New Release Books by Jill McElmurry

From the illustrator of the best-selling Little Blue Truck series comes the whimsical tale of Madison Pratt, a clever and spunky girl determined to reverse the curse of the plaid purse. Madison Pratt is delighted to find a lonely plaid purse in the park one afternoon. It's just the fashion statement she's been looking for. Until--oh no! The plaid begins to spread. It crawls up Madison's sleeve, over her jacket, and under her hat. The purse's mad curse causes Madison--and her whole neighborhood--to turn plaid! Will Madison's spunk and optimism help to reverse the curse before it's too late?

According to Publishers Weekly in a starred review, this picture book "capture[s] the exuberance of the creative spirit alongside the quirks of a character accepting his limitations." Mario is a squirrel who loves to invent amazing moves, like the Super Looper and Tail, Don't Fail. But though his parents ooh and ahh at whatever he does, his friend Isabelle is not so easily impressed. When she points out that anyone can have a move, Mario must find some other way to stand out. Sometimes being amazing is hard work, as shown in this zany yet accessible picture book from Jill McElmurry, illustrator of The One and Only Marigold and Little Blue Truck. Young readers will instantly recognize themselves in Mario, as he searches for his one-of-a-kind talent. Here is a hilarious read-aloud that will have little ones oohing and ahhing—and trying out some moves of their own.

When lonely Miss Mary Lynn MacIntosh decides to adopt Blue, an untrained basset hound from the pound, she gets far more companionship than she ever expected, in a rollicking, rhythmic romp of doggy delights.

As the years go by, the members of Leo Leotardi's family continue to think he is just a baby.

A rhymed view of the interrelatedness and belonging of all things and creatures in the universe, from the stars, to the sea, to a mouse, to a child.

Two very different sisters learn to find a compromise between tidiness and total disarray after they share a zany adventure.