April 2026 Prime Picks
Reviewer's Choice
Reviewer's Choice
10 Spiritual
Lessons titles
Joanna Sandsmark
Godsfield
$11.99 Each
www.octopusbooks.co.uk
Two small hardcover books blend spiritual and pet topics in a manner perfect for gift-giving and reflection.
10 Spiritual Lessons You Can Learn from Your Cat (9781841816517) pairs tips on living with cats with varied life advice which ranges from spiritual to psychological. Many lessons stem from a cat’s routines, such as keeping one eye open for trouble, looking for new opportunities, ridding oneself of doubt, and developing new communication skills.
The blend of cat viewpoints, reflective thinking about choice and human impact, exercises, and philosophical and spiritual insight makes for a compelling, uplifting survey.
Ditto for 10 Spiritual Lessons You Can Learn from Your Dog (9781841816524), which pairs advice with dog-centric appreciation for maximum benefit.
Exercises here range from celebrating the ordinary to understanding the importance of allowing time for play and relaxation.
These will delight pet owners and those familiar with and connected to animal activities, offering insights which are thought-provoking, revealing, and fun.
Hamlyn
www.octopusbooksusa.com
These new cookbooks offer exiting flavors for cooks looking for simple techniques that promise outstanding results.
Jeremy Pang’s Chinese Kitchen: Simple Techniques, Delicious Recipes. (9780600638131, $29.99) is the perfect choice for cooks seeking an easy introduction to Chinese fare.
Step-by-step directions, color photos of finished dishes, and illustrations of techniques such as using a bamboo steamer basket accompany recipes such as Shredded Pork Wraps, Rustic Prawn Toast, and Yunnan Little Pot Rice Noodles, with dishes from across China offering a satisfying diversity of flavors and regional influences.
Helen Graham’s Center Piece: Bold, Vibrant Recipes to Put Vegetables in the Spotlight (9781783256549, $32.99) is one of the more unique vegetable cookbooks to appear in recent years, blending novel flavors into unusual dishes readers won’t find elsewhere.
From Dill, Pea & Barberry Fritters with Pomegranate Dip to Sweet Potatoes, Amba & Orange Blossom and Lemongrass Parsnips, color photos bring to life a wide range of flavor combinations that will simply delight cooks looking for novel ways to prepare vegetables.
Flavie Millet-Joannon’s Loaf Tin Bakes: Easy Cakes for Every Occasion (9780600639626, $26.99) expands the idea of loaf tin usage from banana bread to all kinds of creative sweet cakes, from Honey Nut Breakfast Cake to Ultimate chocolate Brownie, Sicilian Pistachio Cake, and a Rum and Vanilla cake.
These are simple cakes that can be made quickly, making the book particularly interesting to beginners who want to create desserts from scratch with a maximum amount of flavor and a minimum of hassle.
All are exceptional cookbooks that are eye-catching and highly recommended.
Mitchell Beazley
www.octopusbooksusa.com
RHS Watercolour Botanical Art: The Complete Practical Guide for Artists by Sarah Howard with Rachel Pedder-Smith (9781784729844, $39.99) is a handbook created with a team of artists and botany experts. It offers an unusual balance between science and art which is not available in other art-focused books on the subject.
The presumption is that artists want to be more informed about botany in order to enrich their botanical creations, and so chapters focus on this marriage with descriptions of variations, botanical structures, painting techniques, and step-by-step detail.
Anyone interested in botanical illustrations, whether a how-to guide or a science survey of the fine art’s connection to nature, will appreciate the full-page color photos and oversize presentation of this outstanding guide.
Women and Their Jewels: 15 Iconic Women Through Their Jewellery by David Lelait-Helo (9781784729677, $39.99) examines a selected list of famous women and their jewels, from Jackie Kennedy to Elizabeth Taylor and Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth II. It’s impossible to think of these women without their jewels, especially when this biographical history includes full-page color and black and white images accompanying the historical reviews of significant jewelry pieces and the circumstances in which they were displayed.
Libraries strong in jewelry history and women’s lives will find this survey unusual, revealing, and attractive.
Julian Baggini works with James Hoffmann to create The Book of Coffee: A Philosophy (9781846016387, $19.99), which blends philosophy with coffee insights in a gift book that can reach both schools of thinking with unusual insights into the brew.
Readers may not think the science of drinking coffee deserves philosophical analysis, but will be delighted and surprised to learn how coffee reflects social and human activity in an unusual way:
“To appreciate the primacy of each individual’s phenomenology, nothing more is needed than your attention and something to attend to, such as a cup of coffee taken in a garden. Sitting down to drink it, you have a background sense of being located in a much wider world. Attend to that world.”
Sean A. Pritchard’s
Atmosfloric:
Flower Colour in Home and Garden (9781840919356, $39.99)
comes
from a designer who shows how to grow flowers for color and indoors
atmosphere enhancement.
