Sarabeth's Garage -- Melanie Florence, Hardcover

A picture book that celebrates doing your own thing in the face of society's expectations . . . and a sweet story about a girl, her dad, her disapproving grandma and, most importantly, cars.

Sarabeth loves cars.

She loves the way the engines sometimes roar like lions and other times purr like kittens. She loves seeing sports cars that are sleek and fast like cheetahs and boxy SUVs that trundle along like elephants.

And most of all, she loves to help her dad at his garage.

Sarabeth's grandmother doesn't approve. She thinks little girls should play with dolls and wear dresses and always have clean hands. But when her car starts grumbling like a walrus instead of purring like a kitten, who will be there to help?

A delightful story about an independent and spirited girl who has no time for the limitations that society wants to put on her, and a grandma who gets the opportunity to change her way of thinking.

Author: Melanie Florence
Publisher: Tundra Books (NY)
Published: 02/10/2026
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
ISBN: 9781774885956
Audience: Ages 4-8

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2025

About the Author
MELANIE FLORENCE is an award-winning writer based in Toronto. She is the author of the picture book Missing Nimâmâ, which won the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the Forest of Reading Golden Oak Award and was a finalist for the First Nation Communities READ award. Her other picture book, Stolen Words, won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award, was shortlisted for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and was given a starred review by Kirkus, who listed it as one of the best picture books of 2017 to give readers strength.

NADIA ALAM is a second generation Bangladeshi-Canadian. She is an avid daydreamer and meanderer who draws to capture the world as she sees it. She is the illustrator of The Wishing Machine; Awake, Asleep; Mauntie and Me; and The House Without Lights. She lives in Toronto with her two lovely kids and a dog named Momo.