Eerdmans Books for Young Readers: A Fall 2024 Preview

Admit it. When it comes to preview posts about smaller publishers, where ya gonna go? You’re coming to me, my darlings, because I love small publishers almost as much as I love you, my dear readers.

Today we turn our sights to a publisher located in my home state of Michigan. Eerdmans is a particularly fascinating company too. Initially conceived as a Christian book publisher in 1911 or so, it was in 1995 that the Eerdmams Books for Young Readers imprint was launched. They were given a significant boost when A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams and The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet, won a Caldecott Honor. Today, they’re one of the few publishers for children that regularly take a chance on international literature for kids. As such, it was a great delight to get to hear about their upcoming Fall 2024 list. Behold!

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2024 Fall Titles from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Kingdoms of Life by Carly Allen-Fletcher

ISBN: 978-0-8028- 5591-6

Publishing Date: August 13, 2024

Behold! A UK-based title that stands as the first frontlist title for a new grouping on STEAM books. What we have here is an adventure through the six kingdoms of life and all the worlds inside of THOSE. So let’s have some fun with this. Can you, dear reader, name the six kingdoms of life alluded to in the title? Archaea was new to me (and, if I’m going to be honest, I doubt I could have remembered the Protists). Throughout the book you get a text that includes great descriptions, as when one creature is described as, “a tiny floating plant as small as a cupcake sprinkle”. And for you jaded adult out there, don’t worry. There are plenty of unusual things mentioned, that can break the brains of the adults that encounter them (ever heard of a Resurrection plant?). The art does a great job of bringing all this to life. My personal favorite is the bacteria spread. Can you blame me? (It’s the third image below). And in spite of its European origins, the book has backmatter. No Bibliography, alas, (mostly it’ll be in an accompanying online activity kit) but there are sections dedicated to Scientific Names and Featured Life-Forms. Also, throughout the book the numbers that appear on the different living creatures correspond to the numbers in the backmatter, which give greater context.

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A Star Shines Through by Anna Desnitskaya

ISBN: 9780802856319

Publication Date: August 20, 2024

If this cover looks a bit familiar, that may be because I recently hosted a guest piece from author/illustrator Anna Desnitskaya on this very blog less than a month ago. Desnitskaya’s a Moscow-born author who moved to Israel and now lives in Montenegro. In this story she tells the story of escaping Russia for another country and the discomfort and uncertainty that comes with such a move. Expect a certain level of poignancy to both the art and the word choices. Also expect some truly fantastic art. I love that shot of the mother and the daughter in the rain, as well as the sheer bareness of the apartment when they first encounter it. Back at home, the girl in this story would see a star in her home’s window whenever she approached. And when her mother makes a new star for the new home, “Everything around us became a little less different” with the star. It really is a lovely book, and an effective emigration/refugee story. Desnitskaya has the ability to captures the gritty reality of moving into a new place, from the cords on the wall to the lack of curtains.

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It Is Okay by Ye Guo

ISBN: 9780802856241

Publication Date: August 27, 2024

If I know anything about you at all, it’s that you woke up this morning thinking, “I really hope I get to see a goat in a beret today.” Friend, consider your wishes granted and then some. The whole premise of this story is that Goat has run out of his favorite food: canned grass. “Every morning, Goat has a cup of coffee with canned grass on taste.” When Goat goes to the supermarket to get some more canned grass he meets a bunny and they discuss canned grass brands. They become friends after that. Mind you, they have their differences. “Goat thinks that Bunny puts too much sugar in his coffee.” Does that stand in the way of their friendship? As the book puts it, “Goat and Bunny are very different. But it is okay.” How do you go wrong with that laid back title? Put simply, this is a full-on buddy movie in a picture book. And it models a gentle way of showing how people can disagree but meet in the middle and acknowledge their different ways of doing things. It also addresses how do we respond to stress and what we can do when things go wrong? No doubt this will speak to a lot of readers.

