Author: Margaret Kingsbury

This is a lovely picture book biography about the famous Persian poet Rumi. It opens with Rumi’s birth in 1207 Iran and his childhood dancing in the garden and asking many questions. Rumi was inspired to write after reading “The Conference of the Birds” and meeting the epic poem’s author Attar, as well as by the religious leader Shams and his mother, who appears to him in a dream. The ending mirrors the beginning, with an older Rumi dancing in the garden with the children he’s inspired. It’s a beautifully illustrated picture book biography.

This is a beautiful bilingual picture book written in both English and Persian, originally published in Iran. When a young girl’s mother dies, Empty appears to take her place. Empty follows the girl everywhere — to bed, at breakfast, to school. Empty is the girl’s only companion. As time passes, the girl finds ways to fill her life with other feelings. The plant she potted with her mother begins to bloom, she and Empty rescue a kitten, and she finds a friend on the playground. Sepia-toned illustrations perfectly mirror the girl’s inner life. It’s a lovely, metaphoric depiction of grief.

This is a super fun middle grade fantasy based on The Arabian Nights. It alternates between two perspectives. Sahara is visiting Egypt with her dad to celebrate her maternal uncle’s marriage. This is her first time in Egypt, and on the eve of the trip, her mother’s friend and her aunt gift her a necklace of her mother’s. When in Egypt, the necklace disappears, and she believes the bride-to-be might have stolen it. She also learns of Ali Baba’s treasure and how the necklace might’ve been part of it. Morgana’s story is set in the distant past and is about how Ali Baba tasks her with guarding the treasure. It’s a magical read.

This adventure-filled middle grade historical fantasy set in the 11th century on the Silk Road opens with a bang, with the orphan Monkey being stoned by monks after being accused of blasphemy. The charismatic merchant Samir arrives just in time and saves Monkey, and now Monkey is a member of Samir’s caravan. He feels indebted to Samir and aims to pay off his debt by saving Samir’s life six times. Samir has made a lot of people angry with his smooth talking and frequent scams, so Monkey has plenty of opportunities to pay back his debt. There are illustrations throughout.

This is a gorgeous but infuriating picture book about Jewish chemist Rosalind Franklin, whose vital work was appropriated by male scientists. As a child in the 1920s, Franklin loved science, especially chemistry, which she initially learned about in a darkroom watching photographs develop. Her supportive parents made sure she got the education she wanted, and after graduating college, she began working with various companies in England and France. She began researching DNA at King’s College in England, where she took X-ray diffraction images of DNA. Her photo 51 showed the structure of DNA, though it would not be recognized until later, when her colleagues James Watson and Frances Crick found her photo and, using it, managed to make the first correct model of DNA. They went on to win a Nobel Prize for their work, never mentioning Franklin’s name. She had died four years earlier. Stone opens the picture book biography by admitting that this story does not have a happy ending. Yet, sharing stories like Franklin’s is so important. Even though she was not recognized during her lifetime, we can recognize her now. The soft illustrations in this are really lovely.

I had also never heard of Ella Jenkins until reading this delightful picture book biography, though I had probably seen her on Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood as a child. Jenkins grew up in Chicago, loving music. She especially enjoyed Cab Calloway’s music, so when she began working as a program director at YWCA, she wrote call-and-response songs inspired by Calloway’s music for children. She studied music from all over the world, wrote memorable children’s songs, appeared on television, and was a Civil Rights activist. After reading this biography of her, you can watch videos of her performances on YouTube.

I am very picky about Frida Kahlo’s biographies because so many fail to mention or gloss over that she was disabled. This chapter biography includes Kahlo’s disability from beginning to end. It’s very hard to pull off a thorough biography of her life for kids that really captures her complexity, but I think Katz does a pretty good job. This chapter book series includes questions in each chapter, lots of illustrations, a timeline, and more. There are dozens of books in this series, many of which center women, but this one is one of my favorites. They’re great for transitional readers in early elementary school.

Here’s another important woman I had never heard of until I read this middle grade biography about her! Elizebeth Smith Friedman was America’s first female cryptanalyst. She came to the work in a roundabout way. Born in 1892, she put herself through college despite that not being the norm and her family refusing to support her. Desperate for work after graduating, she went to a library to enquire about possible job opportunities, and they put her in contact with a wealthy eccentric who was trying to work on code to analyze Shakespeare’s works. He hired her and another man to help him with the project, and when WWI hit, the two were hired as codebreakers. They continued their work during WWII and after, eventually marrying and starting a family. Because her work was so secretive, documents about her only came to light fairly recently. It’s a fascinating glimpse into her life, the discrimination women faced, and these moments in history. Comic strips at the beginning of each chapter help make this an accessible read as well. This middle grade biography releases on March 12th.

