![\"skeleton](\"https:\/\/evanstonroundtable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/skeletonbook-768x1024.jpeg\")
Children\u2019s bookseller and buyer Adrien Sdao at Bookends & Beginnings displays a delightfully non-scary Halloween read about a girl skeleton and a cat who become friends. Credit: Belinda Lichty Clarke Credit: Belinda Lichty Clarke<\/p>\nAdrien Sdao manages the children\u2019s section at Bookends & Beginnings, 1620 Orrington Ave., and radiates enthusiasm for books for young people.<\/p>\n
Sdao has been a bookseller for 12 years and arrived at Bookends a year and a half ago. He said from an early age he found books to be a happy escape, which led him to a career in bookselling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was little, I would reread the same books over and over and over, and a lot of times I would find new things in them,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was very comforting to open up a book, see the characters that I loved and know what was going to happen. Sometimes, I did not have that stability in my own life, and books are dependable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sdao added that although his family did not have much money growing up, he always had books. It was not until he grew into adulthood that he determined that books for young people was his calling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think kids\u2019 books grab me more because I do remember very intensely what it\u2019s like to be a kid,\u201d Sdao said. \u201cThere is a unifying thing about kids\u2019 books in that there is a little bit of hope in them, and I find that really helpful to read for myself, in terms of my emotional experience of the story. I\u2019ve read some adult books that really left me not feeling great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Children\u2019s bookseller and buyer Adrien Sdao at Bookends & Beginnings displays a delightfully non-scary Halloween read about a girl skeleton and a cat who become friends. Credit: Belinda Lichty Clarke Credit: Belinda Lichty Clarke<\/p>\n
A California native, Sdao started out volunteering at a bookstore in Oakland, then landed a paid position at another store, later relocating to Los Angeles, where he continued work and pursued an MFA in writing for young people from Antioch University Los Angeles. From there he went to Kansas State, where he received his second master\u2019s degree, an MA in children\u2019s literature. While still in Kansas, Sdao visited Evanston to interview for the Bookends job, starting as a general bookseller, then taking charge of the kids\u2019 section and now working as a buyer-in-training.<\/p>\n
What makes a good kids\u2019 book<\/p>\n
The shop\u2019s children\u2019s and young adult collection is thoughtfully curated by Sdao, as evidenced by the intimate knowledge he has of what\u2019s for sale. He also works closely with sales reps and stays on top of new releases.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a guessing game sometimes, but the sales reps are extremely helpful,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I\u2019m ordering picture books, I can usually get a digital copy, and I read through the whole thing. I prefer to do that. I don\u2019t like to order a picture book without knowing how it ends.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked what he looks for or what captures his attention when reviewing possible acquisitions, Sdao said the key is uncovering the unusual.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnusual, meaning something that will stretch the imagination of the reader or something with a twist at the end,\u201d he explained. \u201cA lot of times on the last page, they\u2019ll have one last thing, and something changes drastically right at the end \u2014 that\u2019s always really fun. And the kids are left going, \u2018Oh my gosh, I can\u2019t believe that happened.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Graphic novels<\/p>\n
Sdao is particularly knowledgeable about graphic novels for young adults, ages 8-12. He said graphic novels have been on the rise for probably the last 10 or more years.<\/p>\n
Contributing to this upward trend, he said, is the fact that kids today are raised on screens. Sdao added that this is why graphic novels are important: They help strengthen visual literacy \u2014 the ability to interpret, analyze and make meaning from a combination of images, panel layouts and written text. Instead of just looking at pictures that decorate a story, young readers must \u201cread\u201d the artwork as an active part of the narrative.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think from the time they\u2019re born, kids have screens in front of them, computers are everywhere, and everybody has their little pocket computer,\u201d Sdao said. \u201cSo just being able to quickly decipher what\u2019s happening with graphics can be helpful and more natural for younger kids or younger people.\u201d<\/p>\n
