It's a snowy Christmas Eve on 133rd Street in New York City. José's trying to decorate a Christmas "twig," and Mami isn't happy either, using "a string of words he was not allowed to use--in English or Spanish," partly because their apartment's oven is too small for the roast, partly because she's homesick for Puerto Rico. José jokes that they need a pizza oven, but Papi jumps on the idea. Together, they walk (lugging the roast in a box) to Regular Ray's Pizzeria, past a few grumpy, sad, or suspicious neighbors: "The roast began to feel heavier and heavier." In a wonderful crescendo to a happy ending, Mr. Ray cooks the roast and Papi and José invite him--and everyone else they know--to dinner!

Caldecott Honor artist Marjorie Priceman's richly colorful, glorious gouache-and-ink paintings swirl and whirl, reflecting the irrepressible joy of this lively celebration of holiday spirit by award-winning author Sonia Manzano (aka Maria on Sesame Street). --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

From "Baa, baa, black sheep" and "Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack" to "Moses supposes his toeses are roses...," poem gatherer Elizabeth Hammill, who grew up with the unforgettable characters of Mother Goose, loves the "music, beat, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme" of nursery rhymes. In this knockout-gorgeous British import (created to benefit Seven Stories, Britain's National Centre for Children's Books), an Inuit finger game, a Yiddish rhyme and other "tiny masterpieces of verse" from Jamaica, Australia, England, America and Trinidad will surprise and delight preschoolers. A veritable who's who of beloved artists--Bob Graham, Ed Young, Mo Willems, Ashley Bryan, Mini Grey, Jerry Pinkney, Polly Dunbar, Charlotte Voake, Chris Raschka, Ted Dewan and 67 more--creatively interprets 150 nursery rhymes. Over the Hills and Far Away is a visual feast for children's book lovers, a wonderful gift for any wee reader and, of course, an unbeatable baby-shower gift. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

P. Zonka is the only chicken on the farm that doesn't lay eggs. Why? " 'Because she wanders around the farmyard day in and day out, staring at flowers and gawking at clouds,' said Nadine." Dora clucks that P. Zonka is "just a dreamer." Gloria, the rooster, says what he always says: "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" P. Zonka isn't bothered. She's too busy gazing at the deep blue sky, the big red tulips and little pink cherry blossoms. " 'Can't you at least try?' they all asked." P. Zonka tries... and the results are spectacular! A vertical two-page spread reveals a colorful, ornate Ukrainian egg, a pysanka (sounds like P. Zonka!) and the deep blue sky, big red tulips and little pink cherry blossoms are all there. P. Zonka doesn't lay many more eggs "but the ones she laid were worth the wait."

Every charming page of P. Zonka Lays an Egg by Julie Paschkis (Apple Cake: A Recipe for Love) is awash in cheerful watercolors, decorative folk-art patterns and kinetic black line work worth crowing over. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

One-and-a-half centuries after Lewis Carroll introduced Alice, the White Rabbit, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee and the Mad Hatter, readers are every bit as delighted and bemused by the surreal dreamscape of Wonderland. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will never grow old, and in this beautiful, oversized, hardcover anniversary edition--with the complete, unabridged text--readers will fall in love all over again with the classic tale of the girl who fell down the rabbit hole.

Illustrator Anna Bond, of gift and stationery brand Rifle Paper Co., applies her stylish, whimsical touch and distinctive color palette to Alice and her friends, from the inviting jacket and the case-cover art beneath it to the original endpapers and the superb full-color interior illustrations, large and small. No teacup is decorated the same at the Mad Tea-Party, and the Caterpillar with his hookah on a brilliant red mushroom is surrounded by a wilderness of flowers and shrubs. Perhaps loveliest of all are the golden Gryphon and his friend, the sad, beret-sporting Mock Turtle. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor 

Former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis (National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry) mines the poetry of many of the world's favorite poets and emerging voices, too, in this spectacular collection of 200 nature poems, all illustrated with artful photographs of the natural world.

Readers will be drawn in from very first poem, N. Scott Momaday's "The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee": "I am a feather on the bright sky/ I am the blue horse that runs in the plain...." The nature poems sit in sections such as "In the Sky," "In the Sea," "On the Move" and "In Season." Poems from luminaries such as Emily Dickinson, Wendell Berry, Joyce Sidman, Billy Collins, Karla Kuskin, Douglas Florian, Walt Whitman, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Langston Hughes, e.e. cummings, Jack Prelutsky, Li Po, Vachel Lindsay, Marilyn Singer, Robert Frost, Jane Yolen, Joseph Bruchac, Nikki Grimes, Gary Snyder, Naomi Shihab Nye and Lewis, too, take on a whole new life juxtaposed with brilliant photographs of fiddleheads and frogs, boulders and butterflies, lightning and lakes. Breathtaking. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

Snowflake dreams of where he might land in the city, fluttering over multi-colored roofs and merry voices. White pages, with cut-out snowflake patterns, hint at the rich colors of cityscapes beneath. Below, in that same city, Inkdrop sighs inside her ink bottle, waiting for the artist to use her in one of his drawings. Black pages, with cut-out ink-splotch patterns, offer glimpses of the artist's vibrant paintings beneath. The wind tips the ink bottle, and Inkdrop flies out the window--straight into Snowflake--and their magnificent collision is represented by an astounding, laser-cut gatefold. They stay together from that day forward, telling each other their stories.

