Candlewick

Creative Team

Description

Join Pia as she explores a forest, plays pranks on her dad, and even makes a surprise friend in this young graphic novel for fans of Bluey and Calvin and Hobbes. There are sounds that only exist deep in the woods: the low rumbling inside fallen trees; the tiny tck-tck-tck of a bustling ant colony; the woosh of bird wings in the wind. And Pia and her Dad are determined to record them all! But in her rush to explore, Pia quickly gets lost. With the help of a new friend Quinn, Pia resolves to find her way back to dad using the sounds of the forest . . . after she and Quinn build fairy houses and play some games, of course. With warmth and humor, David Bruggink has created a lovably impish character with Pia and a forest world filled with waterfalls and creatures. A color palette of soft greens and blues with simple paneling makes this a cozy read for any afternoon. Back matter includes more information on field recording, how to build fairy houses, and more.

Creative Team

Description

Big-thinking Sama loves coding, but is she skilled enough to fit in at Tech Club? This is a playful and STEM-rich story inspired by the real life of its seventeen-year-old author. Sama’s starting middle school! Maybe Tech Club will be a good place to fit in. She’s into solving problems, building clever machines, and collecting beautiful data, plus her friend Nancy has given her a cool book on coding. But everyone at Tech Club is already so good at coding—will Sama’s contributions be enough for her to be included in the Code Crusher championship? Sama proposes a project to help a stressed-out bus driver develop a time-saving route, but the club leader thinks the coding isn’t complex enough. When Sama befriends new neighbor Zoe (who built her own hovercraft!), however, the two girls inspire each other, and soon Sama bounces back with a bunny-based board game that teaches kids how to code while having fun. Could this game be the key to getting to the championship? Precise coding vocabulary and examples are woven seamlessly into this lively story, based on the real-life computer science adventures of its author, young tech entrepreneur Samaira Mehta.