This is a lovely, lyrically written picture book biography of three Puerto Rican sisters who moved to the Bronx and whose activism created lasting change. It is the first picture book biography about the three. When Evelina, Lillian, and Elba moved to the Bronx in the 1930s, they expected to find a land for the free and many new opportunities. Instead, they were met with racism and discrimination. Even as children, they became activists in the community, and as adults continued to make an impact: Evelina, who worked in education; Lillian, who advocated for Spanish and bilingual children’s books in libraries; and Elba, who dedicated her work to spreading the word about Latine art and music to those outside the community. Back matter includes a glossary and timeline. I love the warm, rich artwork.

This interactive mini biography collection is a follow-up to MacMillan’s She Spoke. Each page spread includes a short biography of a woman, an illustrated portrait, quick facts, a sound clip from a speech the woman gave, and questions for deeper thinking. The book provides biographies and sound clips for 14 women, including Dr. Mae Jemison, Kamala Harris, Mother Jones, Ladonna Harris, and many more. It’s a diverse collection, and the sound clips are so cool.

This is a fascinating, illustrated middle grade biography collection of 50 women in STEM. It includes many women I’d never heard of, like Ancient Mesopotamian royal perfumer Tapputi-Belatikallim and zoologist Margaret S. Collins. Each page includes many details about the woman’s life and scientific achievements, a full-page illustration of the woman, as well as a related home activity for readers to try, which is really neat. I also like how this has little tabs indicating each scientific area. It’s a really diverse and expansive collection.

This gorgeously illustrated middle grade anthology collects more than 100 poems by women, girls, and nonbinary poets. Poets include Emily Dickinson, Joy Harjo, Yang Kuei-Fei, Nikki Grimes, and so many more. I would’ve spent many days lost in this as a child, and spent an hour reading it this morning! It’s a large book that would make an excellent gift to poetry-loving kids.

This is a beautifully illustrated and lyrical picture book narrated by the moon. Moon is delighted by what she sees as she peeks in on how people are celebrating Ramadan in various countries over the course of the month. She watches a family share a savory Iftar feast in Indonesia, smiles as children deliver baskets of sweets in the United Kingdom, and spins happily as she watches children have moons painted on their hands in Dubai. Meanwhile, her light changes as the month passes. The book ends with a joyous Eid celebration. Back matter includes an author’s note, glossary, and information about the lunar cycle and the phases of the moon.

This sweet picture book is based on the author’s childhood experiences. Aliya is so excited about Ramadan. She knows children under 13 aren’t expected to fast, but she wants to fast like her parents! Secretly, she spends a miserable day fasting, and when she gets home, she accidentally takes a bite of baklava because she’s so hungry. She bursts into tears, and her mother comforts her, telling her there’s another way for children to celebrate Ramadan instead of fasting — through acts of kindness.

This charming middle grade graphic novel occurs during Ramadan. Nayra Mansour is fed up with the constant bullying because she’s only one of two Muslim students in the entire school, and it has gotten even worse during Ramadan while Nayra fasts. When a djinn, Marjan, appears and asks for Narya’s help, she agrees, but the djinn isn’t being completely honest. I love the artwork in this!

Eid is celebrated at the end of Ramadan. This year’s will be April 9th-April 10th. This fantastic middle grade short story collection features 15 stories, poems, and comics from Muslim writers about Eid. The stories show how Eid is celebrated around the world, from Philly to a Syrian refugee camp. Stories depict blended families, sibling and friend drama, lots of food, and more. It’s the perfect book to end Ramadan reading.

I first heard of this picture book after Book Riot contributor Laura Sackton reviewed it on her kidlit Instagram. Peyton, who is Lakota, doesn’t want to attend a powwow and dance. Her Auntie Eyota realizes why —because Peyton doesn’t want to wear a dress — and calls on their Indigenous community to help craft Peyton the perfect outfit for the powwow. This is an affirming, community-driven picture book with lovely illustrations.

I’ve reviewed this picture book on here before, but it can never be reviewed too often. It’s a retelling of an Indigenous Hawaiian legend about how four Mahu — individuals of dual male and female spirit — brought healing powers to Hawaii. When the four arrive from Tahiti, they are welcomed and teach the people their healing arts and cures. When they leave, the Hawaiians erect four stones to commemorate them. The stones were forgotten until the 1960s. This picture book is bilingual and written in both English and Ōlelo Niʻihau.

This middle grade graphic novel retells Alice in Wonderland from an Anishinaabe perspective. Aimée, a nonbinary Anishinaabe tween, is going on a field trip with her school for a water ceremony. She has been relentlessly bullied for being queer, and she mentally escapes by playing video games on her phone. She’s so engrossed in her phone that she wanders away from the group and into the spirit world, where she must help a white rabbit defeat a land-hungry queen. This engaging and inventive graphic novel addresses land rights, pronouns, queer identity, Anishinaabe storytelling, and more.

