“In the great north woods / by a little round lake / in a soft, warm nest / a baby loon lived with his mother.” When the little loon’s mother goes off in search of food one evening, the baby bides his time. “…he waited / and floated / and paddled in circles. The breeze ruffled his fluff.” He doesn’t know how to dive—although he tries. He does know how to imagine: Maybe his mother met a moose. Maybe she had an encounter with a snapping turtle. Why has she been gone so long? Tired and hungry, he decides to paddle home to their nest, but which way is home? Debut author Mary Beth Griffin’s finely paced, lyrical story builds to a dramatic intensity of feeling when the forlorn baby cries out in despair. But hope and happiness are just a turn of the page away in a picture book that ends with a joyful reunion, a triumphant milestone, and a return to the loving comfort of home. This quietly charged story about a universal childhood anxiety is winningly illustrated by Anne Hunter. Her captivating watercolor and ink illustrations inspire tenderness and heighten emotions from the first page to the last. (Ages 2–5)

Atop the rippling waves--
the breeze ruffling his fluff--
Loon Baby waits, alone,
and wonders:
Will his mother ever come back?

With sensitivity and a spare prose, first-time author Molly Beth Griffin navigates the quiet panic that Loon Baby experiences in the absence of Mama. Anne Hunter's soft cross-hatched and watercolor paintings shape a serene lake-scape with varied scenes that amplify and illuminate the emotion this book captures.