LILY-MAY'S JOYFUL DAY

In this companion to Ruthie Rose’s Big Idea (2025), a girl introduces her class to the concept of joywalking.

Lily-May, a pink-skinned, freckle-faced redhead who will be familiar to readers of Schu’s earlier title, is nervous: It’s her turn to share what her teacher calls a “Bag of Y-O-U” with the class (they’re a racially diverse, wide-eyed group). Standing before the other kids, Lily-May pulls a piece of paper from her rainbow bag. The paper has one word on it—joywalking—which Lily-May barely manages to say aloud. With some prodding from a classmate, Lily-May explains that “a joywalk’s a time to listen and think, wander and roam. A time to explore ideas. A time for noticing.” Finding her courage, she suggests that the students give joywalking a try; with their teacher’s blessing, everyone heads outside. Joywalking is a lovely mindfulness-flavored idea that might appeal to young readers, but the book’s writing is stilted; real kids don’t speak the way this story’s children do (“Joywalking’s fun! I loved looking at the clouds”; “I was a little sad this morning. I feel much better now”), making it too obvious that the dialogue exists to telegraph the book’s message. Hatam’s likewise-blunt digital art gives the impression of a disharmonious mishmash of media and styles, including collage, photography, impasto, and cartoonish imagery.

A worthwhile message, dampened by a ham-handed delivery.