HOPEFULLY THE SCARECROW

A tender and emotive picture book about a scarecrow who befriends the young girl who reads to him day after day until one day he's left wondering where she is.

Hopefully is the name of the scarecrow who stood in the garden. Tall, proud, and smiling. Like most of us, he didn't remember the very beginning of his days. He only knew he was created with loving hands. But he did remember the first time she placed him on his perch. Every day she brought her favorite books to the garden and she read to him. Until the air got too brisk and he was stowed in the garden shed until spring.

Year after year, each spring, she came and she read to him. And year after year, he heard tales of courage and hope. Until one spring, two different hands placed him in the garden, where he, Hopefully, waited. But she didn't come to read to him.

With poignant words from award-winning author Michelle Houts and lush illustrations by Pura Belpré Honor winner Sara Palacios, this is a tender distillation of the enduring power of friendship and the ways stories connect us.

Michelle Houts is the award-winning author of a dozen books for children ranging from picture books to middle grade novels. Her picture book Sea Glass Summer received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, has been reviewed in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and was an ALA Notable Children's Book nominee. She is an active speaker, engaging school children across the United States, presenting to teachers and librarians at conferences, and does writers workshops with the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. You can visit her online at michellehouts.com.

Sara Palacios is the illustrator of Between Us and Abuela, A Way with Wild Things, How to Code a Sandcastle, Flying Girl, 'Twas Nochebuena, and many, many more books. She is also the recipient of the 2012 Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor for her work on Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/ Marisol McDonald no combina (Children's Book Press, 2011), which has been described as "vibrant" and "eclectic." A native of Mexico, Sara graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City with a degree in digital graphic techniques and went on to earn BFA and MFA degrees in illustration from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where she lives with her husband. You can visit her online at sarapalaciosillustrations.com.