The passing nature of the
flower and
its textures and color offers opportunities to enhance moods, however
temporarily. Pritchard shows how as he places the flowers into
chapters that explore both the process of cultivating them and the
equally important nature of integrating them into an interior design.
Lovely full-page photos offer eye-catching flower décor inspiration.
Sarah Fulton Vachon’s Drizzle: Olive Oil-Infused Recipes from Across the Mediterranean (9781846016196, $32.99) comes from an olive oil sommelier and founder of the olive oil brand Citizens of Soil, and features seasonal recipes for using olive oils in different ways.
From an Italian Creton Dakos to a Greek Avgolemono Soup, olive oil is a prominent ingredient in these delicious dishes.
All are wonderful additions highly recommended for lending libraries and individuals alike.
Picturing Prince
Steve Parke
Cassell/Octopus Publishing
9781788406611 $29.99
www.octopusbooks.co.uk
The very specific focus of Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait requires that readers hold a previous affinity for the musician. This is the best Prince coverage a reader could choose. It comes from his former creative director, the US edition includes 16 pages of lost photos which have been recently uncovered by the author, and the combination of full-page color images and personal reflections by Steve Parke make for an extraordinary, fun coverage which delves into the man behind the myth. Striking images and equally compelling descriptions make this study a standout above and beyond other Prince biographies.
Who Put the Beef
Into Wellington?
James Winter
Kyle Books
9781804193709 $12.99
www.octopusbooksusa.com
Who Put the Beef Into Wellington?: The Fascinating Stories Behind 50 Classic Recipes is a culinary history that will delight cooks and food fans who wonder how such classics as Caesar Salad and Eggs Benedict came to be.
It includes cocktail inventions, makes connections between history and culinary discovery and interpretation, and offers some delightful, fun insights alongside recipes for these classic dishes. Its delightful special blend will lend especially well to gift-giving to that cook who ‘has everything’.
Young Adult/Children
Barbed Wire
Between Us
Mia Wenjen and Violeta
Encarnación
Red Comet Press
9781636551920 $19.99
www.redcometpress.com
Barbed Wire Between Us is a picture book poem about two girls who live eighty years apart, but experience much the same things. The same camp in Oklahoma houses a Japanese internment camp during World War II and a migrant in modern times.
“Where darkness is, light will shine again” is the observation that marks their experiences of trials, darkness, and survival challenges. The tale unfolds a powerful contrast of experiences and similar times that can open thought-provoking dialogue between adults and the very young, spiced with gorgeous illustrations by Violeta Encarnación.
Eerdmans Books
www.eerdmans.com/youngreaders
New arrivals from Eerdmans provide libraries with many attractive new choices that promise lasting lending value.
Who Hid the Stars? How Light Pollution Changes Our World by Valentina Gottardi, Macie J. Michno, and Danio Miserocchi (9780802856517, $18.99) is an intriguing history of artificial light development, blending human history and science and nature in an attractive nonfiction picture book translated by Sylvia Notini.
Lovely acrylic and digital illustrations compliment a variety of light-related topics, from how streetlights attract insects and their predators to how plants and animals are affected by darkness and changes in artificial light.
Valentina Gottardi’s gorgeous illustrations of insects, plants, birds, bats, and more make Who Hid the Stars? a special attraction for picture book leisure readers as well as students.
Music and Silence: The Passion and Protest of Pablo Casals by Christy Mihaly (9780802855510, $19.99) reaches ages 7-12 with the picture book biography of an eleven-year-old boy who becomes entranced by the cello.
His initial interest leads Pau to play cello all over the world – but politics results in an unusual decision to leave his homeland during times of war and forego his beloved instrument until Spain is free.
An enchanting saga of music, politics, art and determination invites adults to interact with kids about Pau’s life and times.
Michaela Cherif and Juan Palomino’s The Children of the Sun: An Inca Legend (9780802856548, $18.99) reaches kids ages 5-9 with a lovely story about the world’s first city and its culture.
Juan Palomino’s engaging illustrations and Lawrence Schimel’s translation contribute to a thoroughly engrossing story that tells of a long journey, different forms of growth and discovery, and Incan culture, making for an attractive survey for libraries seeking simple picture books about the Incas.
Núria Figueras and Anna Font’s The Visit (9780802856555, $18.99) is translated by Lawrence Schimel and tells of a little fox who receives an unexpected visitor when her mother leaves their den.
Silence offers a strange and large countenance, but Little Fox slowly learns that friendship can arrive in many unexpected forms.
The story will serve especially well for read-aloud adults who want to explore the topic of silence, staying home alone, and independence with the very young – as well as the topic of cultivating different friends.
All are outstanding stories that offer high-quality writing, attractive illustrations, and intriguing perspectives.
Finding Life
Sophie Williams
Cicada Books Ltd.
9781800660540 $18.99
www.cicaidabooks.co.uk
Finding Life: A Prehistoric Search and Find gives picture book readers an educational journey through Earth’s history, surveying creatures from prehistory to modern times.
