Featuring Fabulous NonFiction Titles from PHAIDON

Publishers sometimes offer an early view of new titles. When a publisher has produced reliably terrific titles in the past, my hopes are high. That's the case with four new offerings from PHAIDON PRESS (and Phaidon Kids) whose books I've reviewed HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. In each case the subject matter of those books was an iconic visual artist, from BANKSY to  dot-maestra Yayoi Kusama and more. Theirs are not the only picture books I've featured whose subjects are artists or art itself. But they especially impressed me with the ways in which they produced kid-friendly narrative, images, format, and quality that brought "high art" and artists' lives into the hands and hearts of the very young.

The list of new titles, though, is not about art and artists. Rather, they reflect a group of books focused on various aspects of our observable world. I explored those files eagerly and found them to be well-produced, with contents offering significant kid-appeal. I provide only a brief look at each below, but each merits your close examination. All provide the high quality production values of format, paper finish, vibrant colors and crisp images I've come to expect, with well-organized and appealing content organization. Each though, is quite distinct from the others.

PHAIDON PRESS, 2025

Up first is Superpowered Plants:Meet the Smartest, Strongest, and Sneakiest Plants is written by Soledad Romero Mariño and illustrated by Sonia Pulido. The introduction presents the premise that plant adaptations have made many "super" in their capacity to not only survive but thrive in wide-ranging conditions. Such an academic concept comes to life through vivid illustrations and page design throughout, which is better shown than explained (below). The choice of plants ranges around the world, and the traits/adaptaions featured rarely overlap, making each plant a new adventure to explore. Young readers (and their adults) will recognize many of these and become acquainted with some entirely new plant varieties. I expect many audiences may be eager for a trip to a local botanical gardens after adding this book, and will also be drawn to examine plants right outside their doors with new insights and attention. It's a bright and appealing offering.

Interior images, SUPER PLANTS, PHAIDON

Interior images, SUPER PLANTS, PHAIDON

 

From Baobab trees to prickly pairs to Titan Arum (the corpse plant) and more, you can see in the samples pages pictured above that key elements are 

highlig

PHAIDON PRESS, 2025

hted not only in text but with effective graphic design. The overall format includes a full text introduction, a colorful table of contents, and end pages that array the icon-emoji style circle images that occur throughout each spread and featured plant. Overall, kids will have fun and learn loads about individual plants, while gaining understanding of the processes of adaptation.

Next up is NATURE'S TINY CHAMPIONS: The Big Book of Little Creatures Doing Mighty Things, written by Ben Lerwill, illustrated by Nic Jones. Ranging from the familiar (honeybees and dung beetles) to eye-opening surprises (chocolate midge and water bear), each double spread is a well-designed presentation of visually informative and intriguing images with narrative and spot text, labels, and inserts that provide further information to be accessed at first reading or dipped into on re-reads of investigations later.

Again, the quality of design and content offers something for any age, but kids will pore over and tell others about their discoveries.

Interior spreads, NATURE'S TINY CREATURES, PHAIDON 2025

PHAIDON PRESS, 2025

A third upcoming title is about adaptations of another of Earth's natural inhabitants, humans! GET DRESSED! A historical Guessing Game For Fashion Lovers is written by Katy Canales and illustrated by Erin Vanessa. In this title each set of  spreads reveals a time period and locale in society (notably including global cultures). As in the books above, m the information is transmitted through a rich blend and balance of text (naraative, spot, and captioned) with illustrations (full scenes, insets, and icons/symbols). 

The patterns of each culture allow readers to extend individual elements of society and its roles across time and geography, revealing the universality of humanity. 

Interior Images, GET DRESSED! PHAIDON

None of these new titles is locked into a single structure or format, but al have been designed to suit the material and capture the audience effectively. These are not simple encyclopedic displays, but tell big-picture stories about how patterns of nature (including human nature) can be inferred and sometimes directly observed by those who take the time to slow down, notice, compare, and consider closely. I hope you'll do the same with these exciting new nonfiction picture books.

