Category: The Kids Are All Right

Okay, let’s first acknowledge the genius that is Jason Chin. He is the most recent Newbery Medalist for his work in Watercress (written by Andrea Wang). Watercress was one of my absolute favorite picture books published in 2021. In Grand Canyon, Jason writes an incredible picture book with an engaging story, intriguing facts, and incredible illustrations. I mean, check out that gorgeous cover!

I love Raul the Third’s illustrations. I love examining every inch of his drawings of a border town. This book is bilingual in a new way, teaching readers simple words in Spanish as they experience the bustling life of Little Lobo and his dog Bernabe as they deliver supplies to a variety of vendors, selling everything from sweets to sombreros, portraits to piñatas, carved masks to comic books!

I adore Kate Messner’s Over and Under picture book series. (I always think about her first one, Over and Under the Snow, whenever I take a walk in the winter.) This beautiful book examines life in the canyon which takes young readers on a thrilling tour of a desert canyon ecosystem.

Dusti’s love for the desert is apparent in all of her middle grade books, but I especially love this survival story of a girl and her father who escape to the canyon to find some peace after an unspeakable tragedy. But when her father is swept away by a flash flood, Nora faces dehydration, venomous scorpions, and deadly snakes. Can she survive the desert and find her dad?

In this biographical picture book, readers can learn the story of Fatima al-Fihri, a Muslim woman who loved to learn and dreamed of building a school in her community. Her dream eventually came true, leading to the creation of the University of al-Qarawiyyin.

In this heartwarming middle grade, Knox Wei-Evans and his family suddenly move back to California as COVID-19 hits Hong Kong. But Knox struggles in his new home, as his new classmates think that he’s brought the virus with him, they don’t know when they’ll see his dad again since he had to stay behind in Hong Kong to work, and his mom’s lost her job and is now worried about health insurance.

In this suspenseful middle grade, Max searches for his best friend Josie who disappeared and left only a note behind that said “I’m real.” As Max looks for her, Josie searches for him as well, but there are forces at work to keep them apart because as it turns out, Josie was never supposed to be real.

This beautiful book is a reflection of the many ways a father’s love is demonstrated through words and actions. The gorgeous watercolor illustrations show the tenderness and strength of fathers all over the world who are guiding, teaching, caring, and loving their kids in so many ways.

This sweet love story unfolds in the most difficult of circumstances: a War Relocation Center in the desert after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in World War II. Tama works in the camp’s tiny library, and it is there where she takes refuge in stories and beautiful pictures. George waits each morning outside the door with an armful of books to return – can anyone read that many books? Or does George spend so much time in the library for an entirely different reason?

This is the book we all want, especially after two years of pandemic life. This stunning picture book is all about welcoming people into our homes and our spaces, and it features the word “welcome” in fourteen different languages. There is a stunning spread that opens up to a feasting table at the end of the book that took my breath away!

This book is a celebration of Black and brown babies! The award winning author illustrator duo has created another book that is filled with vibrant illustrations and hugs and affirmations. This is a book about JOY!

I am a huge fan of Renata Liwska’s charming and playful illustrations, and this book is filled with so much sweetness. When Lion shows his distaste for love, it’s up to Mouse to show him all the things he does love – especially their friendship! This is one adorable book!

In this sweet picture book, a working mom reassures her daughter that, though she may have to step out to work or visit someone or take care of errands, she will always return home.

In this enchanting picture book, a child stays awake past bedtime, wondering who else might also be awake. When they spot a light on, they go on an adventure to find who it is.

In this coming-of-age story, Aafiyah has to step up to help her family and overcome a bad habit of hers. When her dad is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, she comes up with a plan to get him back. But the plan might not be as foolproof as she thinks, especially when it involves giving up her habit of “borrowing” pretty things she sees.

I talk about Jason Chin A LOT in this newsletter – I just love his illustrations – and this picture book is one that I’ve recommended dozens of times this year. Watercress was awarded the Newbery Honor as well as the Caldecott Medal. This book is set in Ohio, and in the start of the book we see a family driving along a road. The car stops and the family gets out to gather watercress at the side of the road, and the young girl is embarrassed that her family is foraging. But the experience leads to her parents sharing their own stories of gathering watercress in their home country, which helps create new family memories of watercress and feeling grateful for what they have.

This intricately woven book follows a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But when a comet destroys earth, only a few hundred scientists and their children – among them Petra and her family – have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet – and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. This book will make you think and wonder and rediscover what it means to be human.

This beautifully illustrated and informative book provides a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa’s Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community.

This vividly illustrated picture book joins the ¡Vamos! world with familiar characters like Little Lobo, his dog Bernabé, and their pals El Toro and La Oink Oink. Little Lobo just got a new truck, and they are using it to carry party supplies over the bridge. But the line is long and there is a lot of traffic. They set up a party to pass the time where people from two countries meet each other and celebrate new friendships.

