Summer 2010 Picturebook Highlights - Random House

Next up in the series of "Summer 2010 Picturebook Highlights" is....Random House!

Moonhorse
by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by S.M. Saelig
9780679867098, $7.99, Pub. Date: April 2010

Though I haven't read the full text yet, this lullaby bedtime story written by the author of The Magic Treehouse series sounds lyrical and dreamy, with soft delicate illustrations to match. I'm a sucker for bedtime books, apparently. Here is the publisher's website description:
Out of the night the shimmering Moonhorse appears, and a young girl leaves her father napping on the front porch to join the silver-winged horse on a wondrous adventure among the constellations. They gallop past stars and comets, past the Dipper and the Ram, then lasso the crescent moon and pull it across the clear night sky. At last the sleepy rider returns home safely and the Moonhorse disappears into the dark.

Busing Brewster by Richard Michelson, illustrated by R.G. Roth 9780375833342, $16.99, Pub. Date: May 2010

Local author, Rich Michelson, of R.Michelson Galleries in Northampton, has succeeded, again, in writing an engaging picturebook about tough race relations with great sympathy and interest. R.G. Roth's illustrations complement the tone of the story perfectly. He is also the illustrator of 2006's This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt, read to the tune of "This Old Man, He Played One", another personal favorite.

Drum City
by Thea Guidone, illustrated by Vanessa Newton 9781582463087, $15.99, Pub. Date: June 2010 - from Tricycle Press, distributed by Random House

From first-time author Thea Guidone, this book is going to be a new storytime favorite. So much to do! Pretend to be a drum, have a drum parade. The story is catchy, but the illustrations bring the story to the next level. I first fell in love with Newton's illustrations when I saw the recently released Let Freedom Sing. I hope you'll enjoy them too.