I have not had a chance to read Edgmon’s middle grade debut yet, since it releases in September, but I’m excited to! I loved his YA fantasy Witch King series. The Flicker is about two step-siblings and their toddler half-sibling in an apocalypse, braving the Appalachian mountains on their own to find their Seminole grandmother. Edgmon is queer, and their other books have had queer characters in them, so I’m hoping this one does, too.

This is a fantastic early concepts book for preschoolers and toddlers. The pages are made of sturdy paper that’s not really board book material but not like a picture book either. They’re hard to tear! Each page shows geometric shapes in different positions, color combinations, and patterns. It’s a very cool book for kids to start learning colors, patterns, prepositions, and placement. Carter has another similar book — Some of These Are Snails.

I adore the Storytelling Math series, which includes both picture books and board books. In the most recent picture book, Annabelle’s grandparents are coming to visit, and her grandmother is going to teach Annabelle how to cook gumbo. There’s only one problem — some of the family want okra gumbo, while others want chicken gumbo. How will Annabelle decide which to make and what ingredients to choose to make everyone happy? Cooking is such a great math activity for kids, and this is the perfect book to read before making a pot of gumbo!

This is a hilarious, highly illustrated chapter book series about Chirpy the Chicken and her ability to solve problems with math. Whenever the coop is having a problem, Chirpy can figure out a way (literally) to solve it. She learns more about math by sneaking onto a school bus and attending school. In this first book, she tries to figure out how to prevent a fox from getting into the coop. In the second, The Great Mathemachicken: Have a Slice Day, Chirpy makes a duck friend, and the two learn about fractions. The third, The Great Mathemachicken: Sing High, Sing Crow, which releases in April, has Chirpy trying to figure out how to solve a rivalry between the coop and a noisy murder of crows.

I’m so excited about this new middle grade graphic novel series about superheroes and their math powers! Three tweens in Computropolis discover an arithmetic meteor and become superheroes with math powers called the solvers. Leo becomes Animal Jr., Shahi becomes Cloud Tamer, and Moe becomes Zipper. To defeat villains, they must solve math problems and need the reader’s help to do so. There are areas where the math is explained, and readers are encouraged to find some scrap paper to complete the problems. The second book in the series releases today, along with the first — The Solvers Book #2: The Shrinking Setback.

Frankie’s mama is a journalist and often needs to leave the family when a big story breaks. When Mama leaves to cover the latest news, Frankie decides to set up her own broadcast news station. But what will she report? The sound of crying gives her exactly the story she needs. This is such a great introduction to news, wrapped up in an engaging story. The second book in this series, Frankie and Friends: The Big Protest, releases in May. The series has lots of illustrations, which makes it great for younger transitional readers.

There are currently five books in the Love Puppies series. They’re about four magical puppies who help human children in need. In this first book, the puppies help third-grader Meiko find a friend when Meiko starts a new school. These books are a bit denser than the other series on the list, with fewer illustrations, so they are best for slightly older transitional readers, though my daughter loves them! Magic + puppies will be a winning combination for a lot of kids.

This is another series my daughter really enjoys. There are currently four books in this series, which combine STEM and friendship themes. In this first book, Miles Lewis makes a bet with his friend that he can ice skate without falling on a school field trip to the ice skating rink. Miles regrets making the bet and wishes he could take it back, but his competitive friend isn’t making it easy. Meanwhile, he’s worried about his grandmother, who lives with him and his parents, moving away. This intergenerational series is really engaging, with a good amount of illustrations and text spaced apart well for young readers.

The Bo at the Buzz series is excellent for the youngest transitional readers, with sparse text and lots of illustrations. There are currently six books in the series, and they’re available in English and Spanish. In this one, Bo wants to make the basketball team, but his friends play better than him at practice. Bo and his Pop-Pop (grandfather) live above Pop-Pop’s barbershop, and whenever Bo has a problem, he goes to the barbershop for advice. This series can be great for having important conversations with kids, too.

This is a cute middle grade graphic novel about a kid, Dale Donavan, who starts an art club at his very anti-art middle school. The vice principal detests art and creativity and pushes kids to figure out what practical jobs they’ll have as adults. I personally wanted to be a spy as a kid, so I’m glad I didn’t attend this school. Dale wants to prove to his vice principal and the school that artists can be successful and that the school should have an art club. So, he starts an art club with four other kids in the school. In their free time, the kids also bond over a video game they play. Each of the four characters has a nuanced background and story. I really love the character interactions.

