After scouring publisher catalogs while hopped up on LaCroix and trail mix, I am here with ten books coming in December, January, and February that I am looking forward to.

To which I am looking forward?

That to forward am I looking?

Whatever grammar rules I am flaunting, don’t let that distract from the books.

Forward which to looking am I.

Picture Books

Bear and Wolf by Daniel Salmieri

January 23 | Enchanted Lion | Grades K-2

Show me an admired illustrator’s first authorial effort and I’m interested. I feel like I owe Daniel Salmieri and Adam Rubin lunch for making me look good in story time with books like Dragons Love Tacos and Robo-sauce. Now Salmieri offers up his first author/illustrator book, about an unlikely friendship between two feared woodland animals.

Chapter Books

Stella Diaz Has Something to Say by Angela Dominguez

January 16 | Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan) | Grades 1-3

Angela Dominguez has been making wonderful picture books for a few years now, but this is her first foray into longer fiction. It’s a story about a Mexican-American girl who overcomes her shyness to befriend the new kid in class.

They Didn’t Teach THIS in Worm School! by Simone Lia

February 13 | Candlewick Press | Grades 2-4

There’ve been a lot of unlikely pairs in children’s literature, but a friendship between a worm and a bird is about as unlikely as they come. And yet that is what we have in this book, about a worm that talks his way out of being eaten and ends up on a crazy advenure with a bird. Bonus points for some good-looking illustrations.

Two’s a Crowd (Pug Pals #1) by Flora Ahn

January 30 | Scholastic | Grades 2-4

Of this, I am certain: The world is ready for an illustrated chapter book about feuding pug siblings.

Middle Grade

The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis

January 30 | Scholastic Press | Grades 4-7

What does C.P.C. do at a Newbery-caliber level? Historical fiction. And early signs for this book, about a sharecropper’s son on the run (including a Publishers Weekly starred review) indicate this could be some fine historical fiction.

All Three Stooges by Erica S. Perl

January 9 | Knopf (Random House) | Grades 5 and Up

This story about a pair of comedy junkie kids gets complicated when a parent dies and puts their friendship in peril. I’m trusting Perl to bring it on home with sensitivity and humor.

The Haunted House Next Door (Desmond Cole, Ghost Patrol #1) by Andres Miedoso, illustrated by Victor Rivas

December 12, 2017 | Little Simon (Simon & Shuster) | Grades 1-3

Andres is a fraidy-cat, so how did he end up being best friends with Desmond, who runs his own ghost patrol? This first book in a new slightly spooky series lays the groundwork. As a librarian who gets a lot of requests for scary books, this one has my attention.

Graphic Novel

Clem Hetherington and the Ironwood Race (Clem Hetherington #1) by Jen Breach, illustrated by Douglas Holgate

February 27 | Graphix (Scholastic) | Grades 3-7

Clem wants to be an archaeologist, and gets her chance by entering a no holds barred race to win stolen artifacts. This book might just answer the question, “What if Indiana Jones was a girl, and into car racing?”

Nonfiction

Abraham Lincoln, Pro Wrestler by Steve Sheinkin, illustrated by Neil Swaab

January 9 | Roaring Brook Press | Grades 3-5

The world could use a fired-up Honest Abe right now, don’t you think? Steve Sheinkin (of Sibert Medal and Walking and Talking fame) is trying something new here: mixing fiction, humor, and history. The series is called Time Twisters and it’s a combination I think lots of young readers will be up for.

A Seed is the Start by Melissa Stewart

February 13 | National Geographic Books | Grades 1-4

Try to tell me you didn’t come home from school at some point with a cup full of dirt or a wet paper towel in a ziplock with a seed. It’s a childhood staple. As someone who’s spent much of my adult life fruitlessly coaxing seeds to grow (why don’t they cooperate? Why?) I could use this book about seeds. Oh, and I bet kids and classroom teachers teaching the topic will be into it too.

That’s a wrap. Look for the 10 to Note Spring Preview in February.