Watch Out for the Crocodile (Gecko, $17.95), yells Tora to her father. Tora’s dad, usually a very boring dad, has taken Tora on a camping trip. Tora is yearning for some adventure, so she vividly imagines many wild animals along the trail to their campsite, such as a boa constrictor (or perhaps it is an anaconda), a flock of giraffes, and resting hippopotamuses. Her dad’s imagination, however, is a little bit rusty, especially when he is using his GPS and answering calls on his cell phone. This lovely tale by Lisa Moroni, accompanied by her mother Eva Eriksson’s illustrations, reveal a pair of campers who really let their imaginations run wild. Ages 4-7. Kerri Poore
Pick up The Night Gardener (Amulet, $16.95) for a thrilling, suspenseful tale of young storyteller Molly and her younger brother Kip, orphaned as children. Fleeing the Irish Famine, desperate to make a living, and ignoring all warnings, Molly and Kip take work at the Windsor Estate as a housemaid and groundskeeper, respectively. They soon notice some creepy features of the household: evidence of someone walking through the house in the middle of the night, a tree that grows into the side of the house with a hole in it that grants your heart’s desire—but at a very high cost. Jonathan Auxier has written a satisfying tale that will keep you awake at night and make you ponder the value of telling the truth. Ages 10-14. Kerri Poore
Gently, kindly, and with beautiful prose, author Tracy Holczer leads us through Grace’s life following the sudden death of her mother—a mother who believed that if you listened very closely, you could hear The Secret Hum of a Daisy (Putnam, $16.99). Moving to her mother’s hometown and into the home of a seemingly stern grandmother whom she has never met, Grace slowly unravels the truth of her past and her mother’s ever-present sadness. She gradually gets to know her grandmother, makes new friends, and follows a mysterious treasure hunt much too similar to the ones her mother often created for her. Ages 10-14. Kerri Poore