Its consideration of life on Earth includes charts of different eras, especially colorful, vivid landscapes of volcanoes, plants, and undersea life, and important contrasts between the creatures that evolved in these eras, making for an engrossing introduction perfect for the very young.
Messiah
Demi
Wisdom Tales
9781957670171 $19.95
www.wisdomtalespress.com
Messiah reviews the life of Jesus of Nazareth by pairing Biblical quotes with Demi’s signature colorful illustrations, creating a picture book that Christian audiences will find a lovely, artistic rendering.
Ages 4-8 will appreciate how Demi’s visuals, presented in small size with plenty of white background for enhancement, pair with these Biblical descriptions to bring both to life.
Mousse’s Treasures
Claire Lebourg
Transit Children’s Editions
979893380293 $18.95
www.transitchildrenseditions.org
Mousse’s Treasures is translated by Sophie Lewis and adds to a collection of other Mousse adventures for young readers newly moving beyond picture books and into chapter book reading.
Here, Mousse has prepared for his niece Pistachio’s arrival with all sorts of decorations and plans, but Pistachio has only one interest for her holiday with Mousse – to play in the waves.
When an invitation arrives for them to do something different, opportunity presents itself in the form of old treasures and memories that illustrate to both the value of the past.
Readers will enjoy this fun, light-hearted, thought-provoking story of discovery and connection.
Oscar Wilde’s
Stories for Children
Oscar Wilde
Little Island
9781915071897 $26.99
www.littleisland.ie
Oscar Wilde’s Stories for Children is a gorgeous keepsake edition of tales that enjoy colorful illustration by Lauren O’Hara which accompany stories about princes, friends, kings, rockets, and princesses.
Each story holds action and adventure, but also thought-provoking opportunities for reflection. Adults who read the tales to the very young will find them packed with whimsy, encounters with trouble and problem-solving challenges, and interconnected solutions that stem from reading and reflection.
These classic tales are ones many an adult will recognize, as they’ve attracted kids for over a hundred years with timeless themes suitable for lively interactions between adults and kids.
Penguin Books
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
These picture book new arrivals from Penguin represent a highly recommended set of elementary-level books perfect for libraries and those who read aloud to kids.
Brooke Hartman’s Exca-Gator! (9780593693339, $18.99) receives colorful, whimsical illustrations by Michael Slack as it tells of an alligator who operates an excavator.
He’s so excited about his new machine that he creates a big mess. It’s evident that he needs to learn some teamwork as he tackles machines, a construction crew, and new possibilities.
Larissa Theule’s The Sweater: A Story of Community (9780593528945, $18.99) receives drawings by Teagan White which are lovely embellishments to the story of a girl who takes a morning stroll, only to come upon a small bird.
“It was plain to see he’d been through some things.” It’s also plain to see he’s alone and needs a helping hand.
This fine story of community support and involvement will be the perfect choice for adults seeking to teach the very young about helping others in times of need.
Nisha Knows Best by Maryann Jacob Macias (9781984815552, $19.99) is illustrated by Maithili Joshi and tells of a loving family changed when relatives arrive from India.
Nisha loves her grandparents, but finds them strange and different. She feels shy about the visit, even though her familiar big family surrounds her.
A fine story of family togetherness and support evolves with a message for kids about distant relatives, new connections, and courage.
Veronica Mang’s Copland: A Story About America (9780593693711, $18.99) is a story about music and American developments and follows the story of Aaron Copland, born at the dawn of 1900 into a community of immigrants.
His talent for music involves everyone around him and changes the world as he creates songs that reflect his heritage and American experiences.
The Great Escape by Deborah Marcero (9780693857953, $19.99) tells of Evie, who just can’t get away from her tag-along younger siblings. It seems she can only escape their attention by using magic. When she does so, she’s transported to a magical world – but there’s no escaping her tenacious siblings.
How can she have a real adventure when they keep interfering? A fine story of whales and entanglements keeps all ages involved.
You Are The Land by Steph Littlebird (9798217003495, $18.99) tells of a child’s love for the land, as she’s born into a community strongly connected to the nature around her.
As the child grows, messages imparted by her elders reinforce these connections: “You are the mountains, the hills are your relatives and Earth is our Mother.”
All are outstanding stories that are standout books.
Post
Cory McCarthy
Dutton Books
9780593618240 $19.99
www.penguinteen.com
Post is a post-apocalyptic teen story about survival that centers on the remnants of humanity living on the dunes of Cape Cod, which has vastly changed.
When 18-year-old prophet West comes to town presenting new challenges for not just surviving, but surviving well, readers are drawn into a tale about three teens - Emil, Ani, and Karen - who find their abilities and perceptions challenged in new ways.
Post is a powerful survey of change, terrified lives, new ideas, and revised survival tactics that offers a scenario that’s novel and a cut above most books about post-apocalyptic experiences. Designated for YA audiences, it’s recommended for mature readers due to several graphic gay sex scenes.