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I had two Grace Lin 2023 books on my list, this one and Once Upon a Book. I thought it fair to only include one of her 2023 releases, so I went with this stunning middle-grade nonfiction! This is a gorgeously illustrated collection of folklore about food found on Chinese restaurant menus. I was absolutely riveted by the folktales and Lin’s gorgeous illustrations. I also loved the history and background she provided. This is the kind of book I want to gift everyone. It’s really special and unique.

Andrea Beatriz Arango’s second middle-grade novel in verse has cemented her as one of my all-time favorite authors. It’s a beautifully written book about a 6th-grade Puerto Rican girl, Laura Rodríguez Colón, who is going to live with her aunt after being taken away from her parents while they’re in rehab. She finds an abandoned pit bull and begins training him as a therapy dog. It’s a hopeful, moving, realistic read that’s also really accessible for readers of all levels. I really appreciated that Laura struggles with reading, too. I don’t know of many middle-grade novels that depict struggling readers.

I pretty much had heart eyes the entire time I read this fantasy mix of graphic novel and fictional diary. It’s so very heartwarming and cozy. It’s about friendship and community and the importance of stories in the small magical town of Gumbling, which is being threatened by greedy brother and sister developers who claim to be the descendants of Gumbling’s last king. They want to turn the castle, which currently houses those who can’t afford homes and provides community services for the entire village, into an amusement park. At first, Nell is more concerned about being paired with a librarian for a school project rather than the artist she was hoping for. But soon enough she can’t help but be affected by what’s happening, and meanwhile, the fairytales she’s uncovered at the library are inspiring her more than she thought. I want to move to Gumbling. Can someone make that happen, please?

Jon Klassen always appears on best-of lists, and for good reason. Not many children’s book writers can pull off writing dark stories for kids, but Klassen is a master at it. His latest is a mesmerizing retelling of a Tyrolean folktale. It’s about a young girl, Otilla, fleeing from an unknown terror through a wintry forest. She comes upon a mansion where only a skull lives, but the skull is being terrorized at night. Maybe if Otilla uses her wits, she can save both herself and her new friend, the skull. I see this being described as both a picture book and a chapter book, and both descriptions are correct. It’s just over 100 pages long, smaller than the average picture book, and has chapters. However, it’s heavily illustrated with sparse words for a chapter book. I read it in 15-20 or so minutes out loud to my daughter. I adore the monochromatic artwork. This is my favorite of Klassen’s children’s books. It’s everything I love about fairytales.

While I have seen The Skull on every best-of list, I haven’t seen this one at all, and I think that’s because of a few reasons. First, it’s translated from the Filipino and translated books rarely make best-of children’s book lists. It also centers disability, and sadly, I find picture books featuring disabled characters rarely make best-of lists. It’s such a sweet and gentle exploration of the friendship between two children and neighbors, one who is Deaf and speaks using sign language, and the other who is hearing and learns how to “dance” with her hands to communicate with her friend. It’s simply told in every way, with sparse words and spare illustrations that still perfectly capture expressions. While sign language is one of the more common disabilities portrayed in picture books, this is still a refreshingly lovely read. End pages include Filipino signs.

I have read this picture book possibly hundreds of times this year to my daughter. It really captured her imagination, and we’ve had many conversations about refugees and immigration after reading this. Told from the perspective of a little brother, Meza tells the story of his and his older sister’s masked journey as they escape monsters, which are drawn as ominous smoky figures, to reach the border to what they hope will be safety. The illustrations are phenomenal, monochromatic with pops of vibrant colors. The alebrije masks are vivid and make the illustrations and story all the more powerful. The combination of the vivid masks and very simple story is what so captured my daughter’s attention. The children initially view their journey as a game, which children can immediately identify with, but then the characters in the book, and the readers, realize at the same moment that this is no game. This is a great conversation starter and moves me to tears almost every time I read it.