When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left opens in a new tab
By Marc Colagiovanni
Illustrated by Peter K Reynolds
Orchard Books, 2023.
One day for no particular reason, nothing was going right. Absolutely positively, nothing was going right. So, I decided to go left…
“Told through creative language play, and with depth and whimsy, this picture book reminds readers of their own agency and the power they have to direct their own path.
Colagiovanni’s lyrical text and Peter H. Reynolds’ stunning art creates an enduring message of strength and perseverance that is both universal and personal, and one that readers will be drawn to it over and over again.” This first of two picture books created in collaboration with Marc and Peter will inspire, and reassure readers at milestone moments in every young reader’s life.
When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left makes a wonderful read-aloud and shows positivity to all who read/listen to the text …. If one struggles with anxiety this book illustrates the “weight” of emotions and how to put them down and keep going. It also shows that it’s ok to have these emotions.
A Rose Named Peace opens in a new tab
How Francis Meilland Created a Flower of Hope for a World at War
By Barbara Carroll Roberts
Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
Candlewick Press, 2022.
“From a young man’s experiments in cross-pollination to the rose that became an international symbol of hope, this gentle picture book biography, beautifully illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is a quiet epic of war and peace. Francis Meilland was passionate about roses. He loved their rich perfume, their buds unfurling in the summer sun, and their petals, soft as lambs’ ears. Like his father and grandfather before him, Francis cultivated flowers on the family farm in France.
“In his teens, he set about grafting and experimenting, determined to create a rose no one had seen before, and as the world braced for World War II, he rushed cuttings to rose-growing friends around the globe. Six patient years later, word reached him: his rose had not only flourished; people were calling it the Peace Rose.
“An ideal read for science and history buffs and for gardeners of all ages, this life story of a special flower is also a love song to living a dream from beginning to end, through sun and through storm.”
Submitted by Karen Kosko
