Book Finder

A celebration of family love and Black joy, told through gentle rhyming text and colorful illustrations. “The sun is calling us outside. Mama cheers me down the slide! We wish on puffs and sift through sand. We hike together hand in hand.” This book showcases the special role Mama plays in children’s lives and explores the many ways love can be shown!

This warmly-told story teaches us that love really does grow everywhere, in all shapes, forms, and sizes. Through gentle, rhyming text and vibrant illustrations, feel the love in a close-knit family who grow plants and sell them in their local market, and discover the types of love that exist in the many homes of their diverse community. There are kisses from Dad, songs with Grandma, charity from neighbors and playtime with friends. There’s old love, new love and everything in between! But there’s a new kid who is not quite so sure… Can the gardeners’ daughter be brave and extend the love to him?

Introduce your little ones to the colorful ways we see love around us in both English and Spanish! Amor de colores will introduce your little ones to all the colorful ways we see love in the world around us, through the colors of the rainbow and more.

There is nothing more important to a child than to feel loved, and this wonderful gathering of poems celebrates exactly that. The illustrations add a flourish of color, shape, and movement, and a visual layering that helps impart the most important message of all to young, old, parent, child, grandparent, and friend alike: You are loved. One page is mirrored, so children reading the book can see exactly who is loved — themselves!

“I love you” may sound different around the world, but the meaning is the same. From China, to France, to Russia, to Brazil, and beyond, this charming board book features “I love you” in 10 different languages. Tapping into the emotions that parents feel for their children, the rhyming text is accompanied by sweet artwork that depicts different cultures around the world.

An Asian American girl shares how her family expresses their love for one another through actions rather than words. How do you tell your family that you love them? For Hana, love is all around her: Mom stirs love into a steaming pot of xifan. Dad cheers with love at her soccer game. Hana says good night with love by rubbing her grandma’s feet and pouring her grandpa his sleepy tea. And as the light fades, Hana’s parents tuck her into bed and give her a good night kiss. So many families express their love in all they do for one another, every day. Here is a book that wraps you in a hug and invites your family to share their own special ways of showing love.

Henry likes Classroom Ten. He likes how it is always the same. But this week, Henry’s class will have a parade, and a parade means having Share Time on the wrong day. A parade means playing instruments that are too loud. A parade means this week is not like always. Join Henry as he navigates the ups and downs of marker missiles, stomach volcanoes, and days that feel a little too orange. From the creators of the Schneider Family Honor-winning picture book A Friend for Henry, this warmly funny book starring a child on the autism spectrum is a reassuring read for school-bound kids of all stripes.

This moving story shares valuable lessons about fitting in, standing out, and the beauty of joyful acceptance. Vashti Harrison traces a child’s journey to self-love and shows the power of words to both hurt and heal. With spare text and exquisite illustrations, this emotional exploration of being big in a world that prizes small is a tender portrayal of how you can stand out and feel invisible at the same time.

All children have wishes that reflect their hopes and dreams. Wishes from kids from Guatemala to Japan and places in between are presented in handsome illustrations and brief text. This book is sure to start conversations as readers see reflections of themselves in others from around the world.

An abandoned puppy helps 11-year-old Laura move forward after the 911 call she made to save her parents from an overdose. Now in the care of her Titi Silvia, they ultimately find a way to heal themselves in this novel in verse that explores family, communication, and friendship. 

After a series of adult owners, a set of puppets — a king, a wolf, an owl, and a boy (originally owned by a sea captain named Spelhorst) — wind up in the home where two sisters live. There, the puppets’ dreams and yearnings are ultimately fulfilled. Beautiful, spare prose is accompanied by black and white illustrations for a gentle fantasy.

How does a girl stand out from the crowd when she has a braid and a fluffy, flowered sweater on picture day? Olivia (aka Viv) finds a way with unexpected consequences in this authentic, often humorous graphic novel.

It takes a good teacher to really see an insecure child. Ms. Kern sees Lila Greer so well that Lila grows into the amazing teacher of kids like Rosie Revere, Ada Twist, and Sophia Valdez. Like other books in the series, is fun to read aloud and is illustrated in Roberts’ characteristically detailed (and fashion-conscious) style.

A girl thinks everyone else in her family is smarter and more talented that she is. The girl thinks she messes up whatever she touches, even her grandmother’s nesting dolls. Her wise grandmother helps her understand that not all family members have the same gifts or look alike, but each is an important part of the same family. The author explores her own Gullah Geechee background in this touching and universal story.

One single red apple hangs on a tree. One by one, animals see it and greedily declare it “Mine!” Only a nonplussed possum willing to share it with the apple’s resident worm winds up with the prize. Alliterative, animated, onomatopoeic language is paired with strong lines and color for a jaunty, delightful book to read aloud.

Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she’s ever going to succeed. Her mother tells her to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. And Jade has: every day she rides the bus away from her friends and to the private school where she feels like an outsider, but where she has plenty of opportunities. But some opportunities she doesn’t really welcome and she’s tired of being singled out as someone who needs help, someone people want to fix. Jade wants to speak, to create, to express her joys and sorrows, her pain and her hope. Maybe there are some things she could show other women about understanding the world and finding ways to be real, to make a difference.

All Amara wants for her birthday is to visit her father’s family in New York City — Harlem, to be exact. She can’t wait to finally meet her Grandpa Earl and cousins in person, and to stay in the brownstone where her father grew up. Maybe this will help her understand her family and herself in new way. But New York City is not exactly what Amara thought it would be.  As she explores, asks questions, and learns more and more about Harlem and about her father and his family history, she realizes how, in some ways more than others, she connects with him, her home, and her family.

Dan was an awkward 8th grader who generally stayed quiet and rather unnoticed until an even more awkward school presentation. The boy’s self-confidence gradually grows during a weeks-long study trip to Paris. The graphic format is effective in presenting this often-humorous memoir and his sometimes uncomfortable memories. 

Two tweens are suspended for fighting in school. Their story is told in verse from two points of view: Ebony (aka Eb) and Flow (real name De’Kari). Their lives gradually unfold in readable free verse and as readers come to understand them, and both Eb and Flow begin to realize they share a lot in common, ultimately reaching détente in this plausible and moving novel.

Evergreen is a timid young squirrel who is frightened to take soup to ailing Granny Oak. But as Evergreen confronts and overcomes each obstacle, her confidence grows. Line and wash illustrations by a Caldecott medalist and short chapters are humorous but with more serious themes of kindness and bravery.

Though he enjoys music and company, Walter, a crocodile, is painfully shy and prefers staying just below the surface. Until one day, he finds his voice to help his friend turtle from being tossed around by big birds. Expressive illustrations, almost translucent, evoke Walter’s watery world and the joy in finding one’s voice.

Young children frequently don’t have the words to describe strong feelings. Words and emotions come together in simple, bright, evocative illustrations on colorful pages just right to generate conversation — preferably before these feelings are experienced!

To start, Judy Moody doesn’t have high hopes for third grade. Judy also has an abundance of individuality and attitude, and when her teacher Mr. Todd assigns a very special class project, she really gets a chance to express herself! Megan McDonald’s spirited text and Peter Reynolds’s wry illustrations combine in a feisty, funny first chapter book for every kid who has ever felt a little out of sorts.

A young nonconformist invents a self-sufficient civilization in his suburban backyard. Words and images fluidly play off one another as Wesley creates a language for his new produce and the crop erupts into a lush tropical landscape. It isn’t long before his neighbors and classmates develop more than an idle curiosity about Wesley — and exactly how he is spending his summer vacation.