Category: The Kids Are All Right

In this sweet picture book, Amira eagerly anticipates Eid only to realize that Eid celebrations will mean missing picture day.

This lovely picture book combines whimsy and education with sprawling nature scenes and lyrical writing.

In this picture book, originally published in Venezuela, the idyllic existence of a family of hens is interrupted by the arrival of a family of capybaras. The hens allow the capybaras to stay only if they follow the rules and don’t interact with them very much, a rule derailed when a young capybara and a chick become friends.

This wild and funny graphic novel follows the Astro Mouse and his crew. Accompanied by a wrestler potato, a light bulb, and a living turd named Caca, they embark on a series of perilous and hilarious adventures.

Cece lives in a small town that, during a certain set of months, comes under threat from desert-wandering spirits known as criatura. When Cece’s older sister is taken by one of them, Cece ventures into the desert on a secret mission to confront the criatura and get her sister back.

This is the follow-up story to the hugely popular Dragons in a Bag book! Fans of fantasy will love this one! Jaxon has to return three baby dragons to the realm of magic but when he gets there, only two dragons were left in the bag. Kavita, Jaxon’s best friend, has stolen the third dragon, thinking she was doing what was best for the baby dragon, but now every time she feeds it, the dragon grows and grows! Kavita is definitely in over her head, and Jaxon needs all the help he can get to find Kavita, outsmart a trickster named Blue, and return the baby dragon to its true home.

Fans of Ivy and Bean, rejoice! It’s the 12th book in this charming series, and this time it’s Career Day at Emerson Elementary School. All the students have to choose what they want to be when they grow up, and best friends Ivy and Bean already have that all figured out. At least, they thought so, until they met Herman the Treasure Hunter. Now everyone in the second grade is looking for treasure—and finding it. Everyone except Ivy and Bean, that is. They need to get out their shovels and turn up some treasure on the double!

I was first introduced to Aven Green through the middle grade book, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. In this new series for younger readers, third grader Aven Green, who was born without arms, finds herself confronted with not one, but two mysteries to solve! When her teacher’s lunch bag disappears and then Aven’s great-grandmother’s dog goes missing, Aven needs to summon all of her sleuthing powers to solve the mysteries.

I love Marisol Rainey! This wonderfully spunky character is sure to capture your heart. Marisol’s family is different from any of the other families she knows in her small Louisiana town. Her mother was born in the Philippines and her father works and lives part-time on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. But Marisol is ready for the summer, even though she has to figure out how to get annoying Evie Smythe to leave her alone and how to gain to courage to climb the big tree in her backyard.

This adorable book is filled with full color illustrations. Wilson was Abigail Atwood’s friendliest, woolliest, and smartest sheep. He was also a very a curious sheep, which gets him into trouble when he climbs into the back of a piano movers’ truck and ends up alone in the big city. Can Wilson find his way home?

In this beautiful picture book, Anita watches dragons fly above but has never feared them. Until the day arises when Anita and her family will have to be transported via dragon to a new land far away from the home she knows and loves.

This beautiful baby book tells the story of an expectant mother and the sacred bundle she begins to fashion to prepare for her baby’s birth.

This fun and playful picture book takes an amusing and loving spin on Yo Mama jokes as a mother and daughter pair embark upon adventures together.

In this uplifting and hopeful followup to the first Merci Suárez book, Merci’s in seventh grade and contending with the challenges of her family and the approaching Valentine’s Day dance.

Aspiring theater actress Monica Garcia finally gets her chance on a Broadway stage. But despite her excitement to move to NYC with her abuela, Monica’s hopes are dashed when she realizes she won’t be in a starring role, and that the theater putting on the play is failing. And also that it’s haunted, and it’s up to Mandy and her new friends to solve the mystery and save the theater.

This inventive retelling of Sleeping Beauty is about two sisters. Briony, and her doomed older sister Rosalin, set with a horrible curse meant to befall her on her sixteenth birthday. But when Rosalin’s birthday arrives, Briony awakens to learn that she’s the only one who can save her sister and the kingdom.

Sixth grader Silas Walker loves baseball. He loves it so much he even does a school presentation on former Major League Baseball player Glenn Burke, known for being the inventor of the high five. Burke was a Black gay baseball player in the 1970s―and for Silas, the presentation is his own first baby step toward coming out as gay. Although he tells his secret to his best friend, he keeps the truth from his baseball teammates. But he suspects people begin to know the truth about him when a series of suspicious events happen. He ends up staging a cover-up with disastrous consequences. Will Silas continue to hide who he is, or find the courage to be who he is?

