Happy Sunday, kidlit friends! Do you celebrate half-birthdays? We decided to start this year, and today is my daughter’s half-birthday. We’re celebrating by visiting a cat donation center to pet some cats. I’m gonna need to double up on my allergy meds!
Learn something new, sharpen your skills, and expand your horizons with our Better Living Through Books newsletter. Better Living Through Books is your resource for reading material that helps you live the life you want. From self-help to cookbooks to parenting to personal finance, relationships, and more, Better Living Through Books has got you covered. If it’s part of life, it can be part of your reading life. Sign up for your free subscription to Better Living Through Books today, or become an All Access member starting at $6 per month or $60 per year and get unlimited access to members-only content in 20+ newsletters, community features, and the warm fuzzies knowing you are supporting independent media.
Today, I review two great new releases, plus four books to check out for Juneteenth.
Bookish Goods
Brown Kids Reading Tumbler by thetrinigee
You’re going to need to stay hydrated for whatever Juneteenth celebrations you attend, and this tumbler is a great way to do so. $33
New Releases
Super Pancake and the Mini Muffin Mayhem by Megan Wagner Lloyd, illustrated by Abhi Alwar
The second book in the delightful Super Pancake early reader graphic novel series is out! Peggy Pancake is struggling to juggle her superhero activities with school and home life. Her mother sets her up to babysit six mini muffins, and Peggy decides to bring them with her when she meets her superhero trainer, Professor Egg. One of them steals a device that turns the mini muffin into one GIANT muffin of supervillainious inclinations. If being a superhero is hard, being a babysitter is even harder. This series is so funny and clever!
The Legendary Mo Seto by A.Y. Chan
Short girls unite! This martial arts middle grade fiction is a super fun novel about 12-year-old Mo Seto and her love of taekwondo. Though she’s quite good at taekwondo, her tiny stature makes it difficult to compete with people like her nemesis Dax, who is so much bigger than her. When she loses to Dax in a competition, she despairs, but a chance to star in a martial arts movie with her hero lifts her mood. She needs permission from her parents to audition, but her dad is away on a trip to China, and her mother disapproves of Mo’s interest in taekwondo. Meanwhile, she discovers a book of her grandmother’s about an older martial arts practice for small women that combines dance with taekwondo. She begins to practice the movements, but doing so seems to scare both of her parents for reasons she doesn’t understand.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Juneteenth is in 10 days, so it’s time to either buy these Juneteenth children’s books or put them on hold at the library!
Juneteenth Is by Natasha Tripplett, illustrated by Daniel J. O’Brien
A young girl narrates her family’s Juneteenth activities in this joyful depiction of the holiday. She wakes up to the smoky smell of her father’s slow-cooked brisket. The family gathers for the neighborhood parade, then for lunch and games. The girl’s granddaddy reminds her that Juneteenth is about remembering “lives long before our memories,” and the two talk about Juneteenth’s history. Back matter includes a description of the significance of red. The father in this wonderful picture book uses a prosthetic leg.
They Built Me for Freedom by Tonya Duncan Ellis, illustrated by Jenin Mohammed
This is a gorgeously illustrated picture book about the history of Juneteenth and of Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas, a park that was built as a dedication to honor the day. The park is the narrator, and it recalls its 150-year history as well as the history of Juneteenth in sparse yet poetic words. It’s a beautiful and moving picture book.
Juneteenth by Van G. Garrett, illustrated by Reginald C. Adams and Samson Bimbo Adenugba
This colorful and joyful picture book depicts a child attending a Juneteenth parade with his family in Galveston, Texas, where Juneteenth began. The family packs up the car and makes their way to the parade, and when they arrive, the boy is shocked to see so many faces that look like his own and his family’s. Garrett uses lyrics from “Lift Every Voice and Sing” throughout the lyrical text.
The Juneteenth Cookbook by Alliah L. Agostini and Chef Taffy Elrod, illustrated by Sawyer Cloud
This picture book for older readers takes a unique approach to explaining Juneteenth’s history — through recipes! Alliah and her grandparents discuss Juneteenth’s history as they prepare 18 dishes, with recipes included, from Freedom Fizz, a raspberry-based drink, to Red Velvet Ice Cream Sandwiches. Recipes are divided into five categories: Drinks, Appetizers, Mains, Sides, and Desserts. Each section also includes a game or activity.
I love my daughter’s newest cat book, about a very hungry cat stumbling upon a pumpkin patch and getting stuck inside a pumpkin. Can you tell we’re a Halloween family?
If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, Twitter @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom.bsky.social, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.
All the best,
Margaret Kingsbury