Every month expert booksellers and librarians share their top picks for young readers. Check out what our experts are reading in June!
Bright Lights and Summer Nights
Written by Shauntay Grant
llustrated by Zach Manbeck
Tundra Books, 2025
IL: Ages 2-5 RL: Grades 1-2
The magical transition from wakefulness to dreamland is lyrically illuminated in this radiant picture book by poet and Governor General’s Literary Award-nominee Shauntay Grant. A pajama-clad child, watched over by a celestial moon mother, drifts off to sleep and journeys to a nighttime realm full of country fairs, carousel rides, and forest friends. Like a perfect lullaby, spare poetic phrases gently flow and sing with soothing alliteration: “Caramel and country road / Country road and trolley ride.” In jewel-tone shades of green and yellow, Zach Manbeck’s mixed-media illustrations capture the tot’s surreal slumbering adventures. Bright Lights and Summer Nights is a picture book made for dreamers.
Recommended by Linda Ludke, Collections Management Librarian, London Public Library
***
Heartless Hunter
(The Crimson Moth, Book 1)
Written by Kristen Ciccarelli
Wednesdays Books, 2024
IL: Ages 13 and up RL: Grades 8-9
In a world where witches and those who support them are sought out and executed, Rune has spent most of her life hiding the truth of her identity as a witch. But while she plays the part of a shallow socialite, she secretly rescues witches from the Blood Guard. Meanwhile, Gideon Sharpe is a highly-respected member of the Blood Guard and a fierce hunter of witches. When Rune attempts an important rescue but fails, she is forced to try to seduce Gideon in an effort to get the information she needs from him. As the two each seek to gain the upper hand in their complex relationship, they not only find themselves deeply and genuinely attracted to one another, but they are each forced to look at their own people and perspectives on their world with new eyes.
The first of a duology, this fast-paced, cleverly-plotted fantasy features compelling and nuanced protagonists whose fiery romance will have readers eagerly leaping into book two the minute they've turned the last page (as this reader most assuredly did).
Recommended by Lisa Doucet, Manager, Woozles Children's Bookstore