Author: Karina Glaser

This gem of a book is filled with vibrant illustrations that truly capture the love of a family as they gather each Sunday at Grandma’s place for soul food. While the narrator typically joins the rest of the children in the backyard or the great room, today he is invited to help with the meal… and maybe make his own contribution to soul food Sundays! This book is a 2022 Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor Book!

This tender book about a girl visiting her grandma in Taiwan is so sweet and honest. Although Kylie talks to her Amah every week, it is very different to get on a plane and fly across the world to see her grandmother in person in a new country with a different language, different food, and a different culture. Will Kylie fit into Amah’s world?

I really adore these illustrations – each page tells a beautiful story. The book begins with a young boy asking, “What is love?” His grandmother responds, “If you go out into the world, you might find an answer.” And so the boy travels the world, asking all sorts of people this very important question.

On a rainy spring day, a pair of siblings look out at the thundering weather. Their grandmother says, “Use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours… Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing.” The siblings do as she says, and suddenly they’re no longer stuck inside – they’re flying over the city exploding with every kind of flower.

A perfect picture book for younger kids, this sweet book is all about a boy and his grandma at their weekly Sunday dinner. For the boy, these meals are full of hugs and kisses, full of tasty dishes, full to the brim with happy faces, and full, full, full of love.

One of my favorite things to do is read about inventions and how they came to be. (I loved the book 99% Invisible City by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt!) In this fictionalized picture book of the inventor Garrett Morgan, we meet Garrett as a little boy with a head full of ideas on how to make life better for everyone. When he is hit by a car, his parents send him to the city where Garrett grows up to become a prominent business man and skilled inventor who produced the traffic signal, a gas mask, and others objects still used today.

I will buy any picture book that is illustrated by Ekua Holmes! In this stunning picture book biography, Heidi Tyline King and Ekua Holmes bring to life the story of MaVynee Betsch. As a young girl, MaVynee loved to swim. But segregation prevented her from going to any beach, so her grandfather bought a beach and named it American Beach and made it open to everyone. When MaVynee grew up, she traveled the world as an opera singer, but when her mom became ill, MaVynee returned home to care for her. Finding American Beach neglected, MaVynee was determined to restore her childhood beach to its former glory.

This beautiful book gave me chills from the very first page. The story begins in 1962 with eleven-year-old Elijah Cummings and other African American children protesting to integrate a city pool in Baltimore. The march inspired Elijah to pursue a career in law. With encouragement and sacrifice from his parents, he graduated at the top of his class and went on to be elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1983 and then to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996. He was a voice for people of color and spoke out to ensure that everyone was treated fairly and equally.

Kahlil Gibran grew up as a small, shy boy in Lebanon, a land of beautiful mountains and ancient trees. While he loved his country, Christians and Muslims clashed and one day his family lost their home and his father was jailed. It was no longer safe to stay in Lebanon, and Kahlil, his mother, and his three siblings took a ship to America. They settled in Boston where Kahlil saw divisions in the form of wealthy and poor. He began to draw and later to write, eventually becoming one of the most famous poets of all time.

I was captivated by this story of Francis Meilland, a cultivator of flowers at his family’s farm in France. He was endlessly fascinated by cross pollination and sought to create a beautiful rose. After years of experimentation and meticulous record keeping, he create a rosed like no other. But at the same time, World War II broke out, forcing him to make cuttings and send them all over the world. Not knowing whether the roses would make it with the global disruptions to shipping during the war, he waited in hope. At the same time, his family destroyed their flower farm in order to plant crops, burning all but a handful of their rose bushes. I loved this story of resilience and hope during a time of heartbreaking darkness.

This delightful book is truly a love letter to Harlem, New York City. I loved this story of a combined, modern family. When Bo and her mom move in with her mom’s boyfriend and their (big!) family and (lots of!) pets, Bo isn’t sure there’s room for her anymore. Can Bo find where she belongs in this new family?

Sofía Acosta loves to dream up costumes. She takes comfort in her talent because unlike her parents, who danced under prima ballerina Alicia Alonso before immigrating to the suburbs of New York, Sofía is NOT a dancer. When the Acostas host their dancer friends from Cuba for a special performance with the American Ballet Theatre, Sofía finds out about the dancers’ secret plans to defect to the United States. When Sofía makes a serious mistake confiding this information to her best friend, it threatens to ruin everything. Can Sofía find the courage to make a scene and take a stand?