This semi-autobiographical middle grade graphic novel also stars a tween who wants to become an artist but is told it’s an impractical career choice, this time by her mother. Steph, a Dominican 8th-grader living in the Bronx, wants to apply to an arts high school in Manhattan, but her mother wants her to continue going to Catholic school. Steph decides the only way to get what she wants is to lie, but it’s hard to keep up with all her lies.

Now for an action-packed fantasy novel. Kiki has anxiety, and to calm her nerves, she draws. She loves drawing characters from Indian myths and legends, but when she draws the legend of Mysore, she accidentally opens a portal into another world, and the demon king Mahishasura hops into her bedroom. Kiki has to return Mahishasura to his own world before he wreaks havoc in hers, but that means venturing into the portal.

In this lovely novel, 12-year-old Franny Petroski creates art with found objects. Her mother left when she was young, and she lives happily with her Nana. When Nana breaks her leg taking out the trash, the pair have to move to a new one-story rental, and then her uncle comes to live with them to help out. Her uncle doesn’t get along well with Nana due to difficulties with Franny’s mother when they were kids, which Franny is now learning about. It’s a quiet but touching novel about mental illness and family secrets.

This stunning picture book just won the Asian Pacific American Award for Literature and a Caldecott Honor at the recent ALA awards, and for good reason. It’s a beautifully illustrated and heartwarming picture book about a biracial child learning dragon folklore from grandmothers from two different cultures — Eastern and Western. He imagines himself exploring two different forests, encountering his grandmothers in these forests, and witnessing a dragon. It’s a really special book.

While the previous dragon picture book was a warm and delightful exploration of heritage, this one is completely hilarious and ludicrous. It won me over on the title alone, but I’m happy to say the contents lived up to the title. It’s a counting book about a large dragon family, all named Broccoli, slowly getting willowed down as they travel, go on adventures, and encounter wizards until finally, there’s only one dragon named Broccoli. Or is there more? The illustrations are so perfectly whimsical and expressive.

This delightful chapter book is on the lower end of chapter book reading levels. It describes the daily lives of two best friends — a dragon named Drag and a T-rex named Rex. These two friends have very different personalities. Drag is a daydreaming, disorganized, adventurous dragon full of new ideas. Rex is a polite, slightly grumpy, organized dinosaur who is always ready and willing to help friends. This chapter book is divided into three stories with three chapters each. It’s really great for kids just beginning to read chapter books.

This fun middle grade fantasy releases on March 5th. The world-building is really intricate and fascinating. The main character, 12-year-old Yeung, is training to become an immortal in a secret underwater world after being raised by an elderly healer woman and being shunned by her village because her hair doesn’t glow around dragon scales. All the students have to pass challenges to stay in the program. Meanwhile, the entire kingdom is being attacked by zombie-like creatures, and she has some kind of special powers to pull rails out of the sky. And a cute duck companion.

This is a lovely contemporary middle grade novel about a young Pakistani American girl who is trying to find her personal art style and help her mom with her Pakistani clothing home shop. Deena struggles with anxiety, though she doesn’t know to call it that yet. Meanwhile, she’s also experiencing friend drama because of social media. I loved Deena’s warm, supportive Pakistani family and community, and the depiction of anxiety is so realistic. This is likely to be one of my favorite middle grade novels of the year. This releases today!

I really loved this novel, and I worry it’s not getting the number of readers it deserves! Andy, who is Chinese American, is the kind of kid who tends to follow along with whatever his overbearing best friend Cindy says. That worked fine in elementary school, but this year, they’re starting middle school, and everything feels different. Cindy forces him to join the Movement Club, a dance club, which doesn’t sit right with Andy. He also befriends Jameel, a Chaldean American, whom Cindy does not like for valid reasons. Meanwhile, Andy’s grandparents are visiting from China so his grandfather can seek needed medical care. Andy is also a talented artist who has anxiety and trichotillomania (hair-pulling). There’s also a character with an eating disorder. This is such a contemplative, nuanced novel.

I always thought my anxiety began during pregnancy, but then I read picture books like this, and I wonder. Maggie Smith is well known for her adult poetry collections and nonfiction, and this is her picture book debut. It’s a beautiful glimpse into a child’s life at night as she experiences intrusive thoughts while trying to sleep. Her mother comes in and snuggles with her in bed, reassuring her and guiding her to think about happy moments from the past, which helps calm the young girl’s mind. The illustrations are warm and tender. It’s a really beautiful and relatable book. This releases next Tuesday.

This is another very relatable picture book, as told by an ostrich with anxiety. Opal’s family is having a family party, and she’s in charge of picking up the dessert from the local bakery. But on the way, Opal constantly feels like everyone she encounters must be mad at her. This causes Opal to get a bad case of The Noodles, what her family endearingly calls Opal’s anxiety because of the way it makes her long neck wobble. By the end, Opal learns that not everyone’s feelings are directly related to her, and she enjoys the family party.