Author: Margaret Kingsbury

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!

Each page of this little board book is a different size and shape, creating bookish landscapes. Scenes depict readers in a library, reading with caregivers on a park bench, and there’s even a kid hanging upside down on a tree branch with a book. While clearly this board book is for kids, I feel like if you’re also filling an adult book-lover’s stocking, this would be a fun addition!

I am cheating: this is not a board book. It’s an adorable and soft cloth book fox lovey. This book was made to be cuddled by babies and toddlers. The short book on fox’s tummy is a sweet bedtime story. It would be an excellent gift for a baby’s first Christmas.

This is the most inclusive children’s book about eating I’ve ever seen. Photographs capture real children eating using a variety of utensils and feeding aids: bottles, GI tubes, chopsticks, hands, and more. I teared up when I saw the opening photograph of a mother pumping and feeding her newborn with a syringe, which is exactly how I initially fed my child. It’s a diverse, joyous celebration of eating. The entire We are Little Feminists board book series are essential for baby libraries in my opinion, but I am especially impressed by this one.

I love collecting Elise Gravel’s children’s books. In her most recent board book, a very opinionated young monster knows exactly what is best all of the time. Unfortunately, the adult monsters see things a bit differently. This is a silly read-aloud every toddler caregiver will relate to.

In this sweet picture book, Ava makes a special menorah for the eighth day of Hanukkah and learns about the significance behind her other family member’s menorahs. Her family has a tradition of each member bringing their own menorah to the last day of celebrating. This is a great way to inspire readers to make their own menorah, and you better believe my crafty child insisted we make one immediately upon finishing the book!

In this delightful STEM board book and part of a larger series, a baby plays dreidel and learns how angular momentum works. This entire series is a fantastic way to learn science concepts, and I love that the newer books also have holiday connections. I had a proud Mama moment this past weekend involving this book. My daughter wanted to make a dreidel, and after we finished, she wanted to play the game. She went to one of her bookshelves, found this book, brought it back, and then opened it up to the page where it explains how to play for reference. Then she taught me how to do it. Yay for reference skills! (I hope no one minds all my personal stories, because that tends to be how I connect with books!)

What I like best about this picture book is its explanation of why Hanukkah is celebrated and its description of the Maccabees and the destruction of their temple. It features a contemporary Jewish family, and a preschool-aged girl’s questions about the holiday. The illustrations are vibrant, and the prose is simple yet informative.

Every December the children in this picture book receive a crate of oranges from their Nonna and Nonno in Florida, but this year, instead of the oranges coming to them, they’re going to the oranges, and to their grandparents’ house. From making almendrikas to picking oranges to racing on the beach, the family has so much fun celebrating Hanukkah in Miami with their grandparents. This lovely, vibrantly illustrated book depicts Sephardic Jewish traditions.

This stunningly illustrated picture book was one of the 10 books that won in the Future Classics category. A young girl asks her mother “Will it be okay?” in a variety of scenarios, from being stung by a bee to wondering what would happen if her mother died. The mother’s reassurance is shown through the lyrical prose and Jessica Love’s (of Julián Is a Mermaid fame) absolutely beautiful, emotion-filled illustrations.

This picture book speaks to me on so many personal levels: as a mom with a chronic illness, as a daughter who grew up with a father with a chronic illness, and as a daughter now whose father has cancer. It’s so difficult to depict chronic illness, agency, and the nuanced emotions a child will feel when a parent has a chronic illness — in this book’s case, cancer. Sheetal Shesh pulls from her own experiences as a mom with cancer to create one of the truest portrayals of what it’s like to live with a parent who has a chronic illness that I’ve ever seen, and she does so with simplicity and grace. Khoa Le’s tapestry-like illustrations are as lovely as they always are. This book is a winner on the Conversation Starters theme, and needless to say, is one of my favorites.

This queer-affirming sweet bedtime picture book won in the Best Read Aloud category. It’s time for Sweet Pea to go to bed, but Mama and Mommy have a bit of a problem — Sweet Pea is procrastinating by pretending to be different animals. How would a koala sleep? How about an emperor penguin? My child has forever been difficult at bedtime, and Cornwell perfectly captures that child bedtime mischievousness.