This is the second book in a series (if you haven’t already read it, check out Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer!), and the art is gorgeous! In this new book, Jamila gets back into the swing of school rhythms while Shirley has a new mystery on her mind. Her archenemy Chuck is blackmailing kids all over school, and Shirley knows that she and Jamila can put a stop to it… which may involve breaking into Chuck’s house… 

This wonderful book is set during the summer of 1965 when Eden’s cousin from Mississippi comes to visit her in L.A., just as the Watts Riots erupt. But Winter is not just visiting to hang out, he wants to figure out what happened to his dad who disappeared ten years earlier from the Watts area of L.A. Their investigations lead them all over the city while also opening up a whole new understanding of their world.

This companion book to Dragon Pearl is another space opera inspired by Korean mythology, told from the point of view of a nonbinary tiger spirit. This middle grade fantasy, published by Rick Riordan’s imprint, follows Sebin, a young tiger spirit from the Juhwang Clan, who wants nothing more than to join the Thousand World Space Forces. But when he finds out that his uncle has been accused of treason, Sebin must clear his uncle’s name and restore order to his family.

When young Misty discovers her love of dance through the ballet Coppélia – a story about a toymaker who devises a villainous plan to bring a doll to life – she is so captivated by the story that she decides to audition for the lead role, even though it’s only just her first dance class! But as she learns from her fellow bunheads, she makes wonderful friends and together they put together a production they will remember forever.

In 2019, Charlotte Nebres became the first Black dancer to be cast as Marie in the New York City Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. This sweet autobiographical picture book tells the story of how her hard work led to starring as Marie as well as her holiday traditions.

This fantastic book delves into the lives of Black women in ballet and their dance journeys and how they’ve changed the landscape of American ballet from the early 20th century until today. This compilation includes stories of dozens of dancers, including Raven Wilkinson, Ebony Williams, Virginia Johnson, Nora Kimball-Mentzos, and many more.

This interactive board book with pull tabs is both beautifully illustrated and very sweet. Watch animals spin and fly and bustle from their dens in a riotous celebration of spring!

This wonderful children’s book is filled with tender illustrations and a lovely story about a boy who is waiting for his turn at Friday Assembly where they have a “Sharing Gifts” portion. I just loved this book, especially the ending. 🙂

This sweet book is all about food traditions. Shanté Keys’s grandma always makes the best food for New Year’s Day: fixed chitlins, baked ham, greens, and cornbread. But this year, she forgot the peas! It’s up to Shanté Keys to save the day and find some lucky peas!

I love this atypical New Year’s story. It’s Lunar New Year (this year it is on February 1st), a time when families come together for a wonderful feast. But gathering is difficult, and a father longs to be with his daughter who lives in a different country. As he imagines how his daughter is spending the festivities, he recalls fond memories of time spent with her and treasures that time in his heart.

This is the perfect book for young readers wondering about new year’s resolutions! Squirrel knows that it’s time for making resolutions, but what does a resolution mean? She travels around the forest looking for answers to this very important new year tradition.

This book has a very unusual beginning. In 2014 during a trip to the Amazon, the book creator came across a sealed metal container in a remote hut on the banks of Jari River. The contents turned out to be the lifetime’s work of an unknown artist adventurer. Alongside the notebooks, sketchbooks and other belongings was a letter which appeared to be written for the benefit of two young family members. The case and its contents were shipped back to the U.K. and together with a team of experts, the book creator spent two years compiling and editing this book. I found this book endlessly fascinating!

This hilarious middle grade book is about Chase Cooper, a certified ninja! He is starting at a new school and keeping a record of his adventures. This book has illustrations throughout and is sure to keep elementary school readers entertained and laughing out loud.

I am a huge fan of Booki Vivat and her Frazzled series, and one of the amazing things Booki did during the beginning of the pandemic is create a new illustrated story that mirrored her experiences during quarantine. You can download her Frazzled Quarantine Diary for only $5 here, and don’t forget to check out the complete Frazzled book series!

Told in letters, Sophie Brown finds herself in unfamiliar territory when her family moves from Los Angeles to the farm they’ve inherited from a great-uncle. She quickly discovers that the chickens on the farm are not just unusual – they’re magical! Sophie learns how to take care of them, and she must use all of her ingenuity to keep them safe when a respected local farmer tries to steal them. I adore the illustrations in this book so so much!

This book is the prequel to Creech’s Newbery-award winning book Walk Two Moons. Forced to keep a journal for the summer, Mary Lou thinks it will be the most boring assignment ever. But when cousin Carl Ray comes to stay with her family, what starts out as the dull dog days of summer quickly turns into the wildest roller-coaster ride of all time.

This gorgeous, body positive book is a celebration of Japanese culture. The story follows a young girl as she visits a bath house with her grandma and aunties. I loved the rituals of the bath house – a tradition that so many cultures take part in – and how all bodies are honored and celebrated.

