Brandon and the Baby by Brian Pinkney (Greenwillow Books). “Brandon had a special plaid blanket. He also had a new baby brother. Brandon loved his blanket. He wasn’t so sure about the baby.” True, the new guy is cute, but he’s taking up an awful lot of Mom and Dad’s time and attention. Brandon is starting to think being a big brother isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Will he ever come around? Of course — with some help from his favorite blanket!

Imagine Counting All the Stars by Raewyn Caisley (author) and Gabriel Evans (illustrator) (Candlewick). “Maddie liked the shadows the blinds made on her wall early in the morning. Dad said they were parallel. It meant lines that would stay the same distance apart, even if they went on forever. Maddie loved thinking about things like that.” The girl’s world is full of fascinating terms — from tessellations to degrees to cylinders — and she adores them all! Unfortunately, most of her friends don’t find math all that magical, but maybe one pal does… 

The Truth about the Couch by Adam Rubin (author) and Liniers (illustrator) (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers). “Pssst! Hey. You know what this thing is? Yeah, that’s right, it’s a couch. But I’m here to tell ya what the furniture police don’t want you to know…Listen close. I’ll explain everything.” The jacket-and-bow-tie-wearing fox grasps the ins, outs, ups, and downs of the world’s most misunderstood piece of furniture, and he’s ready to reveal it all — including what to feed them so they don’t “go berserk”!