Ashlie Swicker

Highlights Press Most puzzle books give kids something to fill in. Escape Rooms! dares them to solve their way out. Young sleuths ages 8–12 will explore six richly illustrated worlds, from a dinosaur planet and wizard’s castle to a haunted cheese factory and spaceship, searching for hidden objects, cracking codes, solving logic puzzles, and following clues. Every answer matters and may unlock the final escape.

Body positivity, body neutrality, fat liberation, inclusivity—no matter what you call it, representing and normalizing a range of body types and abilities is crucial in children’s media. I’ve felt strongly about this for decades, and it’s really only in the last five years that I’ve seen a shift in the picture book world. I’ll never forget the moment I heard that Big by Vashti Harrison had won the Caldecott Medal. I erupted into tears of shock and joy.

If the term “mushroomcore” instantly brings an image to mind, you already understand its essence. Much like its aesthetic cousins, cottagecore and goblincore, it evokes the cozy, slightly witchy elements of forests, critters, twilight, lush greenery, and thatched-roof cottages. As a child of the ’90s, I used to associate anything ending in “-core” with hardness, but the soul of these modern aesthetics is remarkably soft, gentle, and lush.