BookWorm Newsletter

JUNE 2025

Greetings, Librarians!

I’m excited to welcome summer with you, and preparing for my first road trip this season, which is heading to ALA! I hope to see many of you there. If you are attending, please stop by Brodart booth 925 to say hello and…

Get an autographed book! Author signings:

o Saturday, June 28th - 10:00AM-10:45AM

Author/illustrator Trung Le Nguyen, The Magic Fish

o Sunday, June 29th - 11:00AM-12:00PM

Author Alda P. Dobbs, The Giving Flower

o Sunday, June 29th - 12:30PM-1:30PM

Author Mia Wenjen & illustrator Colleen Kong-Savage, Fortune Cookies for Everyone!

Join the Literacy@YourLibrary community! Need decodables?

Meet our partners, Marion Waldman and Beth Bevars from Teach My Kid to Read, to learn more about building your library’s literacy hub. Visit them in-booth:

o Saturday, June 28th – 1:30PM – 3:30PM

o Sunday, June 29th – 2:00PM – 4:00PM

Be Library Bound! Get our fabulous new purple badge ribbon, proclaiming “I’m Library Bound!” and a Big Nate Bound to Stay Bound book* and bookmark.

Enter to win a set of 2025’s Summer Reading Titles, a Kore Design™ Office Wobble Stool, or an EZ-Robot JD Humanoid Robotics Kit!

And much more! We’re celebrating McNaughton’s 75th Anniversary, showcasing the Bibz Analytics tool to supercharge your collection development, handing out bags*, and who knows what else? Stop by! *While supplies last.

Unable to attend, but want to learn more about decodable book collections?

Join our “Adding Decodable Books to Your Library Collection with Brodart” webinar on

July 17th at noon ET. Hosted by Marion Waldman of Teach My Kid to Read (TMKTR), I’ll be joined by Brodart’s Director of Collection Development, Andie Paloutzian and Cherry Lake’s Matthew Kopyar as we highlight Brodart’s resources as well as our Literacy/Resource HUB in theLiteracy@YourLibrary community. You’ll hear from the TMKTR experts and learn about some of our favorite decodable book series as well! Whether new to decodables or looking to expand your offerings, this session will equip you with the tools and knowledge to support evidence-based literacy in your library. Register here.

In this month’s issue, we are highlighting nonfiction! Meet two great titles from Sourcebooks, explore new series from Teacher Created Materials and Capstone, and dive into our latest collection development-curated lists, including artists' biographies, graphic nonfiction, a list for young foodies, and STEAM titles for back to school below.

Keep up to date with all that’s new on our channels - Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube –

and contact me at BYS@brodart.com with any questions about our services and offerings.

Happy Reading!

What We Are Reading

The Giving Flower: The Story of the Poinsettia

The brilliant red flower we always see around Christmastime has had many names: Cuetlaxochitl, Flor de Nochebuena, Mexican Flame Flower, and Poinsettia. This lovely nonfiction picturebook tells the story of the Poinsettia and how it has been special and full of meaning for centuries in North America. Used by the Aztecs to make medicines and dyes, it now adorns homes and businesses all the way to the White House. The attractive picturebook text is followed by extensive backmatter, making this title appropriate for kids from 5 to 12, and perfect for all children's collections.

– Gwen Vanderhage, Collection Development Librarian

Down Syndrome Out Loud: 20+ True Stories of Disability & Determination

How to describe a book that is inspirational, hopeful, factual, and uplifting all at the same time? Well, here goes! Written by Melissa Hart, whose brother Mark has Down Syndrome, the profiles of more than 20 unique individuals who have dreamed big and risen above life’s challenges to make their mark on the world are featured. Each serves as a true testament of how much one person can accomplish with enough ambition—and a strong support network—to promote and embrace our differences. Backmatter includes highlights of several events and groups related to Down syndrome, an extensive timeline, additional resource lists, and more. At a time when advocacy is so important, I encourage you to read this book, share it, and talk about it with the young people in your life.

– Erica Sommer, Children’s & Young Adult Programs Manager

VIEW THE WHAT WE ARE READING SELECTION LIST

Featured Series

Outside Our Window

Author Mélina Mangal introduced the Outside Our Window board book series earlier this year, featuring cousins Kamali and Josiah, who explore the natural world in their urban neighborhood. Each book in the series focuses on one feature of the outdoors (trees, birds), one sense, and one social emotional skill (family connection, social awareness), with adorable and realistic illustrations from Stella Lim. With additional end notes for caregivers, young people will be encouraged to investigate, protect, and delight in nature. Two titles are available—with two more coming in August and November and available to preorder now.

Stairway Decodables — Nonfiction

The Stairway Decodables series debuted in Spring 2024 with 70 engaging and realistic fiction stories. Their scope and sequence follows a logical progression, advancing from simple skills to more complex as readers journey through steps 1 to 6. The fiction titles have been quite popular at Brodart, and in August, 36 nonfiction titles will be added to the series. Each title is 80+% decodable, includes ideas for supporting readers before, during, and after reading, and combines multiple aspects of the Science of Reading to support small group instruction, independent reading, and reading practice at home. These will be a great complement to a thriving series.