While children’s books have grappled with difficult topics for a long time, in recent years more picture books have tried to tackle topics that are […]
Anne and her Tower of Giraffes
Now that’s a book title! Okay, let me start again, more formally. Karlin Gray’s 2022 nonfiction picture book Anne and her Tower of Giraffes: The […]
Navigating Night
Julie Leung’s 2026 Navigating Night is a quiet, heavy, important picture book. It follows a Chinese-American girl as she and her father navigate a dark […]
The Tower of Life
Chana Stiefal’s 2022 picture book The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt her Town in Stories and Photographs is brave and ambitious. It tells […]
The Whale’s Tale and the Otter’s Side of the Story
In some picture books, the book’s design is almost incidental: readers barely notice it. Other times, illustrations are creatively placed, such as on the dedication […]
When You Can Swim
Summer is here in full force, so it seems like time to discuss Jack Wong’s 2023 picture book When You Can Swim. When You Can […]
ABC
Bruno Munari’s alphabet picture book ABC was first published in 1960, but was reprinted in 2006. Munari was an Italian artist whose career lasted decades […]
Seahorse is Furious and There is Nothing You Can Do About It
There’s a relatively new category of children’s books: social-emotional learning, or SEL. These books try to help children deal with difficult emotions. As a rule, […]
Monster Needs a Costume
Paul Czajak’s 2013 picture book Monster Needs a Costume is ridiculous–and I mean that in the very best way. Monster loves Halloween, and now that […]
Look at my Book
The subtitle of Loreen Leedy’s 2004 picture book Look at my Book: How Kids Can Write and Illustrate Terrific Books makes it sound like it […]