Cress Watercress is a young rabbit whose family is on the move. Papa didn’t come home from his last foraging trip. Mama is now supporting Cress and her baby brother, Kip, on her own. They’ve left the spacious warren Cress has known all her life for a cramped basement apartment in an old oak tree called the Broken Arms. Their new neighbors include the “super,” a field mouse named Manny; a squirrel family with four rambunctious boys; and Mr. Owl, their landlord, who makes his expectations about timely payment of rent clear. Eventually, their new neighbors prove to be friends they can rely on. This charming, moving, marvelous story beautifully balances serious themes (grief and loss—Papa likely met danger he couldn’t escape—financial worries, feeling lonely); adventure (white-water rafting, being imprisoned by a haughty skunk named Lady Cabbage, being rescued by Mama), and wry humor (a menacing snake called The Final Drainpipe, for a start). Cress bristles at Mama’s overprotectiveness, and feels some of the weight of Mama’s worries. She’s starting to reflect on her feelings and behavior, even if she’s not always fully in control of them. She’s beginning to think about others, not just herself. She’s learning about friendship. She’s longing to prove herself. She’s discovering what it means to be herself. Gorgeous book production, including full-page, full-color illustrated plates, adds to the appeal of this stirring, spirited story for reading alone or reading aloud.  (Ages 4-9)

A lavishly illustrated woodland tale with a classic sensibility and modern flair—from the fertile imagination behind Wicked

Gregory Maguire turns his trademark wit and wisdom to an animal adventure about growing up, moving on, and finding community. When Papa doesn't return from a nocturnal honey-gathering expedition, Cress holds out hope, but her mother assumes the worst. It’s a dangerous world for rabbits, after all. Mama moves what’s left of the Watercress family to the basement unit of the Broken Arms, a run-down apartment oak with a suspect owl landlord, a nosy mouse super, a rowdy family of squirrels, and a pair of songbirds who broadcast everyone’s business. Can a dead tree full of annoying neighbors, and no Papa, ever be home? In the timeless spirit of E. B. White and The Wind and the Willows—yet thoroughly of its time—this read-aloud and read-alone gem for animal lovers of all ages features an unforgettable cast that leaps off the page in glowing illustrations by David Litchfield. This tender meditation on coming-of-age invites us to flourish wherever we find ourselves.