Though Susana’s best friend has moved to far-off Guadalajara, she still visits her in her dreams each night, until the Dream Stealer comes and takes her best dream away.  Sid Fleischman tells the story of plucky Susana’s quest to the magical castle to reclaim her dream, using a folkloric voice full of the character of the storyteller.  Susana travels between real and fantasy worlds without distinguishing a difference, a charm found in traditions of magical realism.  Peter Sis’s iconical illustration style suits this story perfectly, lending this little book

As an accomplished graphic artist, Frank Viva knows how to communicate a lot with a little. Saturating the pages with five sophisticated colors and minimal, expressive shapes, and using a meditative, descriptive storyline, Viva creates the feeling of a bike ride. A shiny yellow road extends page by page from endpaper to endpaper and across the cover to create an endless, looping trail.  Readers of all ages will enjoy journeys through town and country landscapes, picking out details as they move through this winning picture book.

With her characteristic deftness and sensitivity, Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park recreates the plight of migratory Sudanese children who face the trials of a harsh environment, scarce resources and limited opportunity, and lives marked with social and political turmoil. This novel weaves together the stories of Nya, a girl whose life is transformed by the creation of a freshwater well in her village, and the true-life saga of Salva, one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, and his years-journey from Sudan to Ethiopia and Kenya to Rochester, New York and back.

One is short, spontaneous, noisy and stubborn, and knows how to push someone’s buttons.  The other is tall, circumspect, sensitive and long-suffering in her tolerance.  How can they be friends?  Kate DiCamillo creates another fresh beginning reader with humorist Alison McGhee, and cheery character drawings by Tony Fucile capture the fun of this odd couple in their breezy adventures.

This telling of the Lascaux discovery features the story of the boys who found the prehistoric paintings, and their continued involvement with this amazing site.  Caldecott award-winning artist Emily Arnold McCully captures the excitement and mystery of these artifacts with her own paintings, providing more background on the events and issues surrounding this discovery. 

In the tradition of A Hole Is to Dig, this charming New York Review publication explores the wilds of word usage, encouraging young readers and writers to play with words and enjoy the potential of language.  Ben Shahn’s character illustrations complement the individualist  sentiment of this book perfectly.

Explore remote Mongolia with research biologist and conservator Tom McCarthy, and witness his efforts to study the rare, elusive snow leopard.  Readers get inside the practice of field science, learning how patience and tedium are interfused with moments of thrilling discovery.  This book also tells the stories of Genghis Khan, the discovery of dinosaur eggs, and the lifestyle of present-day Mongolians.  Learn how to speak some Mongolian, and find out how you can become involved in the effort to save the snow leopard.

With a little math, a bit of science, and some history, Ken Robbins makes elegant, enticing nonfiction for children that adults will love to share.  After discovering that a carat comes from the weight of the average carob seed, a diamond has a different sparkle.  Learning definitions and origin of measurement terms--from leagues and fathoms to drops and light years--is bound to spark interest in an inquiring mind.