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: Edge of Your Seat Suspense

Calkins Creek, ASTRA BOOKS, 2025

Buckle up for this thrilling account from mid-nineteenth century history, a little known tale of American suspense. HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: Kate Warne and the Race to Save Abraham Lincoln is written by Beth Anderson and illustrated by Sally Wern Comport. From cover to cover, each word of text and each illustration image is well-researched, compelling, and rich with details without slowing the tale down one bit.

This is yet another of the characters and events in our American history that Beth Anderson has identified, explored, and delivered with authenticity and superb storytelling. I've reviewed some of Anderson's prior releases and interviewed her in several posts, including HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. Her subjects range from a uniquely talented subway employee to Thomas Jefferson's science battle to Abraham Lincoln and includes a Revolutionary War hero - another woman with little-known significance. Suffice it to say that Anderson's range of interests is broad and her pursuit of the truth about compelling individuals runs deep.With this recent release readers step into a world of secrets, suspense, and sabotage.

Kate Warne was the first American woman detective, employed by the famous Pinkerton agency as an undercover investigator in high stakes cases. Warne emerges as a talented and eloquent woman who first managed to gain employment by convincing Pinkerton that, as a woman, she could access information sources that would be unavailable to men. Her acting experience allowed her to adopt various names, clothing, and regional accents to infiltrate groups, overcome assumptions of the time about women,  and convince conductors and others to take her seriously. Given the time and the nature of her/their work, finding and confirming information was no easy task, but Anderson reveals sources, complications, related history and more in fantastic back matter. 

This account of an attempted assassination of Abraham Lincoln before he could be inaugurated is the subtitle, so not a spoiler. Kate Warne became a vital player in American history during five days on Lincoln's train trip to Washington following his election. The route included a stop at the southern city of Baltimore, the site the a plot to assassinate Lincoln because of his anti-slavery stance. Each step and sequence of those days is intriguing, so none will be shared here. You really will want to read it all. 

Also in back matter is a brief note from the illustrator, Sally Wern Comport, that's worth reading. Illustrations are done in a style of the era, including collage and intricate artifacts to enhance and extend the story, a sort of scrapbook effect.. Endpapers are done in this style, too, a pictorial map of the presidential train route. Sections of that expansive map appear in other spreads to anchor complex details in correct times and places, to indicate the social and geographic aspects involved in the story. For a delightful (and exciting) YouTube trailer about the book, one that incorporates music, illustration elements, and key teaser lines, click HERE.

I am obviously a fan of this book, and its creators, but I'm not alone! Kirkus praised it in a review that included: "This expertly paced tale ratchets up the tension as readers learn that Lincoln’s life was in danger as he set out by train to Washington, D.C., for his 1861 presidential inauguration. Anderson adeptly plays with dramatic irony: Readers likely already know that he ultimately made it. But how?" And "Cleverly, Comport incorporates recurring images of timepieces, matching the sense of suspense layered into Anderson’s text—time is indeed of the essence." 

Booklist awarded this title a star and, in part, said this: "“Anderson ...weaves questions through the text to heighten reader engagement in the events and employs a succinct sentence structure that palpably conveys the mission’s urgency." 

These details reflect a note I did not make above, and that is the superb pacing. The pending danger and its history-changing consequences manage to produce "edge of the seat" attention, despite readers coming to the story with full understanding that Lincoln did survive this attempt. I hope you'll make it a point to read this, then consider young folks, schools, and teachers who might be thrilled to receive it as a gift.

I can't resist adding, for those who are PBS viewers, that I read every bit of this, several times through, with deep appreciation. I was unable to ignore my internal comparisons to the Masterpiece Series, MISS SCARLET. If this is one you know and enjoy, HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT will resonate with everything that appeals about that series. 

Check Out Timless Titles...Happy Blog-iversary to Me!