One example he points to is Raise the Bar, a graphic novel featuring a Chilean teenager named Sam Sanchez who goes behind her parents\u2019 back to train with her Olympic hero in pursuit of becoming her country\u2019s first weightlifting gold medalist.<\/p>\n
![\"book](\"https:\/\/evanstonroundtable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/raise-the-bar-edited-1024x768.jpeg\")
Sdao recommends a graphic novel featuring a Chilean teenager who goes behind her parents\u2019 back to train with her Olympic hero. Credit: Belinda Lichty Clarke<\/p>\n
He explained he\u2019ll sometimes have a parent who is less enthusiastic about graphic novels because they are not in the traditional narrative format. However, just because the books are image-driven doesn\u2019t make them simpler, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe panel format is very interesting, and it seems very natural for young people,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s still left to right, up to down. But it\u2019s a little more dynamic. It\u2019s a little more exciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s important to lean into the graphic novels, because that\u2019s what kids want. That\u2019s what\u2019s going to get them reading, and they\u2019re meant to be read over and over and over, and you can find new things each time,\u201d Sdao said.<\/p>\n
Top pick for fall<\/p>\n
Right now, the children\u2019s nook at Bookends & Beginnings has a bit of a spooky flair going on, with a variety of Halloween books on display.<\/p>\n
Sdao\u2019s top pick is Brandon James Scott\u2019s The Skeleton and the Cat, which he said is not your typical scary read but instead is a beautiful picture book (for kids roughly ages 4-8) that\u2019s divided into short chapters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love this because it\u2019s just very sweet about the skeleton and the cat trying to be friends and teach each other stuff. It\u2019s very gentle, which is not always the case,\u201d Sdao said. \u201cThe skeleton is also a girl skeleton, so I really appreciated that little detail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other favorites<\/p>\n
Sounds of Chicago by Adam Gamble and Mark Jasper<\/p>\n
An interactive board book for infants to age 3 has buttons accompanying photo layouts that let kids play real sounds representing elements of the city, such as the \u201cL,\u201d Wrigley Field, animals at the Shedd Aquarium and the beach. \u201cIt\u2019s a walk through Chicago by sound,\u201d Sdao explains.<\/p>\n
Sweet Tart by Kara Thom<\/p>\n
An 11-year-old girl named Halle copes with the trauma of witnessing a racehorse\u2019s death through a special friendship with a grieving, soccer-playing pony named Rocky.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe realizes that the horse who died has a best friend, a horse who is now very lonely, and so she befriends it and starts working at the stable,\u201d Sdao said of the book, aimed at readers 9-12 years old. \u201cIt\u2019s a sad book, but it\u2019s a happy book at the same time. It\u2019s hard because of the way it starts, but it gets really beautiful in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Incredible 3D Ocean Dive by Peggy Nille<\/p>\n
This interactive children\u2019s seek-and-find book for readers ages 3 and up includes 3D glasses to help Hubble the hermit crab find his lost shell while discovering the creatures living under the sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a new one that has just a ton of information, but it\u2019s also very beautiful and in 3D. It\u2019s just a really good, fun one,\u201d Sdao said.<\/p>\n
Just One Owl by Carolyn Crimi, illustrated by Janie Bynum<\/p>\n
A lonely owl searches the forest for a companion and finally finds a new friend who is a bat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a local author,\u201d Sdao explained. \u201cIt\u2019s just very sweet because the owl finds a very interesting friend at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raise the Bar by Fernanda Frick H.<\/p>\n
A graphic novel featuring a Chilean teenager named Sam Sanchez, who goes behind her parents\u2019 back to train with her Olympic hero in pursuit of becoming her country\u2019s first weightlifting gold medalist.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s had no formal training, but the trainer sees that she\u2019s very naturally talented and very, very passionate,\u201d he said of the book, for readers 8-12. \u201cBut there\u2019s another girl that she takes who is very highly trained, and so there\u2019s kind of a rivalry.\u201d Spoiler alert! \u201cShe does not win in the end, but she gets the bronze medal, which I think is realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
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