Author: Margaret Kingsbury

Delphine Denise and her friends usually ride their bikes with the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, but this year Delphine has a big idea: she wants to make a float and win the float contest! Her friends aren’t keen on the idea, though they do initially try to help. As Delphine tries to turn her big ideas into a reality, she realizes some things are more important than competing. Today is Mardi Gras, so it’s a perfect perfect read for the day!

Jabari wants to make a flying machine in the backyard, and insists he doesn’t need help from his father or little sister. But no matter what he does, his contraption is a failure. He just can’t get it to work! When he opens himself up to help from his father and little sister, however, he realizes he can build something even better than he imagined.

In this rhythmic picture book, Abby is so excited about inviting Phoebe Dupree — the coolest girl in class — to a tea party. But when Phoebe arrives, everything goes wrong! Pastries are spilled, wet dogs are let inside, clothes are ruined. Everything is a disaster! However, it turns out that Phoebe was never expecting perfection, and that maybe friendship can bloom when everyone relaxes and has a good laugh.

All of Bella’s family is good at something. One sibling has perfected somersaults, another is fantastic at piano. Bella has a tendency to give up on things after an initial failure, so when she falls after a somersault attempt and her piano playing causes a racket, she gives up. Yet she wants to find something she’s good at. She decides it’s going to be baking like her abuela. However, baking isn’t as easy as she thought it would be. This fun intergenerational picture book includes Spanish.

This picture book is told from the perspective of a paper crane a young boy makes with his grandmother. The crane and boy are inseparable, and the boy keeps the crane on his nightstand so its the first thing he sees every morning. But years pass and one day a picture of a girl covers the crane. When it comes time to propose to his girlfriend, the boy, now a man, borrows the crane, and the crane once more becomes an intricate part of the boy’s life, especially when a new little one arrives. This is a super sweet, heartwarming read.

Minh Lê and Dan Santat’s latest team-up features parents watching their baby grow up into an adult in a whirlwind of days. The child — whom they dub The Blur — is like a superhero, darting and zooming through days and milestones. It’s a poignant yet energetic read, and would also make a perfect graduation present.

This stunningly illustrated picture book (the same illustrator as My Friend Earth) opens with a grandmother teaching her grandson how to plant a tree on her land. The grandmother continues to teach her grandson about taking care of the land until she dies, and the grandson takes up her knowledge and teaches it to his daughter, and so on, until the grandmother’s property is covered in trees, with loving children climbing among the many branches. It’s a beautiful story and book with intergenerational and nature themes.

This is a really neat children’s biography collection of 12 Black Americans where kids can press a button on every page to hear an excerpt from one of the subject’s speeches. The sound clips are from primary source audio files. The mini-biographies include profiles of James Baldwin, Stacey Abrams, John Lewis, Jay-Z, and more, and each biography is illustrated. It’s a great read for later elementary school and middle school readers.

This searing picture book biography of Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, recently won a Caldecott Honor and the Coretta Scott King Award for best illustrations. Mamie Till-Mobley left the South to live in Chicago, and after leaving her abusive husband, she taught her son Emmett how to whistle to help him when he stuttered. After her son’s brutal murder, she become an activist and spoke out against hate crimes.The paper collage illustrations are beautiful and powerful. This is a book to share with older kids.

This picture book biography tells the story of Mabel Fairbanks and her determination to learn how to figure skate in the 1930s, and how she eventually became the first Black figure skating star. A child orphan, Mabel struggled to find a place to live, eventually being taken in by handyman Uncle Wally (of no relation to her). She longed to skate, but most public places in New York City wouldn’t let Black folks skate, so Uncle Wally built her a mini ice rink at home, where she would practice on too-large skates. Eventually she mustered up the courage to skate in the whites-only Central Park rink, and while some tried to kick her out, the manager was so impressed by her skill he let her stay, ordering others to allow her in to skate. It’s a lovely biography of a little-known figure.

I adore Kim Taylor’s quilted illustrations in this celebratory picture book history of the first Juneteenth. It is Huldah’s 10th birthday when she wakes up on a plantation in Texas to the news that she is now free. She and her community celebrate their freedom and sew a quilt to commemorate the day. It’s a vibrant addition to the growing collection of Juneteenth picture books.