This vibrant, beautiful book honors the life and legacy of Nina Simone. Known as Eunice Kathleen Waymon as a young girl growing up in a small town in North Carolina, she became known as Nina Simone in her first performances as an adult, making a huge impact in the fight against racial inequality and discrimination.

I love books about artists, and this one is no exception. James Yang does a lovely job imagining a day in the life of a young Isamu Noguchi as he wanders through an outdoor market, through the forest, and then by the ocean. He stops. He notices. Stones look like birds. And birds look like stones. This is a terrific book that all readers – especially quiet, introspective readers – will adore.

Unbound is truly a special book about a very special artist. Judith Scott was born with Down syndrome. She had a special bond with her twin sister Joyce, but one day young Judith is institutionalized. Joyce visits her often, and the years go by and the girls grow up. Once Joyce is settled, she decides to bring her sister to live with her and her family. Knowing how Judith always loved art, Joyce enrolled her in an art class. Judith went on to become an artist of renown with her work displayed in museums and galleries around the world.

Because I live in a big apartment building myself, I always love books that show community life. The story begins at night, and everyone is asleep. Then a baby wakes up and cries, which subsequently sets off a chain of reactions and sounds that wakes up everyone else in the building. But the gentle sounds of night in the city quickly helps everyone go back to sleep.

This clever book introduces young readers to shapes and colors in an intriguing and delightful way. With vibrant colors that remind me of Eric Carle’s art, this book is a delight to the eye. I gifted it to my nephew, and he loved pointing at the various shapes on each page.

This wordless picture book is the final book in a trilogy that includes The Farmer and the Clown and The Farmer and the Monkey. Marla Frazee is a master of expression and body movement, making her the perfect person to create a wordless picture book. The Farmer and the Circus might be my favorite of this trilogy, but all of them work beautifully together to make a lovely, heartwarming story.

One of my favorite animals is the pig (they are so cute!), so it is no surprise that I love this book! A blend of encyclopedia-type information with funny facts, this book is great for animal lovers. I adore the illustrations!

I had no idea of the story of this swim club before reading this book. In the 1930s, a group of kids liked swimming in the irrigation ditches of Hawaii’s sugar plantations. When local authorities try to chase them away, Soichi Sakamoto takes responsibility for the kids and decides to form a swim club. Using the natural resistance of the current, Sakamoto trained the kids to swim and his swimmers began to win meet after meet, becoming some of the best swimmers in the world.

I adore the illustrations in this playful, joyful book that is perfect for the youngest readers in your life. This wonderful book celebrates playtime and the connection between children and the natural world. Each page is a beautiful display of childhood and nature in celebration of each other.

I adore Daniel Minter’s illustrative style (Going Down Home with Daddy, a book he illustrated, won a Caldecott Honor a couple of years ago), and this book is beautifully created with linoleum block prints. In this story, seven brothers are constantly fighting, but when their father dies, the brothers are tasked with creating gold out of seven spools of thread. If they can’t accomplish this by sundown, they will live the rest of their life as beggars. Using the Nguzo Saba, or “seven principles” of Kwanzaa, the author has created an unforgettable story that shows how family members can pull together, for their own good and the good of the entire community.

Sonia Manzano from Sesame Street writes this sweet tale about the joys of an urban Christmas. On the day before Christmas, Mami brings home a delicious roast for a Christmas feast. When they discover it’s too big to fit in their oven, Jose and Papa need to find an oven big enough to cook Mami’s roast. They visit their neighbors to find a bigger oven, bringing Christmas cheer with them along the way.

It’s December, and the houses on Isaac and Teresa’s block are getting ready for the holidays. Isaac and his family decorate their big window for Chanukah, and across the street, his best friend Teresa and her family trim their Christmas tree. When it gets dark, Teresa’s house glows red and green and Isaac’s decorative menorah glows blue and white. But when someone throws a rock through Isaac’s window late at night, the celebratory spirit is extinguished until the whole community joins together to support Isaac and his family and celebrate the true spirit of the holidays.

This sweet picture book answers the age old question: What does Santa look like? A family celebrates the Christmas season with family, representation, and holiday spirit.

There are many sides to every story, and this story is about Kristoffer and Kristtorn. They lived alone in the woods until one day, Kristoffer was found by a couple and taken away to live with them while Kristtorn was left alone. She ends up finding a home with a witch who recognized her powers and tried to protect her from the world. But Kristtorn grew up and her powers grew, and she learned that the world was afraid of her. Beautiful illustrations accompany this Christmas tale.