Five questions for Cheryl Willis Hudson and London Ladd
When I Hear Spirituals by Cheryl Willis Hudson, illus. by London Ladd; Holiday. 

Engaging with the arts
How to Sing a Song by Kwame Alexander and Randy Preston, illus. by Melissa Sweet; Quill Tree/HarperCollins. 
ARTificial Intelligence by David Biedrzycki; Charlesbridge.
Rose Weaves a Garden by Rashin Kheiriyeh; Schwartz/Random.
Still Life by Alex London, illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky; Greenwillow.
A Face Is a Poem by Julie Morstad; Tundra.
Soul Step by Jewell Parker Rhodes and Kelly McWilliams, illus. by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu; Little, Brown.
I Am Wriggly by Michael Rosen, illus. by Robert Starling; Candlewick.
Afloat by Kirli Saunders, illus. by Freya Blackwood; Levine/Levine Querido. 
Rap It Up! by Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Boston Weatherford, illus. by Ernel Martinez; Holt.

Poetically told
Onyx & Beyond by Amber McBride; Feiwel.  
Eyes Open by Lyn Miller-Lachmann; Carolrhoda Lab.
When the Mapou Sings by Nadine Pinede; Candlewick. 
All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson; Bloomsbury.
All the Love Under the Vast Sky edited by Kip Wilson; Paulsen/Penguin.

(Re)Visiting the Past
Scattergood by H. M. Bouwman; Porter/Holiday.
Danilo Was Here by Tamika Burgess; Harper/HarperCollins. 
The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco; Knopf. 
The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown by Elizabeth Laird; MCB/Pan Macmillan.
Mama’s Chicken and Dumplings by Dionna L. Mann; Ferguson/Holiday.
Zia’s Story by Shahnaz Qayumi, illus. by Nahid Kazemi; Tradewind.
Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes; Little, Brown.
The Kid by Jeff Schill; Charlesbridge Moves.

From the March 2025 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.