Written by the daughter of legendary Jackie Robinson, this book is based on the true story of a boy in Brooklyn in 1948 who became neighbors and friends with his hero, Jackie Robinson. Stephen Satlow, eight years old and living in Brooklyn, New York, loves the Dodgers. He knows all their stats and facts. When Steve hears a rumor that an African American family is moving to his all-Jewish neighborhood, some of his neighbors are against it. Steve knows this is wrong. His hero, Jackie Robinson, broke the color barrier in baseball the year before.Then it happens — Steve’s new neighbor is none other than Jackie Robinson!

I really loved this middle grade book set in 1957 about a young pitcher named Katy Gordon who desperately wants to be in Little League. The only problem? The league doesn’t admit girls even though she’s the best pitcher in the neighborhood. Katy embarks on a quest to prove to the federation that girls can play baseball, and with the help of librarians she finds a whole list of female baseball players that excelled in their sport, giving her the confidence she needs to play the game she loves.

This middle grade book series is inspired by Derek Jeter’s childhood. From a young boy, he had dreams of being the shortstop for the New York Yankees and even going to the World Series. So when Derek is chosen for the Little League Tigers, he hopes to play shortstop. But on the day of the assignments, Derek starts at second base. Still, he tries his best while he wishes and dreams of that shortstop spot. And to help him stay focused on school, his parents make him a contract: keep up the grades or no baseball.

This book, written for adults but appropriate for upper middle grade readers, is a terrific biography about James “Cool Papa” Bell (1903–1991), a legend in Black baseball. Born to sharecroppers in Mississippi, Bell was part of the Great Migration. In St. Louis, baseball saved Bell from a life working in slaughterhouses. Historian Lonnie Wheeler charts Bell’s ups and downs in life and in baseball, in the United States, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, where he went to escape American racism and MLB’s color line.

This sweet, tearjerker of a picture book follows a Chinese-American family that pulls over on the side of the road to gather watercress. Though the parents are delighted at their discovery, their daughter is embarrassed. But when her parents share a story of their lives in China, she understands the wonder and appreciation for the fresh watercress they’ve discovered.

A French bulldog named Hugo decides it’s time someone took on the Impossible Thing that stands at the edge of the forest. No other animal has made the attempt, and a determined Hugo gets some help from his friends to conquer the Impossible Thing.

In this magical, mystical novel neighboring families clash and come together. Though the shy Alder and outgoing Oak don’t get along well at first, they’re drawn together repeatedly by a series of coincidences that hint at magic, including the occasional disappearance of another house on their street.

When Stella and Luna ask their mom, Elsie, to tell them the story of how she came from the Philippines, Elsie tells two stories. One about her childhood with her sisters and another about the daughter of a god.

In this delightful novel, Barclay is banished from his village when he accidentally bonds with a magical, wolf-like Beast in the wilderness and discovers he is a Lore Keeper, which are despised in his hometown of Dullshire. To make his way back home, Barclay will have to find a way to remove his Beast Mark, but the more time Barclay spends with his own Beast and the other Lore Keepers, the more he begins to feel like he belongs.

When Alba’s sent to Barcelona to live with the grandma she’s never met, she’s instantly suspicious of her grandma’s kindness. But it’s not long before Alba begins to like her new life in Spain, learning how to bake, and becoming more confident in herself. That is, until the bakery comes under threat.

A father puts on his sweater with the hole in it, and two siblings know it’s time to garden. There is so much to do: digging, adding to the compost heap, and planting carrots. But the family isn’t the only busy ones around. Bees and bugs are flying by, birds are gathering material for their nests, and tadpoles are zipping around in the water. It’s a busy spring!

Former First Lady Michelle Obama wanted to grow the largest kitchen garden ever at the White House, but there was one problem. She had never gardened before. But every big project takes a village, so she enlisted help from local students, the White House staff, and even her husband, President Barack Obama. Her mission to inspire young people to adopt healthy eating habits continues now with her new Netflix show, Waffles + Mochi!

Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper (I love that show!) details her adventures of starting her own family garden in this sweet picture book. Starting a garden is a learning experience: failed endeavors, obstacles to overcome (bunnies that eat everything), and gathering knowledge. The Gaines family shares some of what they learn in this book, perfect for spring!

I adore all of Kenard Pak’s beautiful picture books celebrating the seasons. In this one, the days stretch longer, animals creep out from their warm dens, and green begins to grow again. A boy and his dog explore their neighborhood, taking in all the signs that point to spring: the melting brook, the chirping birds, and green growing everywhere.

Norooz, also known as the Persian New Year, has been observed for over 3,000 year as people celebrate the first day of spring when everything starts anew. The trees will grow new leaves, the flowers new petals, and the grass new greenery. They call this day “Norooz,” or “New Day.” Preparations begin weeks in advance as people plant seeds and go about familiar rituals that usher in the new year.