stopwatch into the back of a drawer, sadness overwhelms, and everything feels different. Nothing seems right, now that Grandpa is gone. But with the passage of time, the comforting tick, tick, tick of the stopwatch, and happy memories, life does move forward...

★ “Smith spins a quietly moving narrative...Wada’s large-scale woodblock style illustrations are a perfect complement to the story’s restrained text...The graceful way in which this book handles a sensitive and serious subject makes it a first purchase."—School Library Journal When the tsunami destroyed Makio's village, Makio lost his father . . . and his voice. The entire village is silenced by grief, and the young child's anger at the ocean grows. Then one day his neighbor, Mr. Hirota, begins a mysterious project—building a phone booth in his garden. At first Makio is puzzled; the phone isn't connected to anything. It just sits there, unable to ring. But as more and more villagers are drawn to the phone booth, its purpose becomes clear to Makio: the disconnected phone is connecting people to their lost loved ones. Makio calls to the sea to return what it has taken from him and ultimately finds his voice and solace in a phone that carries words on the wind. The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden is inspired by the true story of the wind phone in Otsuchi, Japan, which was created by artist Itaru Sasaki. He built the phone booth so he could speak to his cousin who had passed, saying, "My thoughts couldn't be relayed over a regular phone line, I wanted them to be carried on the wind." The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the town of Otsuchi, claiming 10 percent of the population. Residents of Otsuchi and pilgrims from other affected communities have been traveling to the wind phone since the tsunami.