Category: The Kids Are All Right

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.

This stunning picture book relates the history of books created in Mesoamerica, starting with the use of plants to make paper. These beautiful painted manuscripts, or codices, told the story of their people’s way of life, documenting their history, science, tributes, and sacred rituals.

Adapted from a traditional Buddhist tale, this story of the fabled nine color deer is about promises made, greed, forgiveness, and conservation. The illustration style evokes the artwork found in the Mogao caves, located along the Silk Road in China.

From a traditional Irish storyteller Marianne McShane comes a tale of intrigue, lore, and bravery. When the Fog Catcher goes missing, the Eily must venture into the waters surrounding the enchanted isle of Lisnashee to find him.

This picture book imagines a day in Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi’s life when he was a young boy growing up in Japan. He walks through a market and through a forest and along an ocean, always seeing the objects he passes through an artist’s lens. In reading this book, I looked up more about this artist and he has a museum right here in New York City. I am planning a visit!

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).

This great picture book is adapted from one of Bob Marley’s legendary song. With bright illustrations by John Jay Cabuay, this is sure to be a favorite among young readers.

Taro Gomi is one of my favorite illustrators. I love him for his vibrant colors and fun, interesting story lines. Join the bus as it weaves through town!

This board book consists of pages of adorable babies doing all the adorable baby things. Babies will like it, and parents will LOVE it.

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!

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.

This is an adorable book about mistaken identity! When the delicious smell of freshly made latkes lures a bear out of hibernation, Bubba Brayna, a fabulous cook whose eyesight is not so great, invites the bear in to spin the dreidel, light the menorah, and enjoy the latkes. When her guests and the rabbi arrive, they find that the meal they were so looking forward to has disappeared!

When a father dies, his seven sons are given an unusual request: they must make gold out of seven spools of thread by sunset or they will be cast out of the family penniless. The brothers must work together in harmony to fulfill their father’s request, and the author incorporates the seven principles of Kwanzaa in the story.

This delightful book is filled with Clarice Bean’s amusing musings complemented with sweet illustrations. Clarice Bean is ready for Christmas, but it seems as if she’s the only one. Her parents are too exhausted to host their annual holiday party and her neighbors are grouchy. This is a year like no other, but can Clarice bring the Christmas spirit back?

It’s five days before Christmas, and the Vanderbeekers should be dreaming of sugar plums and candy canes. Instead, they find out they have to leave their home by the end of the year. Can they convince their recalcitrant upstairs neighbor/landlord to let them stay?

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 adorable board book by Miguel Ordóñez is sure to be a favorite among the youngest readers. Watch how shapes make strawberries and hamburgers and see little critters try to sneak off with the food!

My parents grew up in Hong Kong, so I loved seeing this beautiful picture book, which is set in the alley of Tai Yuen Street. When an exhausted stranger collapses in the street, a little girl has to decide whether to share her precious (double yolk!) mooncake with the man. I LOVED the illustrations in this book!

This stunning picture book tells the origin story of fry bread in the Native American community. Fry bread is food, time, history, and so much more, as expressed in this lovely book.

In this vibrant picture book, a grandmother shows her grandson how to cook the family meal. He washes greens and grates cheese, and even has his own contribution to sweeten up the Sunday gathering.