Adele Griffin is the acclaimed author of over thirty books for young readers, including the Witch Twins, Vampire Island, and The Oodlethunks series, as well as The Becket List. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family and their small dog, Edith.
www.adelegriffin.com
@adelegriffin
Courtney Sheinmel has written over a dozen highly celebrated books for kids and teens, including the Stella Batts and The Kindness Club series for young readers and Edgewater, a YA novel. She lives in New York City.
www.courtneysheinmel.com
@courtneywrites
Sara Palacios is the illustrator of the Pura Belpré Honor-winning picture book Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match, Between Us and Abuela, and A Way With Wild Things among others. She lives in San Francisco and Mexico City.
www.sarapalaciosillustrations.com
Perfect for newly independent readers, this charming and quirky story about two unusual best friends who lift each other up, no matter the challenge!
Meet Agnes and Clarabelle!
Agnes the pig and Clarabelle the chicken are best friends through every season. Whether it's planning the perfect birthday party in the spring, spending a summer day at the beach, braving a big department store in the fall, or making the very best pizza in winter, they help each other through every up and down. For Agnes and Clarabelle, everything is better when they're together!
Bloomsbury's unique Read & Bloom line is specifically designed for readers who are ready to move beyond picture books, but may not quite be ready for longer chapter books. At just 80 pages and packed with dynamic, full-color illustrations, these books are perfect for helping independent readers grow a lifelong love of books.
Don't miss the other books in Bloomsbury's Read & Bloom line!
Agnes and Clarabelle Celebrate!
The Adventures of Caveboy
Caveboy is Bored!
Caveboy is a Hit!
Wallace and Grace and the Cupcake Caper
Wallace and Grace Take the Case
Wallace and Grace and the Lost Puppy
Stinky Spike the Pirate Dog
Stinky Spike and the Royal Rescue
An engaging visual design, charming characters, and funny, relatable story lines make this a lovely addition to chapter book collections.
Designed for readers just graduating from leveled readers, this has sturdy paper; plentiful, full-color illustrations; large type; and lots of dialogue. . . . Humor mixes with these relatable tales of friendship, making this series starter fine fodder for fledgling readers.
Palacios . . . decorates almost every spread with soft and warm-colored paintings . . . sure to entertain young readers transitioning to chapter books.
The full-color illustrations, softly textured with colored pencil and watercolor washes and enhanced with crisp digital shapes, emphasize the antic energy of the pair, creating distinctly readable expressions through posture, beak, and snout.
There's plenty to enjoy in this friendship guided by compromise, which gains added cheeriness from Palacios's full-color illustrations.
The authors effectively use common childhood experiences to share several important messages about caring, empathy, compromise, and what it means to look out for a friend. Children will easily relate to Agnes and Clarabelle's feelings and experiences, and parents/teachers will appreciate the positive messages of friendship and caring.
Read & Bloom will be wildly popular. And I am very happy to see some new friendship books come along with the end of the Elephant and Piggie books.
Funny and appealing, the Read & Bloom books will charm readers.