This powerful picture book tells the true story of how Estela Juarez’s mother was deported to Mexico when she was eight years old. Her mother had lived in the United States since she was 18, working and eventually marrying a man in the military with whom she had two children. But that did not prevent her from being deported to Mexico during Trump’s term. Estela wrote a moving letter to Congress asking for her mother’s return, which was eventually granted during Biden’s presidency. It’s a poignant story about a family torn apart and a young girl’s bravery. It won in the Best Biography category.

Kids can explore global Christmas traditions in this tree-shaped board book that counts down the 10 days before Christmas. In Australia, for example, a child hangs a shell ornament on the tree while friends and family have fun on the beach. In the Andes Mountains in Peru, children carve gourds to hang on the tree, while in Ethiopia boys play Ye’gena Chewata. It’s a fascinating read for children and adults! And a great way to introduce some new traditions.

Speaking of traditions, this picture book is based on the Icelandic tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve, known as Jolabokaflod. It’s a lyrical, cozy, and delightful read for book lovers of all ages. Back matter includes the author’s experiences with the holiday and how to make a book tree.

This hilarious picture book rewrites “The Twelve Days of Christmas” to feature cats. On day four there are four cats laying on gifts; on day seven, cats shred wrapping paper; and on day 10, 10 cats help Santa. Soon, the Christmas tree has been demolished by 12 oh-so-helpful cats. But they’re still adorable! This is my daughter’s favorite Christmas read right now. We love the illustrations!

If you’re more of a dog person, then you will love this delightful new picture book, which is just as mischievous as the previous book. Murray knows his job: to keep his family safe. So when Murray’s first Christmas arrives, he dutifully pees on the Christmas tree to mark his territory, snatches away ‘snakes’ (aka Christmas lights) from his humans, and howls at carolers. Then comes the worst offense: a stranger in a red suit in the house at night! But maybe Murray can be a helper instead of a menace this time.

One of my daughter’s favorite books last year was Spin to Survive: Frozen Mountain, and she literally screamed when the newest book in the series arrived. These books are so neat, and can be enjoyed just as much by my 4-year-old as they can by a middle schooler. In this newest one, Grandma Beatriz has given you, the reader, an important mission: find the fabled Lost City of the Jaguar God before the treasure hunters steal all the Indigenous artifacts. Each page presents new dilemmas, and the reader has to make a choice, then spin to survive with a compass. The reader is then directed to another page based on the results. There are also lots of survival tips, historical insights, and ecological facts scattered on every page. It’s an awesome book.

I love The Story Orchestra series, which typically retells the story of an opera with buttons to push for musical accompaniment from the opera. Their latest has a small piano so young readers can play along with 8 famous musical pieces, from Tchaikovsky’s “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” to “Royal March of the Lion” by Camille Saint-Saëns. This would pair well with other books in the series, like The Story Orchestra: The Magic Flute.

Another jungle book, and another entertaining book in a series. In the Let’s Tell a Story series, the reader is prompted to create every aspect of a story from page one. Readers choose from a list of characters, character clothes, quests, villains, and so on, creating an entirely new story each time they read. This interactive series helps with early storytelling skills and could be used in classrooms or at home. It’s another series that transcends age.

These bilingual board books are amazing. The languages offered are Chinese, Spanish, French, Hindu, and Korean. You choose a language, then receive a set of books and a reading wand. The reading wand reads the text in both the chosen language and in English. The Habbi Habbi company offers all kinds of products to go with the reading wand, from books to puzzles to flash cards. It’s a super neat and well-executed idea.

This is the book that inspired me to make a Beautiful Biology list. It’s a stunningly illustrated picture book about bioluminescence, depicting a mother and daughter exploring the many ways bioluminescence is present in our world, on land and in water. Kuo explores bioluminescence in lyrical language but then provides more detailed information in short paragraphs on each page. It’s a perfect marriage of poetry and science, both in language and in illustration.

This innovative nonfiction uses a three-color lens to reveal hidden pictures within the illustrations. Each section describes an ecosystem from around the world, and readers can use various lenses to reveal insects, habitats, and other invertebrate creepy crawlies that call that ecosystem home in the layered illustrations. It’s a book bug lovers of all ages can get lost in for hours. It’s really fascinating.

This beautiful concertina-style exploration of the sea unfolds to reveal each layer of the sea, from otters diving along the surface to anglerfish deep in the ocean’s depths. This is a book that requires a lot of room, as it unfolds to about 10 feet! It also provides lots of fun facts about the ocean.

