In Skywatcher by Jamie Hogan (published by Tilbury House, 2021), a young boy loves astronomy and lives in a city with lots of light pollution but he longs to see the stars properly. One day his mother takes him to the country to do just that. They see familiar constellations in the starry sky and

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My fifth grader came home from school to tell me about an amazing book her teacher was reading. It was based on real situations (from around the world) and was about a person who lived in a busy city and didn’t have any running water. My daughter was awed that this girl went into a

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I Love My City by France Desmarais and Richard Adam, illustrated by Yves Dumont (Pajama Press, March 2023) is a nonfiction middle grade explanation and illustration of what makes a city a city. Given the increasing urbanization of the world (apparently 55% of people worldwide live in cities!), this book provides a much needed look

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A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham (Candlewick Press, 2011) is a story of a community coming together over a junkyard bus, a bus labeled “Heaven” and left on the street. Young Stella, a somewhat mysterious girl whom we don’t know much about, adopts the bus and, with the rest of her community, they make the

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Tia Isa Wants a Car by Meg Medina and illustrated by Claude Munoz (Candlewick, 2011) is one I enjoyed but I never expected my 4-year-old son to love it as much as he did. It quickly became a favorite for us. As the title suggests, Tia Isa really wants her own car to be able to go

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Subway by Christoph Niemann (Greenwillow, 2010), was on a new bookshelf recently; it caught my eye because my son (age 3) loves trains and has never yet been exposed to what a subway is. He loves this book! The illustrations are on a black background, with white-painted rounded-edged figures of a parent and two kids, taking

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