This book releases in a week, and it’s one of my favorites of the year so far (how can I have so many favorites already!?). When a bored Alice picks up a book on a snowy day, the characters invite her to step into the book. Inside she discovers many landscapes and characters to get lost in. It’s beautifully illustrated.

Or are they? Leopold the goat is a bookseller and is proud of his ability to find the perfect book for every customer. That is until another goat shows up and gobbles up every book Leopold recommends. Can Leopold convince this hungry goat that books aren’t for eating?

Long before European colonizers arrived, Aztecs and other indigenous Mexican cultures were making books and recording their stories and histories. In this nonfiction picture book, a young Aztec girl tells her brother about how their parents make books, or codices, and what those books document. It’s a fascinating and important history.

Yep, there are two books about eating books on this list. In this imaginative picture book, Sheila and her twin cousins are hunting for yummy books to eat when the books instead eat them. The books send them on wild adventures but, in the end, are the books consuming the kids, or are the kids consuming the books?

This fantastic picture book biography doesn’t release until March 23rd, but I had to include it here. Judith Geller/Jacqueline Gauthier was a Jewish member of the French Resistance. For five years during WWII, she posed as a non-Jewish social worker and visited Jewish homes with identity papers smuggled inside a wooden toy duck. She was able to save more than 200 lives. It’s a beautifully written biography, but just as moving is the author’s note in the back about connecting with Judith as a Jewish journalist with family killed during the Holocaust and the research she conducted to write this book.

Jella Lepman was a Jewish woman who fled Germany prior to WWII and returned afterward both to help rebuild the country and to share international books in a children’s books museum in the hopes of building “bridges of understanding.” This fictional picture book tells the story of two poor siblings who stumble upon Lepman’s museum and become enchanted with reading. This is a good companion to more discussions about the Holocaust and WWII.

Reminiscent of E.T.A. Hoffmann and Hans Christian Andersen, this middle grade fantasy depicts the horrors of the holocaust through the eyes of a doll, Karolina. Karolina’s doll world has been ravaged by rats, and when she escapes with a toy soldier named Fritz, a wind ferries them to our world and into the hands of two human magicians. Karolina’s magician is the dollmaker of Krakow, a kind-hearted and shy war veteran who makes toys. With Karolina’s help, he breaks out of his introverted shell and makes friends with a violinist and his daughter. Both are Jewish. When the Germans invade Krakow, a dark magic descends on their lives, reminding Karolina of when the rats invaded her homeland.

Today is a young groundhog’s first Groundhog Day. It’s his turn to predict whether winter will continue or if spring will come early. It can’t be that hard, right? When Groundhog gets it wrong and predicts an early spring, chaos ensues. Groundhog learns that he needs to learn about meteorology and how weather works to make accurate predictions. This is a great read for Groundhog Day and for kids interested in meteorology.

This is the third book in Brown-Wood’s Where in the Garden? series, and this time Logan, a wheelchair user, is searching for carrots in the community garden’s greenhouse on a winter day. He’s attending a pet playdate with his friends, but he has to find the carrots for pet treats. Young readers can help Logan compare and contrast different fruits and vegetables until he finally finds the carrots. Other books in the series include Amara’s Farm, Miguel’s Community Garden, and the forthcoming Linh’s Rooftop Garden. These are wonderful reads for preschoolers.

I kept seeing this book reviewed on Instagram and finally picked it up at the library. It’s such a fantastic, rhythmic read aloud; I’m glad I was influenced! Children gather one by one at a school bus stop as the snow begins falling more and more heavily. After all the children have gathered, a toddler pops out of her house shouting “Snow day!” The kids then play in the snow together. It’s such a fun read, and really brings back memories of snow days when I was a kid!

This lyrical, nonfiction picture book explores the many ways animals adapt to winter. It begins in the fall when some animals begin hiding away food while others prepare for hibernation. Still others, like the monarch butterflies, begin the long journey to a warmer climate. It’s a lovely, fascinating book for nature lovers.

In this adorable picture book, Ren and her family prepare for their Lunar New Year celebration. But everyone keeps telling Ren she’s too little to help! When her older brother Charlie arrives, the two prepare pineapple cakes together. There’s even a recipe for pineapple cakes at the end of the book! This story is inspired by the author’s Chinese heritage.

