Elsie Pickles, magical apprentice, returns in Kaye Umansky’s Wish for a Witch (Simon & Schuster, £6.99). A shortage of spell ingredients means a shopping trip to the Sorcerer’s Bazaar, a department store selling everything from moulting medicine for a talking raven to mystic bath-plugs (the proliferation of products is a joy), where the wire baskets float in the air alongside their chosen customers and Keith the Elevator Elf delivers you to the correct floor. Unfortunately, a rude mirror genie and a stroppy unicorn are on the loose. Can Elsie’s customer-service expertise save the day? Age seven to 11.
Next time your toddler asks where Noah’s animals went to the toilet, bring out Where’s the Potty on this Ark? by Kerry Olitzky (Kar-Ben, £5.99). A combined potty-training book and gentle introduction to the brachah to be said after using the bathroom, it’s perfect — no crudeness, just sweet and amusing, with a front-of-stage role for Noah’s wife Na’amah.
Abigail Tompkins’s enchanting illustrations show the eating, sleeping, play and potty quarters, catering for the variety of animal sizes and tastes.
Germany’s jazz resistance is the focus of The Edelweiss Pirates by Jennifer Elvgren (Kar Ben, £5.99). In the run-up to the Second World War, a teenage movement called the Edelweiss Pirates was born. Members dropped out of school, grew their hair long, swing-danced and played forbidden jazz. Elvgren’s picture book features Kurt, who longs to become an Edelweiss Pirate like his big brother.
Kurt, whose best friend is Jewish, finally dares to perform his own act of jazz resistance. Illustrator Daniela Stamatiadi has an eye for retro pattern and a painterly way with capturing human emotion.
Arthur Seuss is “a five-foot-six Jewish kid with ADHD” in New York for the summer as a law intern. On a coffee run, he crosses paths with Ben, a handsome Puerto Rican. It’s love at first sight but Ben disappears, Cinderella-like, into the New York crowds, not even giving his name. Will Arthur ever find him? Told in alternate chapters by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, What if it’s Us? (Simon & Schuster, £7.99) is frothy and sweet as iced coffee, a rich blend of Harry Potter and musical-theatre flavours, with bits of Dr Seuss and Sesame Street. Age 16 plus (sensitive content).
