Lakota author and illustrator, Nelson offers a look for children at the Lakota way and beliefs around animals. For those who pay attention, animals offer wisdom and a connected spirit line. The buffalo teaches sharing and generosity since he gave his life for people to have hides and food. With his transformation from egg to tadpole to frog, Frog shows you that you can expect changes in your life too. Bear teaches that you should protect those who are smaller than you, while Coyote enjoys playing tricks and teaches you not to just follow along. After many animals, the book ends with two-leggeds and that we are all related animals and people.
With translations to Lakota that share the names of each of the animals as well as pronunciation guides, this book celebrates Lakota traditions and beliefs. The number of animals and what they teach us is impressive, each accompanied by glowing illustrations inspired by traditional Lakota pictographs and ledger-book drawings. They are done in striking colors with layered elements that add depth and texture.
A celebratory look at Lakota culture that all children can learn from. Appropriate for ages 3-6.
Chopsticks Are by Chloe Ito Ward, illustrated by Lynn Scurfield
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: March 31, 2026
Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
ISBN: 9781797227368
This nonfiction picture book celebrates the humble chopstick. Immediately some readers will be shocked to see chopsticks used for cooking as well as for eating. The book explores the various shapes of chopsticks from around the world and how they are used with different cuisines. Traditions around chopsticks are also shared around celebrations, offerings and luck.
The book ends with an Author’s Note and more detailed information about how chopsticks were invented and additional rules around their use. The text is inviting, feeling like you are being invited to share a meal and learn along the way. The illustrations are bright and friendly, filled with colors, food and people.
A yummy and inviting look at chopsticks. Appropriate for ages 3-6.
When Mary Morland was a little girl, she was expected to be prim and proper. But she preferred to be outside. After her mother died, she was sent to stay with friends who had no children. The man of the family was a professor who encouraged her study of nature. As a teen, she exchanged letters with a famous French scientist who studied fossils. Rather than search for a husband, she found hers because she was reading the same thick book by that scientist. The two loved fossils and spent their lives together researching and traveling. She raised children to also be curious and learn, ignoring how clean her house was. She was a scientist her entire life, dedicating her studies to fossils and newly discovered dinosaurs.
Written as a series of questions and answers, this picture book biography is engaging from the very beginning. The format allows readers to quickly understand how unique Morland was during her life and how she didn’t pay attention to what society might want a lady to and followed her own path. The watercolor illustrations show the fossils and shells that Mary studied as well as her throughout her life out in nature and learning.
A grand biography of an unconventional life well lived. Appropriate for ages 6-10.
Exploring the twilight parts of the day starts with dawn when darkness is going away. Squash bees visit the garden before other bees are up and moving. The skunk and her kits head home. Hummingbirds visit morning glory flowers as they open. Tired animals head to their dens to sleep the day away. Dusk arrives and bird calls like the whippoorwill’s fill the forest. Deer scavenge for berries, bats leave their roosts and hunt insects. Fireflies flash, evening primroses open and moths come to visit them. Rabbits eat in the garden, watching for foxes.
The book ends with more information on twilight as well as the creatures that come out during the time. A bibliography completes the end pages. The poetic presentation of information captures the beauty and unique qualities of these transitory times between night and day. Readers are sure to learn about plants and animals they didn’t realize were active during these times of day. The illustrations show the quality of light as it changes from yellows of day to pinks to blues and then to the purples before night falls.
A lovely look at twilight sure to have children wanting to explore this time of day and night themselves. Appropriate for ages 4-8.
From loss and a cancer diagnosis comes this lovely pair of board books in a new series. Written to reflect the walks the author takes with her daughters as well as her mother’s love for gardens, these two board books shine with wonder and a joy at gardens and nature. The first book, Good Morning, Garden!, takes small children directly into the garden, under the earth and getting their hands dirty. The second book, Peekaboo, Flowers!, focuses on the beauty of the blooms and the butterflies they invite. With bright and fresh illustrations and simple words, these board books are just right to help welcome spring.
Just right for a springtime snuggle outside. Appropriate for ages 1-3.
This board book uses calming strips to encourage small children to take a breath. Each double-page spread offers both a mood and then a new breathing exercise to do while running your finger over each strip. The strips are offered in a variety of shapes and textures from ribs to dimples to stars. A rainbow design is offered if you feel like a thunderstorm, a flower if you are stuck in the mud, an ocean wave for whirling worries. Filled with bright colors and very effective tactile moments of calm, this board book will work well in public library settings.
Take a breath with this meditative board book. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
I Am Here by Kim Hyo-eun, translated by Aerin Park
Publisher: Scribble
Publication Date: May 5, 2026
Reviewed from pdf provided by publisher
ISBN: 9781964992419
Told in the most basic of words, this gentle board book starts with the baby looking up at the sky. They are under the sun, under the clouds, under the rainbow, under a bird. It moves closer. They are under their mother’s hat and then under their mother in a carrier. The book then turns, and looks at what is beside the baby. There is Grandpa, a cat, ants, a leaf, a stick. Finally, there is me! Smartly crafted, this board book shows the meaning of under and beside while exploring a baby’s world. Children will love seeing similar things around themselves as they and their family look around too.
A quiet baby-sized adventure. Appropriate for ages birth – 2.
The first in a new series of board books, this one focuses on lawn mowing. Three big-eyed animals, a fox, skunk and raccoon find that the grass has grown too tall. Time to mow the lawn! There are all kinds of equipment to use, each with its own prep and sound. Then you can make shapes with the stripes in the lawn. When you are done, smell the cut grass. Then take a nap, play some more and wait for the grass to grow tall again. Filled with a lot of energy and a joy for doing a job well, I don’t know of another board book about mowing the lawn.
Sure to be loved by little ones with their own toy lawn mowers. Appropriate for ages 1-3.
This new board book series from two major children’s book creators is a reason to celebrate every season. With one volume per season, the books are simple enough for even the smallest child to enjoy. Barnett keeps his language limited, sharing small elements of a child’s world, including a cat, a red wagon, a sweet treat and a perfect hat. Klassen’s illustrations keep it simple too with a wry sense of humor that shows how each season differs even as Barnett’s words repeat from book to book.
A small triumph perfect for small children. Appropriate for ages 1-3.
Nadine doesn’t know anything about her Armenian family’s history except that they survived the Armenian genocide. Her parents refuse to share the stories with her and her brother. Then one day, her mother begins to share about Armaveni, Nadine’s grandmother and the incredibly impossible choices that had to be made for survival as the genocide closed around them in Armenia and Turkey. When Nadine is given the opportunity to visit what used to be Armenia with a school group, she and her brother also include a visit to their relatives who live in Turkey. Along the way, they learn about their homeland, and continued racism and bigotry, which Nadine discovers is very close to home. Learning from her grandmother, Nadine finds the courage to stand up for her family in new ways.
This is one of those books that opens an aching hole in your center as you read it. Through the graphic novel format, Takvorian brings readers into Nadine’s family and alongside her we learn about the Armenian genocide from the perspective of one family while also realizing how many people were murdered, displaced and lost. Seeing that this is a debut graphic novel is just amazing, particularly done by a solo artist/author. It is based on the author’s own experiences and family, which resonates through the entire book.
A shining example of what graphic novels can be. Appropriate for ages 13+.
Twin sisters, Sloane and Ash, no longer look alike thanks to different hairstyles and colors. They do share a love of art and animation. The two of them decide to spend their summer vacation attending Ormidale College’s animation program for high school students. Ash is excited to start, certain of her skills and sure she is going to love being taught by one of her animation heroes. Sloane is more hesitant, unsure of the new environment and making new friends, and not quite as sure of what she wants to do in the future. The two girls must navigate challenging assignments, others being better at animation than they are, sexism by one of the teachers, and finding out that animation is more than just Disney movies.
Hicks is a master of the graphic novel format for middle schoolers and teens. Here she deftly shows how two very different sisters find their way and discover more about themselves through learning animation. Particularly nice is the fact that the confident Ash is not the one who makes the first connections and friendships with others. The clear sexism on display by one of the teachers is clearly shown and then explained by one of the other adults as an ongoing issue in animation studios.
Charming, fresh and full of animation tips and art love. Appropriate for ages 12+.
Violet lives in a castle by the sea with her friend Bird. Violet stayed at home, caring for the castle while Bird flew outside and sang. But every now and then, Violet got scared by something like a spider. And when Violet was frightened, she shrank smaller and smaller. After she shrank, she had to work to grow bigger again by thinking soothing thoughts and forgetting what scared her. At night, Bird stayed with her which made her less scared. But then one night, Violet woke up and Bird was gone. As Violet left the castle to find him, she got smaller and smaller. What can one tiny girl do to save her best friend?
Two award-winning children’s book creators come together to tell this relatable story about fears and overcoming them. Readers will appreciate the lack of lecture here, with the book focused on telling a great story and offering small tips about handling fears along the way. Snyder’s writing is brisk and strong, telling the story and carrying the reader along. Pham’s illustrations show the castle, Bird’s nest on the window sill and then capture just how small Violet becomes when truly terrified.
A magical story about fears and heroism. Appropriate for ages 3-6.
The Mighty Macy by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kitt Thomas
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 3, 2026
Reviewed from library copy
ISBN: 9780316442169
When Macy gets the first book in the Mighty Zora series for her birthday, she stays up late reading. The next day, she rushes to the school library to get the second book in the series. But the school library is closed due to budget cuts. Now the school library will only be open two days a week instead of all week long. Macy has to figure out how to save the school library while also learning her minuet for her violin concert. It’s all happening at once, but with help from her poet father, her pancake-providing mother and her friends she might just get it all done.
Alexander is a virtuoso of children’s literature. He writes with such warmth here of Macy, a little girl filled with the drive to speak up and finding the courage to do so. Alexander demonstrates that children have a place in social justice work and giving them a voice in processes is vital to making change happen. Written primarily in verse, this book is approachable for readers newer to chapter books. The illustrations add to the joy of the book, sharing Macy’s life and family.
A great new chapter book that speaks up about taking action.
Waking Brain Cells 