Good Reads by Darcy Connor
Preschool/Toddler
Picture Book
The Leaf Thief
The First Strawberries
Written by Alice Hemming
Written by Joseph Bruchac
Illustrated by Nicola Slater
Illustrated by Anna Vojtech
I am so happy to be heading into fall. I’m ready for sweaters and jeans, stews and lattes and all the joy autumn brings. That eagerness for the change of seasons immediately brought The Leaf Thief to mind as that cute little squirrel “with a belly full of hazelnuts” obsessively counts the leaves on the trees. But wait! How can it be? Just yesterday there were so many more leaves on the trees. There were red ones, and orange ones and yellow ones. Where did they go? Could they have been stolen!? Is there truly a leaf thief on the loose? This is a wonderful story about embracing change that is inevitably part of life.
Joseph Bruchac is an awardwinning Native American writer with works like Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two, Two Roads and Skeleton Man. Many of his stories are based on Native American legends and folklore, including his book The First Strawberries, which is based on a Cherokee Indian story about how strawberries came to be. A celebration of the natural world, the illustrations by Anna Vojtech make this a beautiful book for your blossoming reader.
Upper Elementary School The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane Written byJulia Nobel
Sent to boarding school after the strange disappearance of her father, Emma carries with her a mysterious box of medallions that belonged to her father. When she arrives at school, she discovers that the same symbols on the medallions are etched into walls and books at school. Emma soon discovers that the symbols are connected to a secret society called The Order of Black Hollow Lane. Could these medallions and this secret society be clues to help find her missing father? Readers won’t truly find out until they read the sequel The Secret of White Stone Gate.
10 | SAND& PINE MAGAZINE October/November 2021