In this vibrant picture book, Beauty is a Puerto Rican girl in love with her community. But as she gets older, seeing how her community is mistreated makes her forget what makes her so special, and the community rallies to remind Beauty of how beautiful she, and her heritage, is.

This poignant picture book tells the story of cousins living in separate countries and wanting to reunite. Olu lives in Lagos, Nigeria, and Greta lives in Milan, Italy, but their lives aren’t so different, and they both want to reunite more than anything.

In this heartwarming novel, shy Jillian promises her grandmother she’ll have more confidence in herself. Though Jillian usually tries hard to blend in, not speaking even when she has the correct answer, she decides the time has come when the school’s biggest academic competition arises.

The bestselling Wonder is adding an illustrated edition, bringing the story of August and his community to life with original artwork by cover artist Tad Carpenter, a decade (a decade!) after Wonder‘s first publication.

In this charming novel, new student Autumn is selected to be the anonymous voice of the student advice column. Her new gig gets complicated however when her new friends, Logan and Cooper, end up at odds. Now Autumn’s in the middle, and to make matters worse, her secret identity might be in trouble, too.

Ashley’s autobiography is stunning, filled with never-before-seen artwork and handwritten letters and diary entries from his time serving in World War II. It is one of the most powerful and honest and illuminating autobiographies I have ever read, and I encourage you all to pick up a copy and spend time in his story.

This is probably one of my favorite books because it captures the essence of this remarkable man. From his walks on the beach by his home on Little Cranberry Island, Ashley would gather weathered bones and stones shaped like hearts and empty bottles and fishing net. He would bring them back to his home and make the most magnificent puppets out of them, some nearly two feet tall. In the book, he gives them names and stories.

This luminous book, which won a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award, has its roots in original slave auction and plantation estate documents. Ashley Bryan contrasts the monetary value of each person and imagines and interprets each person’s life on the plantation, as well as the life their owner knew nothing about—their dreams and pride in knowing that they were worth far more than an overseer or madam ever would guess. 

In this picture book, River worries that she may never dance at the powwow again after an illness. But River soon learns about the healing power of her community.

In this lyrical and vibrant picture book about the connections between trees, Britta visits her two favorite apple trees, named Apple and Magnolia. She’s convinced they’re the best of friends, and when Magnolia’s branches begin to droop, Britta wonders if there’s anything anyone can do.

In this middle grade novel, Annie’s optimistic about her seventh grade play, The King and I. But when she’s cast, her happy news leads to whispers from her classmates, who say she was only cast because she’s Asian, and Annie becomes determined to prove them wrong.

This inventive middle-grade is told from the points of view of best friends Sam and Asha, as well as the titular Very Best house in Town, Donnybrooke. When Sam gets accepted into a new school, he starts hanging around with Prestyn, who dislikes Asha and refuses to allow her into Donnybrooke.

In this fun middle grade, Ellie’s a witch which means she’s also despised by most people. So she applies to the Fairy Godmother Academy, only to be disappointed when she’s assigned to King Arthur’s Round Table instead. Meanwhile Caedmon learns his family’s death is foretold; he travels to the knight’s castle, only to find the knights have been cursed.

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.

In this joyful picture book inspired by the Cedella Marley’s childhood with her father, musician Bob Marley, Marley and her family leave Jamaica for Delaware. To celebrate the move Marley plans an outdoor concert that’s unfortunately ruined by bad weather, until their new neighbors step in to help.

From the author of Amal Unbound comes a companion novel about the titular Omar, a scholarship student at a boarding school. Though Omar’s looking forward to his new school, he’s quickly disappointed, and then furious, when he learns that not only are first year scholarship students not allowed to take part in extracurriculars, but they have to get much higher grades than students paying tuition. So Omar sets out with a new group of friends to change the system entirely.

In this middle grade novel set against the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, kids in the same apartment building struggle with adjusting to their new lives at home. But as time goes on, the kids realize that there’s power in community, and they can help each other through difficult times. As protests erupt across the country, they begin to consider what they can do to make the world safer for everybody in it.

In this historical fiction novel, siblings Homer and Ada escape the plantation where they have been enslaved and discover Freewater, a secret community of formerly enslaved and freeborn people. When Homer learns of a threat to Freewater, he resolves to save his mother, reluctantly left behind, and his new home.

For fans of Ramona Quimby, this new novel is about Harriet Wermer. who is unhappily sent to her grandma’s B&B for the summer. But Harriet is surprised to find Marble Island isn’t as boring as she thought, not with a mystery about her dad’s own childhood on the island that she’s determined to solve.