Category: The Kids Are All Right

Recently, Marla Frazee released the third and final book in a picture book series that began with The Farmer and the Clown. These wordless picture books are gorgeous and filled with heart and humor. The first book was published in 2014, so I imagine Marla has been working on these books in some way or another over the past decade. I love thinking of her sitting in her studio and tinkering with sketches of these indomitable characters. The final book in the series, The Farmer and the Circus, is just as wonderful as the first, full of humor and heartwarming moments. The complete series order is: The Farmer and the Clown, The Farmer and the Monkey, and The Farmer and the Circus.

Another fantastic wordless picture book trilogy is by Aaron Becker. His illustrations are so luminous that the illustrations appear to glow from the page. In these books, children find portals to worlds filled with kings and adventure and sinister emperors. Each book stands alone yet are connected to each other in style and story. The complete series order is: Journey, Quest, and Return.

Another trilogy I love is Grace Lin’s fantasy middle grade series that began with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. These gorgeous and lyrical books are linked together in surprising ways, crossing generations and using Chinese folklore to tell a beautiful story of family and bravery. The complete series order is: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Starry River of the Sky, and When the Sea Turned to Silver.

As you probably know, I am a huge fan of Rita Williams-Garcia, and her middle grade series about the Gaither sisters is both fun and thought-provoking. In the first book, 11-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, visit their kin during a time when the nation is rapidly changing. The complete series order is: One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven; and Gone Crazy in Alabama.

For upper middle grade readers, The March series by the late John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell is a fantastic graphic novel trilogy about John Lewis’s life during the Civil Rights movement. The books are a wonderful opportunity to see history through the eyes of someone who was there on the front lines. The series as a whole is called March, and each book is numbered.

In this cute and funny picture book, a little girl decides she’s ready to be grown up and wear a sari. As she dons the perfect outfit, she prepares to present herself and her new look to her family, but things don’t quite go as planned.

When Paige moves to a new town, she takes her fact collecting notebook with her. When she learns about a neighborhood monster from her neighbor, Penn, she becomes determined to prove him wrong. Until some new findings change her conclusion.

Though Reggie wants to spend the summer stewing over an adventure gone awry, his perky neighbor Emily won’t leave him to spend it alone. Though their personalities are different, Reggie and Emily make a perfect pair.

When Ahmed and his family move from Hawaii to Minnesota, Ahmed must contend with a new bully, a tough language arts class, and his dad’s advancing illness.

In this graphic novel (from the author who wrote the also very good Pashmina) Shahi goes looking for her missing father and stumbles upon a magical jukebox. Transporting listeners back in time, the jukebox carried Shahi’s dad to legendary concerts, and now Shahi and her cousin Naz have to wind their way through musical history to find him and bring him back.

I used this book with my daughter last summer and we learned how to carve blocks and then how to stamp on fabric and create simple patterns for sewing. I would suggest adult supervision with these projects, but they are super fun to do and a great activity to do as a family!

I love this collection of fun, open-ended writing and drawing prompts by Jarrett Lerner. For example, in the Finish This Comic section, young writers are inspired to write and illustrate a six-panel story. Following How to Draw instructions will encourage kids to find their own drawing styles. This book is filled with activities that will keep kids entertained and busy.

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander shares his writing tips for anyone who wants to discover the power of poetry. This book is bursting with cool activities, poetry starters, inspirational quotes, and lots of space to create.

This is such a fun book filled with endless possibilities of activities to do at home, including throwing a virtual party, holding family Olympics, learning a magic trick, making a flip book, and many more. Doodles, jokes, and entertaining tips enliven the crafts, games, adventures, projects, and creative boredom-busting activities the whole family will enjoy. Most call for common crafting gear and household items, ensuring hours of fun at the tip of your fingers.

This book was created by one of Japan’s most beloved artists and contains a book with simple step-by-step instructions for drawing the cute animals, plants, and people in this book. There is also a pad of paper in this easily transportable set that is bound together with a thick elastic to keep everything together. I love this illustration style.

I adore Elise Gravel’s books and her quirky and fun illustrations (one of my favorites is If Found...Please Return to Elise Gravel). How Do You Doodle? has over 40 doodle games for you to doodle, scribble, and draw out your thoughts, emotions, and feelings. I love that Elise encourages you to draw or write whatever you want in this book — cute drawings, silly drawings, even ugly drawings – there is no judgment, only an encouragement to express yourself.

This sweet picture book follows in the vein of one of my favorite other books Grumpy Monkey. Though this isn’t as comedic in its approach, it illustrates the complexity of kids’ emotions and the need to allow the space to work through them. Take Jenny Mei, who’s sad but laughs and jokes through her sadness until she starts to cry, and her friend accompanies her through it all to let her know she’s there for her.

This sweet picture book puts a delightful spin on ballet stories as Zuri opts to try out ballet alongside her friend Jessie (because it’s Jessie’s turn to pick their activity). While Jessie clearly loves ballet (and is good at it too!), Zuri doesn’t like it all (and isn’t very good at it) and wants to quit. But she sticks with it. Long enough to realize that she still just doesn’t like it and is more at home with soccer. But Zuri and Jessie realize that, even though they don’t share hobbies, there’s still a lot to enjoy about spending time together.

I think it’s because it’s summer, but I’ve had this big desire to watch some shark movies. Unfortunately lots of them aren’t that good (and Jaws is apparently not available on of any of the streaming services I pay for). But have no fear because despite the hatchet job the movie did on sharks (sorry, sharks!), there’s still much interest and much to learn about the sea-faring predators (did you know that groups of them are called a shiver of sharks?), and young readers can start with this informational picture book, packed with realistic drawings of all kinds of sharks from the infamous great whites to hammerheads to ones that glow in the dark.

