What better time to host a publisher’s preview than BEA? Fans of all things literary are in town for the big show, and everyone’s got books on the brain. Candlewick Press held its librarian preview at Bank Street College of Education in New York City on May 30, the day after SLJ’s Day of Dialog (DoD). The room was abuzz with post-DoD talk: authors and illustrators, which panel impressed the most, and who got what books signed by the authors. Then came the presentation of the new titles. First up were the picture books, and Candlewick started it off with a bang: Dinosaur Kisses (August) by David Ezra Stein. Featuring an overzealous young dinosaur, this book has huge storytime potential for toddlers; the dinosaur just wants to hug and kiss and play...but ends up biting and pushing in all his excitement. Working in a limited palette of greens, yellows, and browns, Stein demonstrates once again that he has his finger on the pulse of the kid experience.

Librarian Laura Lutz, with librarian Bina Williams, presenting Matt Phelan's Bluffton.

As you can imagine, much of Candlewick’s team was tied up with BEA preparations so yours truly agreed to help them out by presenting a couple of titles. I had the privilege of sharing How to Train a Train, written by Jason Carter Eaton and illustrated by Caldecott Honoree John Rocco. This is a clever pseudo-guidebook on how to make a train your pet. Many librarians in the room were talking about the sons, nephews, and friends in their life who will go nuts over this transportation-themed picture book.  The sad news?  You’ll have to wait until September for this one, folks. Journey, by debut author-illustrator Aaron Becker, was met with longing sighs and excited gasps by the preview attendees.  A young girl escapes to an imaginary world...and what a world it is. Wordless, lovely, and quiet, this was succinctly described as “a novel in picture book form.”  This releases in August, but it’s already received two starred reviews and—if the gushing around the room was any indication—it’s likely to receive more in its future. A delight...and, I daresay, a highlight of the preview. Toon Books was up next with its latest slate of beginning comics for young readers. The Big Wet Balloon is the American debut of world-renowned Argentine artist Ricardo Liniers. Two sisters have an adventure in the rain, and readers will be dying to romp in the puddles alongside them. This comes out in September, publishing simultaneously in English and Spanish. Readers will also be excited to have another book from Geoffrey Hayes in their hands; Patrick Eats His Peas and Other Stories (August).  And fans of Otto rejoice: Otto's Backwards Day, by Frank Cammuso and Jay Lynch, debuts in August as well. Otto ends up in a backwards world; the catch is that the world is a palindrome, just like Otto’s name. Clever! To change the pace, editor Sarah Ketchersid next presented With a Mighty Hand: The Story in the Torah, adapted by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Daniel Nevins (August). This includes the first five books of the Hebrew bible and a genealogy map. But what elicited excited murmurs from the attendees was the artwork—hand-painted on wood, the book’s illustrations are rich in color and quite stunning. You’ll all be thrilled to find out another Kate DiCamillo story is on its way in August. Flora and Ulysses, illustrated by K.G. Campbell, is a middle-grade novel that’s a nice transition for kids ready to move on from Mercy Watson but not quite up to the length of A Tale of Despereaux. The black-and-white illustrations—featuring a girl that looks, entertainingly, like Candlewick's Sharon Hancock, executive director of school and library marketing—have a graphic novel feel to them and are certain to appeal to DiCamillo fans everywhere. Next in the proceedings, I was up again to present Matt Phelan’s new graphic novel Bluffton. A fictionalized version of Buster Keaton’s real-life summers spent in Bluffton, Michigan, this will wow readers who already believed Phelan had outdone himself with Storm in the Barn and Around the World. You won’t have to wait long for this one: it comes out in July. Preview attendees were seeing stars when they heard the names “David Almond” and “Oliver Jeffers.”  Their new collaboration is The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas (August). It’s a fanciful adventure story with a carnival-themed twist. We were all left envying the Brits; this has already been published in the UK, those lucky blokes. Candlewick's Jenny Choy, marketing manager, had us all on the edge of our seats whilst talking about Fallout by Todd Strasser. It’s 1962 and the bomb has gone off. A family scrambles into their shelter but are followed by others in their neighborhood. Suddenly a shelter built for four is housing ten. Jenny described the scenes in the shelter as being “filthy, oppressive, and claustrophobic,” and we all swooned a little when we learned we had to wait until September to see what happens. Romeo and Juliet, as imagined by acclaimed illustrator Gareth Hinds...not much more to say about that, right? We know this graphic novel version will be outstanding. Featuring a diverse cast to capture Shakespeare’s universality, this comes out in September. Young adult titles were next. There is the Wuthering Heights retelling that got excited murmurs from the room, Black Spring (August) by Alison Croggon. It has a magical quality to it, with witches and “ancient laws of vendetta.” Can’t wait to curl up with this on a drizzly fall afternoon! Also on the YA docket is Living with Jackie Chan, Jo Knowles’ companion story to Jumping Off Swings. This time, the story is told from perspective of Joss. Ears perked up upon hearing about debut author Susann Cokal’s story of court intrigue in an imagined Scandinavian country. The Kingdom of Little Wounds is an upstairs-downstairs type story featuring feminist themes and true history details. Sweeping and rich in detail, this October title has enormous crossover appeal. And just look at that cover. We all reacted quite strongly to the pitch for More Than This by Patrick Ness—immediately we all whispered and gushed. This was described to us as a "page-turner," "heartbreaking," "dramatic."  It sounds like an absolute heart-stopper. How many days until September? Lastly, we got a special treat: one of our own, Monica Edinger, Dalton School teacher and blogger at Educating Alice, spoke about her new book, Africa Is My Home. Telling the little-known story of the real-life children aboard Amistad, this labor of love was thirteen years in the making for Edinger. She uses primary source materials and archival images to drive the story home; accompanied by illustrations from Robert Byrd, this is an emotional and rich book. The room was so supportive of Edinger, and we all can’t wait for this one to come out in October. With that, we all scurried off to BEA to meet authors, network, and check out upcoming titles.  We’re already looking forward to next year.