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Hiro: Winter and Marshmallows by Marine Schneider, translated by Vineet Lal

ISBN: 9780802856326

Publication Date: September 3, 2024

The tale of a TRUE party animal. Hiro, our heroine, is the bear shown on this book’s cover. Put simply, this is one bear who doesn’t want to hibernate. Instead, she yearns for adventure. So, one day in the winter, she goes for a walk. In doing so she discovers the smell of toasted marshmallows and a winter party in full swing. Be sure to check out the delightful two wordless two-page shots of the shocked humans seeing Hiro and then fleeing for their lives. It takes one brave little boy to finally get up the courage to talk to Hiro. When he does he asks her what’s it like being a bear. Listen to her answer: “It’s as if the world were very small and very big, all at once.” In the end, Hiro finally has her fill of marshmallows and goes home, with this great final line, “Before falling into a deep sleep which may or may not last until the end of winter.” This is the kind of readaloud ideal for class hibernation units. Or maybe you’d like to do a hygge storytime? Consider this the ultimate cozy cozy book. Heck, you could even throw a nice (non-denominational) winter party in conjunction with this. Just make sure you include plenty of marshmallows! Oh! And the true surprise for me? I had this pegged as Japanese. The true origin: Belgium!

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Fast Cheetah, Slow Tortoise: Poems of Animal Opposites by Bette Westera & Mies van Hout, translated by David Colmer.

ISBN: 9780802856357

Publication Date: September 17, 2024

Previous Batchelder Honor winner (as recently as 2024) Westera is prepared to bring you Dutch poems packed with opposites! In one poem, for example, you might find a pig that is meticulously clean. On the opposite page, a warthog embodying true mess. The art is the standout in this book, but don’t discount the wordplay. In fact, if you’re the kind of adult who likes reading poetry aloud to kids, I can assure you that the word choice, pacing, tone, and tenor make it so that you don’t even have to practice reading this. Consider it a fun way to hang out in the world of antonyms. Educators will have a really fun time making their kids think, “How would your poem sound if you were a turtle? A cheetah?”

By the way, in the course of writing this up I went down a bit of a rabbit hole, trying to determine the difference between a laternfish and an anglerfish. Turns out, they are NOT the same!

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Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom and Claudia McGehee

ISBN: 9780802855701

Publication Date: September 24, 2024

Okay, endpaper geeks. You’re in good hands. Even the endpapers of this book are beautiful:

And yes. They have considered turning them into wrapping paper, but it’s just not economically feasible. Sorry about that.

So this is a book positively riddled with glorious scratchboard art. It’s a counting book, certainly, but it gives that counting a particularly wintery twist. Honestly, it’s a rather good pairing with the aforementioned Hiro. Each bit of text that accompanies a number reads like a little poem, as when we learn that the squirrels, “feast at their midden full of cones”. Ultimately the book ends with a luminous, joyous natural conclusion of the season in the last spread. Spring starts to arrive (something I think we’re ALL ready for right now). For a fun bit of backmatter there are animal profiles at the end with little facts. There’s also a mention at the end of the research process that went into this book and why the creators wanted to make it. Perfect for a winter storytime.

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The Cat Way by Sara Lundberg, translated by B.J. Woodstein

ISBN: 9780802856333

Publication Date: October 8, 2024

A Swedish picture book presented in two parts (so dramatic!). Consider this a cat book as well as book about mindfulness, being present, and giving control to someone else. Right from the start a woman says, while on a walk with her cat, that SHE is in charge. All goes well at first, but eventually questions about control are raised. The cat eventually asks why the woman is always in charge. By the end of part one, the woman says that the cat can be in charge next time. So, in part two, the cat is! Ultimately, the owner realizes what you can experience when you give up control and let someone else be in charge for a little while. The folks at Eerdmans are calling this one, “An SEL book for cat lovers”. And check out that watercolor and gouache art:

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The Most Beautiful Winter by Cristina Sitja Rubio, translated by Vineet Lal

ISBN: 9780802856272

Publication Date: October 15, 2024

Last book of the day and it’s about . . . winter! What a surprise! An English-language debut, Cristina Sitja Rubio was born in Venuzuela, and now splits her time between Barcelona and Berlin. As a result, it is fair to say that she has experienced winter in lots of different forms throughout her life. Like the aforementioned Hiro, this is another story about a woodland creature not wanting to hibernate. Badger is quite up and about in this story but in spite of his best efforts he cannot wake the other hibernators. Illustrated with a mix of crayon and watercolor art, again, this is a book that would be ideal for hibernation and winter units and seasonal storytimes. There’s even some nice backmatter to help kids understand the strange gray space that happens between hibernation and torpor (badgers as a rule go into torpor).

Oh, and extra points for this depiction of knitting. You see how Rubio placed those knitting needles? Yeah, she knew what she was doing.

Special thanks to Amy Storey and the good folks at Eerdmans for this information. Look for these books in the fall! It’ll be here before you know it.

Filed under: Publisher Previews