This picture book is a little different from the other three in that not only does it provide a fascinating glimpse into the Elwha River’s ecology, but it also gives a call to action to protect the environment, gives a history of how the U.S. government took land from Indigenous Americans — particularly the Strong People — and shows how contemporary Indigenous Americans lobby for their land rights and rehabilitate ecosystems. The book is beautifully illustrated by Métis illustrator Natasha Donovan, and it’s a great way to look at broad topics like environmentalism, the effects of overpopulation, and the history of how the U.S. government treated Indigenous Americans by focusing on one single example — the Elwha River.

In this picture book biography, Indigenous dancer Ria Thundercloud — from the Ho-Chunk Nation and Sandia Pueblo — describes how she came to be a dancer, from attending powwows at four to participating in jingle dances to learning ballet and tap. No matter what kind of dance she learns, she feels connected to her Indigenous ancestry, and she stays connected through adulthood. It’s a lovely, powerful biography.

This stunningly illustrated picture book connects the past, present, and future through both words and illustrations, showing the cyclical nature of our choices. It encourages young readers to be a good ancestor by practicing active respect towards themselves, others, and the environment. It’s a lyrical call to action, unlike any other book I’ve seen. The authors are from the Lake Babine Nation and Nak’azdli Whut’en and belong to the Likh Tsa Mis Yu (Beaver) Clan. The illustrator is Cree.

This bilingual poetic picture book is written in both English and Plains Cree. Accompanied by Grimard’s warm and joyful illustrations, Smith’s poem presents a list of hopes she has for children and future generations. It would make a lovely present for new parents. Monique Gray Smith is Cree, Lakota, and Scottish.

While snuggling in bed during story time, Izzy notices that her skin is darker than her mama’s and, later, that her hair is poofy when dancing while her mama’s hair swings side to side. Her mama assures her of her beauty and Izzy realizes that no child and mother match exactly. Based on the author’s experiences as an Afro-Indigenous girl (Cree and Trinidadian), this lyrical picture book is a lovely story about self-love and self-acceptance.

In this informative picture book, two friends take a class field trip to a butterfly sanctuary, where they learn all about the life cycle of the painted lady butterfly. Afterward, the girls are inspired to make a community garden that will attract the butterflies and help them thrive. It’s a great picture book to learn more about butterflies and to inspire kids to contribute to their communities.

This gorgeously illustrated nonfiction identifies butterflies from around the world. It’s a large, fascinating book describing commonly known butterflies and lesser-known beauties. It includes a world map, illustrations of a butterfly’s life cycle, and more. My daughter and I use it as a reference book whenever we spot a new kind of butterfly in our nearby community garden.

This is a delightful picture book about friendship and the differences between a moth and a butterfly. Two caterpillars become best friends, but when they both undergo their transformations, their differences pull them apart. Moth prefers the night, while butterfly prefers the day. Will they find a way to continue their friendship? With its vibrant illustrations and adorable friendly main character, this book is a great way to introduce compare/contrast concepts as well as insect facts to young readers.

My daughter just started reading chapter books this year, and The Critter Club is one of her favorite early chapter book series. In the latest book in the series, Marion volunteers to be part of a butterfly release at the Santa Vista Arboretum. But none of her friends can volunteer with her, and her little sister refuses to because she’s scared of bugs. Marion’s determined to help her sister overcome her fears, but in the meantime, Marion needs to overcome her own anxiety over trying to make everything perfect.

This cute English/Spanish bilingual board book features hungry monsters and delectable sweets. Each page offers a new monster a different, sweet Mexican treat, but the monsters keep turning them down! What do these picky monsters want? Pan de Muerto, of course! The back of the book offers descriptions of all the desserts mentioned in the book.

This second new board book has a cute little skull finger puppet for kids to play with. It’s a counting book featuring common items on Día de los Muertos, like three skeletons leading a parade and nine family photographs on the altar. It’s a vibrantly illustrated, interactive board book perfect for toddlers.

Mar is really excited to welcome dead family members when they visit on The Day of the Dead. With the help of her parents and Abuela, she remembers family members who have passed, what they enjoyed, and tries to incorporate those likes into the holiday preparations so that their spirits will be happy. This is a sweet picture book about honoring ancestors and celebrating their memories.