I recently received the picture book “Under the Desert Skies: Hiss, Sigh, Squawk!,” by Ana Lewis and Corinne Lewis. This book’s art is very collage like. It looks as if the authors cut out newspaper strips and painted them to look colorful. If you have a sister or brother 2 to 5 years old, then you should buy this book at Amazon or your local bookstore.

Worlds of Words is a center on the University of Arizona campus where children can explore global literature. The center is located in the College of Education and its mission is to have children learn more about literacy and the world through books. There is a large collection of about 40,000 books representing many global cultures and in a variety of languages. The center hosts school field trips and tours to help bring global literacy into classrooms.

I recently read “Belly Up.” It is about a 12-year-old boy named Teddy Fitzroy who is living in America’s newest theme park, FunJungle (The name of the book series). Soon, Henry Hippo, the park’s mascot, turns up dead, and Teddy suspects somebody murdered him. Was it the owner? The clown? Even the chief of security could’ve done it.

The author of this misleading mystery is Stuart Gibbs. Gibbs is also the author of “Spy School” and “Poached.” “Belly Up” consists of 294 pictureless pages and I enjoyed every single one of them. I recommend this book for ages 10 and up.

Do you like the Mo Willems’ book “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”? Have you read “The Elephant and Piggie” book series? If so, you should visit the Children’s Museum of Phoenix where there is an exhibit hosted by the Pigeon. There are so many games and activities to enjoy with many of Willems’ books characters.

I think “Cat Jokes vs Dog Jokes” by David Lewman is an awesome book because the book can be flipped over, and you can read “Dog Jokes vs Cat Jokes.” On one side dogs tell jokes about cats. On the other side cats tell jokes about dogs. Also, the book is about dogs and cats, two of my favorite animals. Plus, it’s a joke book and I’m

into comedy. It’s a comic book and I love making and reading comics. I also like that there are cute characters telling funny jokes to each other. This book has 128 pages and is recommended for ages 7–11.

Have you ever heard of ecological restoration? If you haven’t, you should check out “A Kids Guide to Ecological Restoration.”  It is a book with information about the environment’s changes, natural and unnatural. It is written by Dr. Elise Gornish and illustrated by Daniella Cafaggi.

In the magical town of Grimlock Lane, a boy named William noticed commotion in the street. In the book “The Night Gardener,” written by the Fan Brothers (Terry and Eric Fan), there is a mysterious gardener who makes topiaries of animals during the night. Topiaries are the art of trimming trees or shrubs into objects.

“The Bookwanderers” is about how Matilda (Tilly) Pages finds out that there is more to her grandparent’s bookshop and her mother’s mysterious disappearance than she could have imagined.

When Tilly sees her favorite book characters like Alice from Wonderland and Anne of Green Gables, she finds out that she can bookwander into any book. She can use this ability to find the truth about what happened to her mother many years ago.

Would you like to talk to the author that wrote the book in your hands? Or meet the illustrator of that game you like to play? I got to meet an author and illustrator, Adam Rex, who lives in Tucson, and was lucky enough to interview him about one of his novels, “The True Meaning of Smekday. ” I was very surprised when I read the opening chapters of this book. The story was turned into the Dreamworks movie “Home.” That wasn’t the only surprising thing I learned!

I had the pleasure of interviewing an amazing author and interfaith activist, Saadia Faruqi. She has written books for different age groups. I met her at the Tucson Festival of Books at the U of A campus.

She has written books for all ages, including the Yasmin series for early readers. Faruqi says she was 8 years old when she began to write stories, but she didn't get serious about writing novels until later.