Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us by Lauren Castillo (Knopf, 2020) is a delightful early chapter book telling the story of a few friends (stuffed animals? real animals?) and their human told through words and pictures. With larger print and whole-page and half-page illustrations, the story is very accessible to young early readers. The
Just as in another book in the series that I read, Bethany Barton’s I’m Trying to Love Germs (Viking Books, 2023) is a story told in alternating voices, this time between a human and a microscopic germ, this time teaching the reader basic facts about microorganisms. It includes interactive elements, such as “just move your
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting (published 1922) continues the story of the special doctor that talks to animals, John Dolittle, but this time with a different tone and child’s perspective. In this volume, the doctor travels across the ocean to the coast of Brazil to find his naturalist friend on his floating
The One Thing You’d Save by Linda Sue Park (illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng; Clarion Books, 2021) is a brief children’s poetic book with a thought experiment: what one thing would you save if a fire was destroying your home? No limits. After the teacher gives this question to her class, each subsequent page provides a
In Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson (illustrated by Jane Chapman; Margaret K. McElderry, 2007), a sweet mouse is looking for a home other than the dark and dirty hole in the wall. He finds the family’s nativity scene and moves in there. Eventually, he overhears the family talking and realizes that true meaning of
Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon (Dial Books, 2014) perfectly captures the thought process and imagination exaggeration of a super creative first grader. With a mix of text and comical illustrations, Hanlon puts together a fantasmagory (“a shifting melody of real or imagined characters”) of any imaginary play time. My very imaginative eight-year-old loved the mix
Bing! Bang! Chugga! Beep! by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson (illustrated by Nathalie Beauvois; Brown Books Kids, 2023) is a bright and noisy car picture book with a bouncing rhyme scheme following the “This Old Man” tune. The common refrain of “Bing! Bang! Chugga! Beep!” adds to the simple couplets to make it simply
The apartment in the classic Harlem brownstone feels like a part of the family in The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (Clarion Books, 2017). But this Christmas, the family finds out that their landlord, the grumpy Mr. Beiderman, will not be renewing their lease. Now, with just eleven days before moving day,
In The Night the Lights Went Out On Christmas by Ellis Paul (illustrated by Scott Brundage; Albert Whitman, 2015), a neighborhood of families have a yearly Christmas lights competition, with larger holiday displays each year. One year, however, the surge from the holiday lights causes all the world’s power to go out, and the stars
The Mindy Kim series by Lyla Lee (illustrated by Dung Ho; Aladdin 2020) highlights a Korean-American girl in a new home with her recently widowed father. I never read books about different cultures when I was young, and so I’m delighted that this early chapter book series introduces such an enjoyable character with a unique
Miss Lina’s Ballerinas by Grace Maccarone (illustrated by Christine Davenier; Feiwel and Friends, 2010) is a cute ballerina picture book about a new girl joining a crew of eight dancers, making the “four lines of two” no longer an option for this tight-knit dance group that does everything together. Their steps are all out of
The Collars of RBG: A Portrait of Justice by Elinor Carucci and Sara Bader (Clarkson Potter Publishers, November 2023) is a lovely coffee table book celebrating the unique personality and strong political influence of Ruth Bader Ginsburg with detailed photographs of her legendary collars. The text of the book highlights the origin of each collar
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