Mary Bennet finally gets her own story and happiness in The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow (Henry Holt, 2020). Mary the easily ignored middle daughter of the family at the center of Pride and Prejudice, and I’m sure many readers of the classic novel skim over her role. She’s annoying and reflects badly on

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The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published posthumously in 1971) is the author’s “rough draft” of one more book about her early life, in this case the first four years of her marriage. Because it was only discovered after her death and was published in essentially the same form it was found it,

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Twelve-year-old Rosie can see color when she hears music and she hears music when she sees colors. Her perfect “echoic” or audio memory mean that she is surrounded by constantly music, including in her thoughts. In the beginning of her story in The Color of Sound by Emily Barth Isler (Carolrhoda Books, 2024), Rosie is

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The picture book Look by Gabi Snyder (illustrated by Samantha Cotterill; Paula Wiseman, 2024) is a work of art. Illustrated with photographs of hand-made three-dimensional collage sets, Look gives a visual exploration of patterns along with text that encourages the young reader to “look” around for details. The text and art seamlessly harmonize. A red-haired

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Someday by Alison McGhee and Peter H. Reynolds (published 2007, Atheneum Books) is a mother-daughter book, and a book for a mother to treasure. My friend received it when she was pregnant with her daughter, and she thought of me when she found that I was also having a girl. The book begins with a

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My son (age 4) and I really enjoy the rhymes and the stories in Anna Dewney’s Llama Llama books. Llama Llama Home with Mama (Viking, August 2011) is no exception, and I particularly related to it since I was sick for much of the summer due to my early pregnancy. In this story, Llama Llama

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