Originally published in Italian as Storia di Goccia e Fiocco, this lavish, oversized labor of love tells the dreamily romantic tale of Snowflake and Inkdrop from two separate points of view. (The book has two front covers!) A lovely gift for children and enamored adults alike. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

Sometimes when a reader loves an illustrated book, it's almost unbearable to see any new versions. But Jim Kay's stunning, full-color depictions of "the boy who survived" and his magical (mis)adventures are sure to win over even the most loyal fans of J.K. Rowling's original Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Kay is the Kate Greenaway Medal-winning British illustrator behind Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls, and in this deluxe, giant, unabridged, jacketed hardcover edition, the unicorn in the Forbidden Forest positively glows, and Fluffy the three-headed beast seems to leap off the page, nose first. Hagrid's "small wooden house" is a rustic thing of beauty, surrounded by cabbages and pumpkins, an owl in the chimney, and the best dragon scarecrow ever. More than 100 illustrations, including several sumptuous double-page spreads, will enchant longtime fans and newbies alike. (Plus, there's an elegant ribbon bookmark!) --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor

Joining Nursery Rhyme Comics and Fairy Tale Comics, editor Chris Duffy's Fable Comics breathes fun new life into the moralizing tales of Aesop, the Indian Panchatantra and others.

Twenty-six cartoonists--among them Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets) and Corinne Mucha (Get Over It!)--put their quirky creative spin on 28 fables. Each colorful comic strip reflects the distinct style of the artist in sometimes weird, always wonderful adaptations. Some cartoonists take the straight-up approach, depicting a fable in a completely recognizable fashion--"The Boy Who Cried Wolf," for example. Stories such as the dreamy "Fox and Crow," however, require more from the reader to get to the moral. Not intended as an introduction to fables, this stylistically eclectic compendium of "bossy stories" is an exciting gift for the literary aesthete or comic book fiend. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor

Most creatures need shelter to survive. In her beautiful and inviting solo debut, Home, Carson Ellis (Wildwood series artist) illustrates the many different kinds of homes that humans and animals--past, present and even fictional--might inhabit.

A bird flies out of its nest on the title page and leads the reader on a worldwide tour of homes throughout time and place and even outer space, adding a fun "find the bird" element to the whimsical gouache and ink illustrations, awash in an exquisitely earthy color palette. "Home is a house in the country," and home is also an apartment, underground lair or shoe ("There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe"). "French people live in French homes" and "Atlantians make their homes underwater." The book becomes a bit poetic in the middle: "Tall homes./ Short homes./ Sea homes./ Bee homes./ Hollow tree homes." Each painting is an untold story, waiting to be drawn out. "Where is your home? Where are you?" --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

DK Smithsonian's massive, visually stunning Picturepedia delivers on its promise of "an encyclopedia on every page." This hefty, 360-page reference book is not only stuffed with photographs--10,000 of them to be exact--it has illustrations, infographics, lists, timelines, facts and more covering everything from physics and space travel to racket sports and ancient Greece... just about any imaginable subject a child could find interesting.

Smithsonian experts explore topics such as "Where food comes from," breaking it down to basic food crops, cereals, dairy, etc. Easy-to-understand timelines show how women's fashion or technology have evolved, with accompanying photographs of dresses, or the Commodore personal computer. The final chapter covers difficult historical periods such as World War I and the Industrial Revolution, with the neat trick of simplifying for, without condescending to, young readers. Add some icky close-up shots of snails and frogs to the mix, and there really is something for everyone. --Hank Stephenson, bookseller, Flyleaf Books

"It was winter, and the river winding through the enchanted forest was frozen solid." And that means perfect skating weather for Little Red Gliding Hood. As the red-hooded skater swizzles and twizzles down the frozen river, she spots a sign advertising a "Pairs Skating Competition," and the prize is brand-new skates. She needs new skates--hers are worn out, partly from skating to her Grandma's house every Sunday. Little Red needs a skating partner, too, but when she asks Old MacDonald, he doesn't answer, he just slips and falls: "E-I-E-I-ouch!" As Little Red continues her search, (would Baby Bear be "just right?"), young readers familiar with nursery rhymes, fables and fairy tales will revel in all the clever references. Just as she's about to ask one of the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf shows up... "EEK!" Turns out, he's not so bad. They win the skating competition--and new skates!--and everyone lives happily ever after. Troy Cummings's fun, cartoonish, deliciously colorful artwork spins and jumps. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