This new book from prolific children’s author and illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a new-to-school story about Vanessa, who doesn’t think making friends at school is going to be as easy as her parents promise. Her anxieties are realized when her special first day outfit doesn’t go over well with her classmates, and even her name spells trouble, leading Vanessa to try to dull her shine the next day. But with some encouragement from her parents, Vanessa finds the courage to be herself.

This companion novel to A Midsummer’s Mayhem is a fun spin on the Shakespeare story. Trish is once again new in town and has to try out for a new baseball team. Ben is a teammate and math whiz Trish beat in an academic competition. When the team’s snacks start mysteriously making everyone play better (magical effects included), Trish and Ben put their heads together to find the answer to cryptic puzzles arriving in the mail.

This historical graphic novel dips into a 19th century logging camp, where Mei, a Chinese American girl, entertains workers with stories of Auntie Po, a giant guardian who protects them. Meanwhile in the outside world, anti-Chinese rhetoric (including the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act) makes life difficult for Mei and her family at the logging camp.

In this darling picture book, Fatima Khazi is so excited to head to the local state park for their first camping trip. She sets up a tent with her father, builds a fire with her mother, and survives an eight-legged mutant spider (a daddy longlegs with an impressive shadow) with her sister. At the end of an adventurous day, the family snuggles inside one big tent, serenaded by the sounds of the forest.

In this sweet middle grade book, 12-year-old Madison “Madi” Lewis has been given an ultimatum by her parents: she is not allowed to bring home any more animals. After all, she’s saved hairless mice, two birds, a rabbit, and a stray tom cat that ended up destroying the front porch. Her parents tell her that if she brings home any more animals, she won’t be allowed to meet Jane Goodall at an upcoming gala event. But when Madi and her two best friends, Aaron and Jack, rescue beaver kits whose mother was killed, they find themselves at the center of a local conspiracy that’s putting the beavers and their habitats in danger.

I love this picture book, which begins in the quiet early light of morning when a father and child wake up and get ready to go on a hike. As they head to the mountains, they encounter the magic of the wilderness, overcome challenges, and play a small role in the survival of the forest. By the time they return home, they feel alive — and closer than ever — as they document their hike and take their place in family history.

This graphic novel is so funny and totally relatable, sure to be a fun read to any reader who has gone or wants to go to sleep away summer camp. In the first book in this series, Olive is sure she’ll have the best time at summer camp with her friend Willow. But Olive makes quick friends with the other campers while Willow struggles to form connections and only wants to hang out with Olive – just the two of them. Will the two be able to patch things up before the final lights out?

Jason Chin is a master of nonfiction, and Redwoods is no exception. An ordinary subway trip is transformed when a young boy happens upon a book about redwood forests and finds himself transported. He travels all the way to California to climb into the Redwood canopy. As with his other titles, Jason crams this book with interesting and accurate information about these great natural wonders.

As I write this, my own dog is asleep next to me (I love her), and I highly recommend you get one of your own if you’re so inclined. If you need more convincing, you can start with this rhyming picture book that pays tribute to all the good dogs.

This autobiographical picture book is written by DACA recipient Areli Morales. She recalls her story as a young girl living apart from her parents, who work and live in America trying to make a better life for their children. But eventually Areli reunites with her parents in New York.

The land of Lyrica, once filled with warmth and light, was thrown into darkness when Spectress and the Demon of Fear attacked and killed the royal family. When 12-year-old Prewitt hears the full story, he also learns his destiny is intertwined with that of the surviving princess, lost and unknown. After he stumbles upon Calliope, the lost princess herself, the two embark on a quest to find the fabled Firebird’s Feather and Song to save Lyrica.

This novel in verse is set in 2012 when Samira and her family are Rohingya refugees settling into their new home in Bangladesh. Samira struggles to adjust, missing her friends and her home, and her family doesn’t think they can put their future hopes on a girl. But when a surfing contest, with a cash prize, is announced, Samira resolves to prove that a girl can also change everything for her family.

For the Greek myth fans out there, this new graphic novel starts a new graphic novel series that explores the women of Greek antiquity. Athena, who popped fresh out of Zeus’s skull, is first up. Flawed and brilliant, Athena is one of heroism but also vanity and meddlesome antics, and she has to learn how to do more to help than to harm.

This sweet book actually started as Maira’s journal during the first few months she spent with her granddaughter. I love looking at books that began as journals – I find them a fascinating mix of both big and small moments. This book captures those moments beautifully, that precious time when a baby is just discovering the world.

I adore this book, which goes through the evening ritual of bedtime with a new baby including playtime, dinner, bath time, and finally, a pre-bedtime snuggle. The illustrations are gorgeous!

When a new baby arrives, the family begins their babymoon, which is precious time to cuddle, connect, and cocoon together in those first early days. There will be plenty of time for the world to meet the new baby later – for now, it is a special time to hold the world at bay and enjoy the newborn in the safety of home.

This unique book incorporates two stories. The first story is of the outside world as a soon-to-be big sister and her parents prepare for the arrival of a new baby in the family. The second story follows the growth of the baby through meticulously detailed, actual size illustrations.

This book is like a big hug. It contains wishes for children to be the best they can be and hopes that children will find a happy, fulfilled, and meaningful life. I really liked this affirming and positive book that proclaims the special and unique qualities of each child.