The other day I found a few titles I was interested in via an email newsletter. When I looked them up to see if reader copies online were available, they had thumbnails of the images, but not the full text. I read these introductions, but was hoping to find finished copies sometime in the future (as they are all summer and fall publications). The next day what to my wondering eyes did appear? It was eight tiny reindeer…. I mean, those four titles I had skimmed.
The first (due in October 2025) is The Peacock Who Howled with Jackals by Nahid Kazemi. It is a being yourself story that unfolds a bit differently than others of the same theme. The dream-like quality of the images make it in a folktale style but the story keeps it modern. There is a good combination of elements that make a soothing, but strong and important read. I enjoyed the illustrations, there is a slight twist at the end that was refreshing, and overall it was probably my favorite of the four (or tied with the last title on this list). It is a soft book to read that has a solid story. I would like to see the final version as I want to know how large it would be as it feels like a good lap-read.
One I liked a little less, but still enjoyed as the simplistic look was deceiving is You Can’t Tame a Tiger by Stephanie Ellen Sy and illustrated by Julien Chung. This is due mid-September 2025. The child narrator tells how they have a friend who is a tiger. However, they are not striped or orange, so how can they be a real tiger? With a few missteps, our child and their friends see how it might not look like what you know to be a tiger, but it is a tiger nonetheless. The minimalist illustrations are funny and keep things light, and are important to the overall story showing you the goofy things our child does.
Then there was RJ and the Ticking Clock by Ian Duncan and Scot Ritchie (illustrator). Due in August 2025 it is a slight timing miss for the Father’s Day holiday it uses in its story with. RJ is good at math. He has two dads. He likes that in class he’ll be able to make father’s day cards for both of them. But the teacher has only allotted 30 minutes to make one card. And he wants to make two: one for each father as he wants to show the different things he does with each. Of course, there is a solution to this situation, he just can’t get the math to add up. The illustrations are fun. They are light, but have good color. They have fun details and overall, just make a cozy story. 
The final one that was a thumbnail to full on read, is Who Needs the Dark?: The Many Ways Living Things Depend on Darkness by Laura Alary and illustrator Risa Hugo. A fall release, September 2025 will find this title out there. A science based story that reads as a fiction story, this book highlights the wonders of the dark. Not just that bats come out or that you get to dream, but how the dark protected you when you were in your mothers womb. And how the dark of the ground allows creatures to grow and emerge safely. It shows how a mushroom glows at night/in the dark so brightly that in fact you could read this book by it! The illustrations give me a classic feeling (a mixture of 1940s, 1950s and 1960s), but keeping a modern feeling concurrently. The colors are darker, but still have a pop to them that is both soothing and a little bold.