Thank You and Good Night by Caldecott Honor artist Patrick McDonnell (Me... Jane) is about a surprise pajama party for an adorable rabbit named Clement. He and his bear and elephant friends do a chicken dance, have a funny-face contest, play hide-and-seek and even do a little yoga, until the night winds down and the kindly human, Maggie, suggests: "Now, before we go to sleep, let's all say what we were thankful for this day." The long, long list--from a moon to a red balloon--is a soothing bedtime rhyme that ends with a good-night kiss. McDonnell's simple illustrations of the three tiny friends are ridiculously, impossibly cute, especially when the once-tireless trio is yawning. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

A little robot and a little girl are both alone in the world, until they find each other and become fast friends.

With a lot of JONK! and MORP!--and not much more dialogue than that--the unlikely pair explores both junkyard and forest as the girl introduces her new robot buddy to the ways of the wilds around her trailer-park home, including the delights of petting cats. (This does not go well.) The pace quickens when readers learn that the little robot has fallen off the back of a delivery truck and is being pursued by a scary robot who is programmed to track stray shipments--soon placing a very large hurdle between the little girl and her new (and only) friend.

Thanks to Ben Hatke's (Zita the Spacegirl trilogy) expressive illustrations, there's more than one way to experience this charming, nearly wordless, full-color graphic novel, as the sweet story can be understood even by those who aren't yet reading. --Stephanie Anderson, assistant director for public services, Darien Library (Conn.)

There will be no lemonade stand for Rufus this summer, he's going to have a story stand. He'll need pencils, paper, markers, a table and chair, a banner that spells "S-T-O-R-I-E-S"--and a red bow tie. Once he sets up, friends start to come by. Millie and Walter agree to bring him a special shell from the beach in exchange for a story, so Rufus writes "Orange Is the Best Color," illustrated with a fishy underwater scene, with lots of orange, captured in colored pencils. Rufus asks his friend Sandy for a black kitten in exchange for a story, and that swap inspires "The Wallet and the Cat," about a boy who finds a wallet containing $5 million and spends $1 million of it on a cat. One can only hope this fresh, winning tribute to the value of storytelling inspires a rash of Rufus-style story stands across the globe!

Chuck Groenink's endearing illustrations, in gouache, acrylics and pencils, weave Rufus's simple stories into the main narrative in dozens of clever ways to make a colorful, creative tapestry indeed. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

On its way across the world to wake up a little girl named Coco, the sun "skid[s] giddily" across oceans, balances on the wing of an airplane and makes a rainbow over a train of desert camels, until finally, "Bold as you like, it extinguishe[s] the streetlights on Coco's street" and barges through her window.

With How the Sun Got to Coco's House, Bob Graham (The Silver Button; A Bus Called Heaven) writes a thoughtful, expansive, pitch-perfect story for the preschool and kindergarten set. Soft ink and watercolor illustrations reflect the ever-changing light of the warm yellow sun as it travels from Arctic snowscapes to cramped city apartments--catching a whale's eye here, making shadows there. What could be more reassuring than waiting for the sun to rise, whether for a polar bear cub, an old woman or a small child in bed? And once the sun has arrived, why not invite it to spend the whole day together? --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor

Wanda is not shy, nor does she lack confidence. "I'm a superstar! Everybody says so," she says, snapping a selfie. Wanda kicks her little sister off the red carpet in their house and is too busy watching The Star Show to play with her siblings. When her trusty dog, floppy old Wilbur, wants to play ball, she huffs, "Ugh! My fans won't leave me alone!" But she does take a selfie of herself and Wilbur together and posts it to social media right before bedtime. The next morning, she awakes to 20 million "likes" and TV crews swarming her house. She is ready for her close-up, but it's not Wanda the cameras seek: it's Floppy Dog. Wanda gets mad: "You are a BAD DOG," she says to Wilbur. In the end, she regrets her harsh words and diva ways... and she is forgiven, too. The bold, funny, comic book-paneled illustrations in Flop to the Top burst with energy on par with Wanda's ferocious ambition. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

"What in the world comes one by one?" begins this delightful, rhythmic book about finding numbers in nature by Nancy Raines Day (Way Down Below Deep; Piecing Earth & Sky Together). The answer is: "A nose./ A mouth./ The moon./ The sun." "What in the world comes two by two?" "A pair of birds with wings of blue." Threes? "Leaves of a clover, bodies of bees." Four by four? "Petals of poppies, hooves--and more." Five by five? "The arms of sea stars, all alive." It's always exciting to come across a book that offers up a new perspective on the world, and the beautiful, expansive compositions of Kurt Cyrus (Lisa Wheeler's Mammoths on the Move, Tadpole Rex) reflect Day's contagious awe of nature and its numbers. --Karin Snelson, children's editor, Shelf Awareness