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Read It Now on NetGalley!

Coming this Spring from Gecko Press, TWIGS AND STONES is available for you to preview now on NetGalley! “This book is a perfect read-aloud and is excellent for the classroom, teaching readers the value of kindness through humor,” says School Library Journal so you already know you will be adding it to your TBR. Save time tracking it down by downloading your e-galley now and meet Snake and Lizard who live together in a burrow in the desert. They are such good friends that Lizard decides to display their names above the burrow entrance…and that’s when friends run into a problem!

See It Now!

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OF COURSE the Publisher Spotlight team loves ALL the incredible books with which we are lucky enough to work. But…yeah, we do have favorites each season and year that touch our hearts, our imaginations, our funny bones, or sometimes all three! Check out this year’s staff favorites! #kalaniotbooks #cicadabooks #helvetiq #whatonearthbooks #albatrosbooks #nosycrowbooks #transitchildrenseditions #florisbooks #inhabitmedia #geckopress #cuentodeluz #childsplaybooks #picturebooks #internationalpicturebooks

♬ Linus And Lucy – Take 1 – Vince Guaraldi Trio
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The Publisher Spotlight team just wrapped up another splendid NCTE conference! We were overjoyed to share and show off our beautiful books, and to meet so many dedicated, determined, and book-loving educators, librarians, literacy specialists, and book colleagues. Together we can lift the hearts and enrich the minds of our young readers! See you next year at NCTE 2025 in Denver! #ncte2024 #booksforkids #booksaremagic

♬ Open Your Heart – The Laurie Berkner Band

Our Latest Article

  • Logo includes small sailboat
    Spotlight on Transit Children’s Editions
    by CMoorehead

    Transit Books, a Berkeley, California, nonprofit publisher of international and American books for adults since 2013, has made it their mission to discover and promote stories that cross borders and connect communities around the world.  Now, Transit brings this same commitment—and all the delights that come with it—to children’s books with their Transit Children’s Editions imprint. The care, excitement, and story-telling passion that Transit Books brings to adult literature with award winning fiction and nonfiction, will feed young readers hungry for tales to stretch their imaginations.  Let’s explore some of their recent and forthcoming children’s titles which Transit editors have selected to offer adventures, fresh perspectives, and deeper insights for young–and not so young– readers.

    LIKE THIS
    Like This Clire Lebourg Translated by Sophie Lewis cover shows a mother bird seated in a sidewalk cafe with baby bird in her lap. The two are drawing on a paper on the table, which also holds more pens and a service number sign

    In Like This, written and illustrated by Claire Lebourg, and translated from French by Sophie Lewis, a mother bird looks back on her first days of parenthood.  Mother bird’s memories unfold gently, sharing what it was like the first time she snuggled her baby within the shelter of her wings, how she saw her baby bird’s first smile, when she comforted baby bird through their first nightmare.  This soothing tale about the joys and worries of early parenthood is a fine companion for anyone about to embark on that journey, as well as endearing to those wanting to reminisce now that their own children are grown. 

    A DAY WITH MOUSSE

    Also by Claire Lebourg with translation by Sophie Lewis, A Day with Mousse gives early chapter book readers the first in a delightful series. Mousse thinks that his solitary seaside life is absolutely perfect.   His routine-filled day begins with a mug of freshly brewed coffee, followed by his daily collection of treasures that are washed into his home by the ocean waves. 

    But one day Mousse finds a very unexpected walrus named J.P. Barnacle  sitting in his armchair!   J.P. unintentionally—but thoroughly—ruins Mousse’s carefully created daily routine.  Mousse finds J.P. making himself at home everywhere, from dining room to bathtub.  What will Mousse do?

    This whimsically told and illustrated tale will delight readers with a quirky sense of humor.  Mousse’s life includes unexpected details just waiting to be discovered, while also sharing the acceptance, patience, and friendship he ultimately finds. 

    A Day with Mousse Claire Lebourg Translated by Sophie Lewis softly illustrated cover shows pink walls, a small bed at the foot of which is a pair of tiny red socks, a night table with lamp and caffee pot. A rake stands by the wall. Mousse is foreground, with a blue-striped body that includes a large, long nose and very small legs and arms. He sits on a little bench holding a long-handled surf fishing basket
    A SLEEPLESS NIGHT
    A sleepless Night Micaela Chirif Joaquin Camp Translated by Jordan Landsman illustration of a cutaway of a multi story house under a starry sky, with each room showing residents engaged in such activities as peering from attic windows, playing a piano, a costume party, fishing in basement, all blue-hued with night lights; in one brightly lit room 2 adults try to comfort of crying child in a red and white checked coverletted bed

    By Micaela Chirif, illustrated by Joaquin Camp, and translated from Spanish by Jordan Landsman, A Sleepless Night takes us inside an apartment building where everyone is experiencing just that. Babies cry for all sorts of reasons, and to communicate all kinds of things: when they’re hungry, when they need a diaper change, when they’re tired.  However, this night when baby Elisa begins to cry, no one can figure out WHY!  What starts out as a normal little whimper soon grows so loud that birds fly away and flowers droop.  Elisa’s family and apartment community try to soothe Elisa in every usual—and unusual—way and meet with no success.  Then Elisa’s grandmother shows up and knows exactly what’s wrong.  One truly phenomenal fart later, Elisa is happy once again.  Stunningly detailed and whimsical illustrations perfectly animate this hilarious story that is sure to spark delighted giggles in readers of every age!