Clip from WritersWrite.com

 Here are some links to earlier posts. I've been doing this for a long time. The idea for this post came to mind when i read a a piece in the NEW YORK TIMES, a  turnaround on their doom-and gloom- prediction that picture books had a limited future, were maybe even pointless. That prediction spurred me to launch this blog thirteen years ago this month. Since that launch, picture books have not only survived, they have bloomed, innovated, sustained sales, and continued to build fans among those sitting on laps up through those moving into adulthood. Picture books are wide-ranging and usually indicate target ages or contents. Picture books are a distinct format/form that allows for communication unlike any other approach. Click above  on my blog note if you are interested in reading my brief thesis on the matter. Click PICTURE BOOKS if you'd like to see some of the best picture books of 2024.

It's gratifying to know that my deeply held belief in the value and wide uses picture books has been confirmed. I also appreciate having developed many consistent readers. My posts have included recent releases over that time, some of which were award winners and many of which have found firm footing in their  publishers' catalogues. (Sustaining sales over a decade or more is a huge accomplishment in today's book business.)

I will link (below) to several past favorites in this post. Feel free to  explore any of my other prior posts by using the ARCHIVES tab on the right column, or typing a key work or author into the search bar. I welcome your comments and reactions, on this post or prior ones. ENJOY!

Some terrific biographies, from about decade ago: HERE.

A few classic "dealing with a bully" books: HERE.

I've been lucky to include some great author or illustrator interviews. Here's a favorite.

Many picture books that draw my closest attention combine informative text with beautifully lyrical language. Here's one you should really give a close look.

As I scrolled back through posts from these many years I was struck not just by the continuing success of picture books (in the publishing world that means steady/growing sales), but also the ever-escalating quality of newer releases. The bar for excellence gets higher and higher, and the creators and publishers continue to strive, achieve, and surpass. This week the American Library Association held their annual announcement of award winning books/media for young people (birth through twenty). You can find more information, including a video of the announcements to share with your students, and the full list of winners HERE to put on your hold list or wish lists.

(I'll be sharing some of the picture book winners and honors in a post soon, but don't wait!)

Dreams of Flying: An Uplifting Inspiration

 

DIAL BOOKS
FOR YOUNG READERS   2025

I expected to like this recent picture book, but waspleqasantly  surprised by how fast-paced, compelling, and inspiring it is. LET'S FLY: BARRINGTON IRVING'S RECORD-BREAKING FLIGHT AROUND THE WORLD is co-written by Barrington Irving and Chana Stiefel, with illustrations by Shamar Knight-Justice.

Their collaborative authorship provides young Barrington Irving to account for his remarkable achievements and pursuits with a distinct first person voice, but Steifel skilled experience with nonfiction picture book text allows pacing, phrasing, and layered themes to shine through. 
Barrington's account begins with a direct letter to readers, then leads them into his early years in Jamaica, his interests in cars, trucks, and the skies above. A move to Miami left him feeling like an outsider, but noticing that if coconut trees could force there way through concrete, anything is possible. He imagined and worked toward a way out through high school football. When a Black pilot, Captain Gary Robinson shopped at his family's bookstore, he asked Barrington a question that would change his  life: 

"Have you ever thought of becoming a pilot?"
The story unfolds with clarity and crisp pacing, including the ensuing sequence of taking instructions, setting seemingly impossible goals, reaching out to introduce young people to careers in airplane-connected ventures, winning world records, and developing/achieving even newer goals. 

Details within the account, as well as the vibrant, action-packed illustrations, put readers right in the seat at his side, provide a view of the skies, and reveal some squirmy concerns that balance the glamour and excitement with real challenges (dangerous weather, numbing cold temperatures, needing to use a pee bottle or simply "hold it" for hour after hour). The reality is that any records broken by him were immediately available for others to break- except one. He became the first Black man to fly around the world. No one will ever take that from him, although his "youngest" record has been broken several times by others.

He takes his opportunity to affect other young lives seriously, with a  liveliness and flair that has attracted thousands of youth to discover their own interests and inner drive. What an inspiring life, well-told.