SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Inspire world thinkers

Stories provide a safe space for children to learn about themselves, their peers, and their communities. These books can help shape kids into leaders who value empathy, inclusion, and personal responsibility.

MARIANA RÍOS RAMÍREZ is a Mexican author living in Anderson, South Carolina. She worked as a high school teacher and co-owned an online business before discovering her passion for writing. Mariana is a member of SCBWI, Storyteller Academy, and Rate Your Story. Santiago’s Dinosaurios is her debut picture book.

UDAYANA LUGO started her career as a product designer but also worked in interior and graphic design. Her illustrated books include The Great and the Terrible and The Window, among others. She lives in Richmond, British Columbia.

Santiago’s Dinosaurios

by MARIANA RÍOS RAMÍREZ

illustrated by UDAYANA LUGO

978-0-8075-7230-6 US $17.99 Ages 4–8/Grades PreK–3 October 2022 8 X 10, 32 pages Jacketed Hardcover with Matte Lamination Territory: World E-Book: 978-0-8075-7232-0 US $9.99

Santiago finds a way to connect to his classmates—through dinosaurios!

Santiago is new to the United States, and he doesn’t speak English. On his first day of school, how will he connect with his classmates? Santiago learns that even when you don’t speak the same language, some interests are universal.

What to Expect

• Immigrant story about attending school in the

US without knowing English • Latinx perspective inspired by lived experience of the author’s son • Spanish words and phrases woven throughout the book, plus a dinosaur glossary at the end SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL LEARNING

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Malik’s Number Thoughts

A Story about OCD

by NATALIE ROMPELLA illustrated by ALESSIA GIRASOLE

978-0-8075-4950-6 US $17.99 Ages 4–8/Grades PreK–3 September 2022 8 X 10, 32 pages Jacketed Hardcover with Matte Lamination Territory: World E-Book: 978-0-8075-4951-3 US $9.99

A determined boy learns to manage his OCD.

When Malik is invited to a mini-golf party, he’s excited. But he worries about his Number Thoughts—the way his brain wants him to do everything on the count of four. If he takes exactly four strokes at each hole, the other kids might notice and make fun of him. With his therapist’s guidance and his family’s help, Malik works to overcome his Number Thoughts in time for the party.

What to Expect

• Written by an author who has experience with

OCD • Focus on management of disorder rather than diagnosis • Approximately half a million US children have

OCD according to the International OCD

Foundation.

NATALIE ROMPELLA is the author of more than sixty books and resources for children, including Cookie Cutters & Sled Runners, a middle grade novel about OCD, and The World Never Sleeps, a picture book about insects. She is a former elementary and middle school teacher and lives in Libertyville, Illinois.

ALESSIA GIRASOLE has been drawing since early childhood. She lives in Milan, Italy.

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MEDEIA SHARIF is a middle school English teacher by day, and by night, she’s a multi-published author of picture books, novels, and short stories for all age groups. She received her master’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic University. Born in New York City, she currently lives in Miami, Florida.

PARAN KIM grew up in Seoul South Korea, but moved to Tokyo when she was twenty to study fine art. However she realized her true passion lay in making picture books and became a full-time illustator. She now lives in Dresden, Germany, with her husband.

Remembering Mom’s Kubbat Halab

by MEDEIA SHARIF

illustrated by PARAN KIM

978-0-8075-6932-0 US $17.99 Ages 4–8/Grades PreK–3 October 2022 8 X 10, 32 pages Jacketed Hardcover with Matte Lamination Territory: World E-Book: 978-0-8075-6933-7 US $9.99

When someone special to us dies, remembering them through the ways they expressed their love helps with loss.

Bushra misses her mother, her dayik. So does her brother Sherzat. Mom used to help them with homework, read to them, and tuck them into bed at night. For Bushra, she would cook kubbat halab, perfectly golden rice-and-potato patties made without meat. No one can make kubbat halab quite like Mom, but Bushra wants to try.

What to Expect

• Explores cultural differences through cooking • Conveys the sorrow of losing a loved one while showing it is possible to move beyond the pain • Features a close extended family connecting through food SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL LEARNING

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Gracie Brings Back Bubbe’s Smile

by JANE SUTTON

illustrated by DEBBY RAHMALIA

978-0-8075-1023-0 US $17.99 Ages 4–8/Grades PreK–3 September 2022 8 X 10, 32 pages Jacketed Hardcover with Matte Lamination Territory: World E-Book: 978-0-8075-1024-7 US $9.99

A young girl and her grandmother move past a shared loss together.

Gracie loves when her grandmother comes for a visit, but this time Bubbe is sad. Her husband, Gracie’s grandfather, recently died. Gracie misses Zayde too, so when Bubbe reveals that she used to speak Yiddish with him, Gracie is eager to learn. As Gracie picks up more words, she and Bubbe move past Zayde’s loss and find moments of joy together.

What to Expect

• Communicates that love and humor can help us move beyond loss • Introduces Yiddish words in a natural way • A timeless intergenerational story

JANE SUTTON is the author of eight picture books and four novels for children, including the award-winning Me and the Weirdos. She received a BA in comparative literature from Brandeis University. She is a children’s books writing instructor and presenter. Jane and her husband live in Lexington, Massachussetts, near their grown children and families.

DEBBY RAHMALIA is an illustrator and storyteller based in Jakarta, Indonesia. She graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology, where she earned a bachelor of interior design degree. Debby’s long-term dream was to become an illustrator. She was encouraged to pursue her dream after she had her first baby and has been illustrating ever since. One of her dreams is to share the books she illustrates with her child and to enjoy them together.

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