Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin continues to be a Queen Anne Books bestseller; the inspiring story about one man's mission to educate and bring peace speaks to so many readers. Now even the youngest readers can learn about Dr. Greg and his work with Central Asia Institute. In January, Penguin published an adapted chapter book for ages 8-12 and a picture book for ages 5-8 (see below).

Three Cups of Tea: The Young Reader's Edition is a simplified version of the adult book. It has a helpful timeline, updates on Central Asia Institute's work, and even an interview with Mortenson's 12-year-old daughter. It is a great introduction to other cultures, the power of education, and the difference individuals can make.

These beautiful books are a wonderful celebration of teamwork, good intentions, hard work and philanthropy. ~Tegan

Seeger won a Caldecott Honor for her earlier book, First the Egg, but I like this even more. Both books feature clever cut-outs on the pages (die cuts), but the word and picture play of this is so clear and clever that I keep flipping back and forth.

This is definitely a book to pick up and explore, but I will try to describe what makes it so fascinating. The left page has simple text, and the right page is a solid color with a shape cut out, layered over an illustration on the following page, so you see just one piece of the next spread's full picture. When you turn the cut-out page, the cut-out changes the original text to show you the interplay of letters in words. For example, ONE BOY (image- a boy sitting in a chair with his backpack at his feet) becomes "ALL ALONE" (the boy is surrounded by rows of empty chairs). We see TWO SEALS who are shown AT THE SEA.

For emerging readers and longtime readers like me, this book shows the imaginative, almost magical way that letters combine to form words. It's sure to have readers thinking more creatively because of the clever letter play and the colorful illustrations. This is also a wholly original and unpredictable counting book.

The final pages in the book review the numbers and illustrations, revealing that the whimsical pictures throughout are part of the boy's personal gallery. He saunters away with his paintbrushes dripping, transformed through the book from a boy all alone to a boy all done. ~Tegan

I’ve always liked novels that are very realistic but have some magical element. As a child, I loved “The Chocolate Touch”— a book about a boy whose touch turned everything to chocolate, as you might have guessed— and “Mail Order Wings” about a girl who bought self-assemble wings advertised in the back of a comic book, but they became a part of her… Ah, the memories! This new novel reminded me of those somehow. On one level, it’s a very true-to-life story about Amanda and Leo, two kids who have been friends all their lives but have a falling out at their shared tenth birthday party. For almost a year, their friendship has been strained, and for the first time in their lives, they are not going to have their parties together. Then the magic starts making itself known.

The first chapter tells us about their parents meeting at the Willow Falls Birthing Center when Leo and Amanda were born. A mysterious (and possibly magical) volunteer made the parents promise that the children will celebrate their birthday together every year. No one thinks of it until fate throws the families together in a double-booked party room at Mr. McAllister’s Magic Castle Birthday Party Palace the next year. They all have so much fun, the families do keep their odd promise made on the day of their children’s birth.

Amanda takes over the narration as we approach her (and Leo’s) birthday. She is honest and funny as she tells about her life– the problems of throwing a theme party (including a weird rental costume), the worries of feeling disconnected from someone who used to be your best friend, and the increased social and school pressures as you get older. Her birthday party is a disaster, just as she feared. But the next day she wakes up to her birthday all over again. Like the movie “Groundhog Day,” somehow Amanda and Leo are stuck reliving their birthday day after day, and they are the only ones who are aware of the repetition. They have to work together to try to move on with their lives, and their shared experience brings them together again as friends. This is a sweet, funny story with just the right hint of magic. Girls and boys ages 9-11 will get a kick out of Leo and Amanda’s birthday adventures. ~Tegan

I was drawn to this book for its bold cover. When I read the subtitle, "A Tale of Halving Your Cake and Eating It, Too," I was smitten. A pun? And a clever story that uses fractions and doubling in a powerfully visual way? Count me in! (Catch that math pun?)

The plot involves etiquette as well as math: humble Ant is invited to dine with the regal Lion, and she is stunned by the poor manners of the other guests. The elephant, hippo, macaw, warthog and others, although stylishly accessorized (the gorilla sports chic shades and the hippo wears a string of pearls) are truly beastly at the table during dinner. When dessert is served, poor Ant is shocked by the selfishness of her fellow guests: the elephant helps himself to half the cake, the hippo half of the remainder, and on down until the final piece is too small for the Ant to split in half to share with Lion. The reader has seen the cake dwindling by halves, and won't be surprised that they are left with such a tiny piece. Ant apologizes to Lion and promises to bake a cake the next day (her grandmother's special recipe) to make up for the embarrassingly small portion left behind by the other animals.

Suddenly everyone else wants to be on the good guest/good baker bandwagon, and they begin promising double of what the previous guest has offered, leading all the way up to 256 peanut butter cakes from elephant. (That's another clever detail I love- each cake is the animal's favorite, including mud pies from the warthog and banana spice cakes from the gorilla.) As the animals make their increasingly absurd promises, the illustrations reveal the climbing numbers until elephant's promised cakes take up one whole page. These pictures, together with the endpapers illustrating the fractions, are very concrete and accessible ways to help children feel comfortable with numbers. You can count rows, discuss multiplication and division, and then get out your own measuring cups to explore the concept of halving and doubling.

McElligott, the creator of the hairy pirate Backbeard, has outdone himself with this book. I would not be surprised if he wins awards for his stylish, colorful illustrations. The concept and execution are flawless; the book is educational without being boring. In this masterful picture book, story and lesson go hand in hand. ~Tegan