Also based on the author’s Chinese American heritage, Grumpy New Year tells the story of a young girl, Daisy, visiting her grandfather in China for the Lunar New Year. She counts down the days with her grandfather and everything they do together, though everything seems to go wrong. Finally, it’s the big day, but when she wakes up, she can’t find her grandfather! This is a fun intergenerational read, and both the author and the illustrator share their favorite Lunar New Year recipes in the back — Yeh-Yeh’s Fried Jiao Zi and Eight Treasure Rise.

My next two selections focus on Seollal, the Korean Lunar New Year celebration. Mina is so excited to share her Lunar New Year customs with her class. She wears her beautiful hanbok to school, and teaches them some of the traditional games played on the holiday. Her little brother’s tears threaten to disrupt the day, but delicious tteokguk cheers everyone up. This is such a fun picture book and includes instructions for how to fold a paper bokjumeoni.

In the second book in the Mindy Kim early chapter book series, Mindy’s father takes her and her friend Sallie to the Lunar New Year parade in Orlando, Florida. Much to Mindy’s disappointment, there’s no Korean representation in the parade. Then Mindy and Sallie become separated from Mindy’s dad during the parade. How will they find him?! After reading this, my daughter and I made our own yutnori game (which the group plays at the end of the book).

Can there be a more perfect author/illustrator pairing? I adore Joy Harjo’s poetry. If you’re unfamiliar with Harjo, she was the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, and she’s a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The poem in Remember asks young readers to remember the natural world and their heritage, to take joy and to honor it. It’s gorgeously illustrated by Caldecott winner Michaela Goade, of the Tlingit Nation. This is the only book on this list I’ve read. I can’t recommend it enough!

I have loved every single book by Joanna Ho, like Eyes That Kiss in the Corners and Playing at the Border. One Day is a mother’s lyrical ode to her baby son over the course of a day. The illustration samples I’ve seen are soft and tender and lovely. I can’t wait to get my hands on a print copy!

This cover makes me smile! This contemporary middle grade is set in a summer camp for queer kids. It’s told from two perspectives: Abigail (she/her), who’s excited to finally be in a place where she can be herself, and Kai (e/em), who would rather stay home with eir best friend and eir parkour team. This book looks like such a joy.

Indigenous author Christine Day (Upper Skagit) has previously written two wonderful middle grade novels: I Can Make This Promise and The Sea in Winter. In her newest novel, middle schooler Wesley has big plans for Indigenous People’s Day at her school, but from start to finish, everything about her day bombs. But when she attends an intertribal powwow, she learns things that give her a different perspective. I love books that have Indigenous American kids in the present day, and I can’t wait to read this one!

I used to have a goal of doing something actively kind every day. This was easier when I doubled as a book buyer in a busy bookstore and as an adjunct professor, but now that I work from home and pretty much see only two people all day long, it’s a little more difficult, and I have to define kindness in different ways. In this adorable and lyrical board book, kindness can be a happy song shared, art for a loved one, or even finding a cozy place to rest. Kindness doesn’t have to be big; it can be in the small things we do every day, and can be directed at both ourselves and others.

This picture book biography collection encourages kids to speak up when they see an injustice. Paul looks at 11 kids who have spoken up against injustice, from Angela Zhang, who devoted herself to science at 14 and discovered a nanoparticle that helps detect cancer early, to 5-year-old Sophie Cruz, who handed a letter to Pope Francis about the plight of immigrants. A poem, a quote, and a paragraph explanation accompanies each profile.

If I set a New Year’s resolution, this will be it. This lyrical picture book encourages the reader to pause, look, and listen to nature. Each page spread shows a scene from nature, from a garden to a meadow to a creek, and an animal hiding within the scene. With good observation skills, the reader can find each animal. The illustrations are really vibrant and lovely.

I love the idea of writing thank-you notes, but I’ve never managed to do so consistently (in no small part because I have difficulty writing with a pen or pencil). Sallie is inspired to write her first thank-you note after her grandmother sends her a knit scarf. This leads her to notice all the people that impact her life in big and small ways, and she begins writing thank-you notes to them all. This picture book gives a really easy formula to follow for writing thank-you notes, and it immediately inspired my daughter to write some!