December 2025 Stars & Big Picture

Starred titles are books of special distinction. See the archives for selections from previous months.

Aaron, Huw Unfairies: A Graphic Novel; written and illus. by Huw Aaron. Putnam/Penguin, 2026 [256p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9798217005758 $24.99
Paper ed. ISBN 9798217005765 $13.99
E-book ed. ISBN 979-8217005772 $8.99  R* Gr. 2-5

See this month’s Big Picture, below, for review.

Chokshi, Roshani The Swan’s Daughter: A Possibly Doomed Love Story. Wednesday/St. Martin’s, 2026 [400p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9781250873101 $22.00
E-book ed. ISBN 9781250873118 $11.99
Reviewed from digital galleys  R* Gr. 7-10

Cooper, Elisha The Rare Bird; written and illus. by Elisha Cooper. Roaring Brook, 2026  [40p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9781250364395 $18.99
Reviewed from digital galleys  R* 4-7 yrs

Eggers, Dave The Eyes, the Fire & the Avalanche Kingdom; illus. by Shawn Harris. Knopf, 2026 [368p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9798217028559 $19.99
E-book ed. ISBN 9798217028573 $10.99
Reviewed from digital galleys  R* Gr. 4-7

Gow, Robin Saber-Tooth. Amulet/Abrams, 2026 [328p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9781419777387 $18.99
E-book ed. ISBN 9798887074375 $17.09
Reviewed from digital galleys  R* Gr. 6-8

Pinkney Barlow, Charnelle Two Artists, Grandad and Me; written and illus. by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow. Doubleday, 2026 [32p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9780593571224 $18.99
E-book ed. ISBN 9780593571248 $6.99
Reviewed from digital galleys  R* 4-7 yrs

Scrimger, Richard At the Speed of Gus. Scholastic, 2025 [192p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9781546158332 $18.99
Reviewed from digital galleys  R* Gr. 5-8

Theule, Larissa The Sweater: A Community Story; illus. by Teagan White. Viking, 2026 [32p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9780593528945 $18.99
E-book ed. ISBN 9780593528969 $5.99
Reviewed from digital galleys  R* 3-8 yrs

Tinn-Disbury, Tom Duck Delivers; written and illus. by Tom Tinn-Disbury. Random House Studio, 2026 [32p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9798217122448 $18.99
E-book ed. ISBN 9798217122462 $5.99
Reviewed from digital galleys  R* 5-8 yrs

Unfairies: A Graphic Novel

Written and illus. by Huw Aaron

Not since the Wee Free Men of Pratchett’s Discworld series has there been such an irascible, clever, bellicose, and immediately memorable subculture of fairy folk as presented in this month’s Big Picture. The Unfairies of Aaron’s bouncy, bright graphic novel are delightfully incorrigible, spite-filled creatures who are entirely unmagical despite what familiar fairy lore may say. They’re as likely to grant wishes or sprinkle fairy dust (which is actually just fairy dandruff) as they are to get along, and conflict among their varied clans is threatening the future of their Garden home. But what kind of hero can emerge from such an untrustworthy group of chaos agents? Enter Pip, a tiny fairy with a wild puff of orange hair and an abundance of unearned confidence, who might just be the one to save the realm.

The absolute bedlam that is the Unfairies’ world is established quickly in the opening pages, when Pip dives headlong into a brawl of unknown origins in the tree fairies’ Root Stores supply room. Ending the violence with a well-timed “box-to-the-face,” Pip announces herself as a lost fairy in need of a mission, and the manager is all too happy to oblige. Pip tries to make peace with the dull but honest work of helping the tree fairies with food storage tasks, but after an interminable nightmare of drudgery (four minutes), she realizes she needs more out of life. It is a fortuitous moment, therefore, when the tree fairies discover that the entire winter food store is ruined. Whether it was by the weed, flower, or vegetable fairies (or some other nefarious saboteur), the bottom line is that they’re going to starve, and someone has to be willing to let the grand council know so that they can save the day. Thus begins a truly epic adventure involving, admittedly, some low-speed chases and several council meetings, but also sabotage, wild prophecies, and warring groups of Unfairies. Pip quickly discovers that her true calling is ignoring all the boring stuff (leaving it to the far more responsible fairies around her who clean up her messes) and focusing on whatever is most exciting in the moment. That approach does indeed manage to solve problems, to the extent that Pip ends up as the tree fairies’ new leader.

Irreverent and slightly acidic, the ultimate message here is that life rarely offers the hero we need or deserve; you just get what you get, and if heroics manage to occur, luck is as much a factor as anything. Aaron’s broad humor will win over even the most reluctant reader, and while the mix of sly pop culture and political references may go right over the head of some readers, they’ll be a treat for others, ensuring a rollicking good time for both audiences. The rapid-fire pace sweeps readers into Pip’s adventures with a maniacal glee, zipping from one absurdity to the next, including toad cultists, a prison for home-decorating offenders, and a messaging system built around ants, aphids, and “sticky bug-butt honey.”

The wild art, often panel-defying and littered with more humor than can be squeezed into the text, pairs perfectly with the unhinged story to make an engrossing, if a bit disorienting, experience. While the core palette matches the earthy tones expected from a book that is set in nature (and often within a tree), the saturated hues are sharp and vivid, mirroring shades more like, for example, what you’d get if you left purple hair dye in for an hour rather than a recommended ten minutes. End matter includes early black-and-white sketches of characters, settings, and potential cover versions, with a nod to the extraordinary colorist who made the refined versions of all of those drawings explode with even more energy and joy.

As the first volume in an anticipated series, it remains to be seen if Pip can get her act together a bit more, but either way, she’s the loopy anti-hero that the world of Unfairies didn’t know it was missing, and sometimes upheaval and anarchy is exactly what’s needed to hit a reset on a flawed system.

 —April Spisak, Reviewer

Cover illustration from Unfairies: A Graphic Novel © 2025 by Huw Aaron. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons.