FRANCE IN THE COUNTRY, by Liz Garton Scanlon. Illustrated by Sean Qualls. (Neal Porter, $18.99, ages 4 to 8) Frances has had enough of city lights saying “stop.” So she visits the country, where she can go go go go. This lavish picture book shows us the best of both worlds through punchy poetry and rough painted collage art.
BISCUITS & MILK, by Shawn Amos. Illustrated by Robert Paul Jr. (Little, Brown Young Readers, $16.99, ages 8 to 12.) This semi-autobiographical novel by the African-American blues musician and the son of Wally “Famous” Amos, about growing up “in a cookie shop,” includes a recipe and a DJ Wishbone playlist.
A BOY LOOKS, by Grant Snider. (Chronicle, $17.99, ages 3 to 5 years). You’d expect a school bus ride after sunrise on country roads to be drawn in muted tones, but Snider’s picture book is rendered in neon crayon, to capture the vibrancy of what a boy can see by looking, counting, daydreaming. .
WHAT A SCALE CAN TELL: Where they live, what they eat, how they move and more, by Helen Scales. Illustrated by Sonia Pulido. (Phaidon, $19.95, ages 6 to 9.) Written by a marine biologist and illustrated by an artist on the coast of Spain, this wondrous compendium will captivate beachcombers and landlubbers alike.
HORSE, by Geraldine Brooks. (Viking, $28.) The Pulitzer Prize winner’s latest novel follows the journey of a famous racehorse, his enslaved groom, and an oil painting of both from 19th-century Kentucky to Washington, DC, in 2019.
A LIFE IN LIGHT: Meditations on impermanence, by Mary Pipher. (Bloomsbury, $28.) The psychologist and bestselling author explores trauma, mental health and resilience — “the ability to find light in dark times” — in her soft yet luminous memoir.
I ONCE LIVED HERE: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys, by Miranda Seymour. (Norton, $32.50.) A revealing biography of the author of “Wide Sargasso Sea,” based on new documents that shed light on the “extraordinary and often reckless life” of the elusive Dominica-born British novelist.
WHO YOU WOULD BE, by Leigh N Gallagher. (Holt, $27.99.) The first two parts of this fast-paced debut novel follow two sets of chaotic teens navigating through 1990s life, while the third recounts their turbulent 2016 Brooklyn clash and asks what the really means for people to define themselves. †