    ASTRO

    Using a mix of collage, pencil and ink, and thickly layered acrylic, award-winning illustrator and author Manuel Marsol’s art displays the vastness and wonder of life near and far in Astro, translated from Spanish by Lizzie Davis. Astro lands on a distant planet, determined to carry out his mission.  However, what Astro didn’t expect was to find himself the subject of deep curiosity by the planet’s inhabitants—especially by one inhabitant in particular. A playful, deep friendship blossoms between Astro and the creature.  Then a tragic accident takes his friend from him, and Astro begins questioning everything he thought he knew about life and existence. This flowing, imaginative, and thought-provoking story provides a rich storytelling experience for readers of all ages. 

    ASTRO Manuel Marsol Translated from the Spanish by Lizzie Davis cover illustration shows a creature with 3 pairs of pink humanoid legs and a body composed of a landscape that features blue water, a spine of rocky promentories, forested hips, and a small, horned head the snout of which is a tiny human
    THE EXPEDITION

    The Expedition, by Tuvalisa Rangströ, illustrated by Klara Bartilsson, and translated from Swedish by Saskia Vogel, provides breathtaking (and imagination-sparking) biology-meets-fantasy. Intrepid adventurer Tusseson is about to embark on the greatest thrill yet—an exploration inside the human body!  Logbook in hand, Tusseson and his fellow travelers cross the Stomach’s Stormy Sea, have a windy campout at the Lungs, traverse the Nerve Forest, and discover much more. Tusseson, carefully documenting each of his adventures in his logbook, finally reaches his ultimate destination: the Mystical Meadows of the Brain.  Immersive, surreal illustrations draw readers into this wondrous re-imagining of the hidden workings inside the human body.

    ASHIMPA: THE MYSTERIOUS WORD

    New words, acronyms, and initialisms are invented and shared at the lightning speed of the internet, rising into globally shared memes one minute, then sinking into the shadows the next.  In Ashimpa: The Mysterious Word, written and illustrated by Catarina Sobral and translated from Portuguese by Juliana Barbassa, readers follow this same ebb and flow of language. However, the word in question this time is a newly-discovered mysterious OLD word:  Ashimpa.

    As news spreads about this newly-discovered word, imaginations whirr. Everyone tries to figure out what Ashimpa could mean.  Some people think it’s a noun, others believe it is a verb, and still others believe it is the name of a long-lost creature. Teeming with bright and slightly surreal illustrations, this tale will delight readers both wordy and not as they are drawn into a story that explores how words  and language can take on lives of their own.

    Ashimpa the mysterious word Catarina Sobral Translated by Juliana Barbassa cover shows a back view of a child on tip toe, head tilted back so their spectacle can be seen as they reach up to withdraw a book from a high case that also has a library ladder. In the background is a red desk holding a lamp the light of which shines on an open book, and a rubber stamp
    HAVE A GOOD TRIP,  MOUSSE!
    Have a Good Trip Mousse cover shows the small striped character seated on a train gazing out the window

    In Have a Good Trip, Mousse! readers can return to the whimsical world created by Claire Lebourg as translated by Sophie Lewis. Now Mousse wakes to  a stormy day that throws his beloved routine all askew. The storm-tossed tides wash into his living room, upsetting his morning cup of coffee and washing away the ocean treasures he carefully collects.  Even more upsetting is his discovery that all of his neighboring creatures have gone South. Rather than be left behind, Mousse decides to take a well-earned vacation to the South as well.  With his good friend J.P. Barnacle at his side, Mousse arrives at his destination and jumps right into vacation life, relaxing on the beach, swimming, and taking mud baths.  It’s a marvelous vacation UNTIL…Felix shows up. And becomes quick friends with Barnacle. Suddenly Mousse feels left out and…jealous? Lebourg’s crisp, clear text and delightfully soft and detailed illustrations gently draw the reader into Mousse’s world as he once again grapples with the challenges, joys, and delights of friendship.

    Human expression is made of stories.   Every action we take,  word we utter or write, image we create–all are parts of our great, global, shared story. Come along with Transit Children’s Editions to inspire reading beyond geographic borders and on into the limitless stretches of human imaginations.

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