In addition to being an author, I am a book reviewer and share my favorite titles for children 0-12 on my Instagram page @picturebookrecommendations. Please feel free to reach out if you are looking for a book on a specific topic for a kiddo in your life!
Please see my current review policy here.
📚✨ A remarkable true story of a woman who risked her safety to secretly teach black children at a time when Virginia law denied them an education.
This inspiring story details the life of Mary Peake, a woman who knew the importance of reading and education and quietly stood her ground, first in hiding and eventually out in the open. She laid the groundwork for what would eventually become Hampton University. 🌳📖
A powerful look at an inspiring change-maker and the courage it has taken to protect the right to an education.
📚 FREEDOM TO READ
✍️ Lesa Cline-Ransome @lesaclineransome
🎨 James E. Ransome @jransomillustr
@simonkids
#PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #BlackHistory #KidLit #NonfictionPictureBooks
✨ Playful and hilarious, I love it!
This fabulous new book invites the reader to become a wizard. It walks them through everything they will need, from capes (a bath towel will do) to wands (a nice, not-too-pointy stick) and even a familiar (or pet fish). It teaches them the rules of spellcasting and dueling with other wizards and is sure to have readers of all ages giggling and their imaginations firing with possibilities.
Playful, fun and an imaginative must-read.
📚 THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO BEING A WIZARD
✍️🎨 @keith_negley
@penguinkids
#PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #KidLit #ReadAloud #ChildrensBooks
🏡❤️ When a terrible storm destroys the animals’ homes, they turn to one another for help rebuilding in this beautiful story of community and the power of joining together.
Centered around the nursery rhyme, The House That Jack Built, this sweet story is one of hope, compassion, rebuilding, and the power of community. I love that it opens conversations around the difference that can be made by joining hands with others and choosing to care. ❤️
📚 THE HOUSE THAT LOVE BUILT
✍️🎨 @jess.meserve
@tigertales_books
#PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #KidLit #ReadAloud #ChildrensBooks
🥯😂 This book made me laugh out loud! Is there anything more relatable than an older sibling bragging that they get to do something first and a younger sibling finding ways to taunt them back?!
This playful story centers around the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish day of atonement, or basically when we say I`m sorry for any mistakes we may have made over the last year. The older brother is fasting for the holiday for the first time, and when he points out that he is bigger than his younger brother, who isn`t old enough to fast yet, the younger brother then spends the day taunting him back with the food he can`t eat.
While this book had me giggling, what I love most is that the book shows a genuine apology and what it really means to reflect and apologize. ❤️
📚 I’M SORRY FOR THE BAGEL BURPS
✍️ @weinsteinjacob
🎨 @jkirsch118
@rockypondbooks
@penguinkids
#JewishKidLit #YomKippur #PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #ReadAloud
🚫 “You can’t do that!” …right?! 🤔😂
I LOVE this rhyming playful and imaginative new book! It shows the wonderfully improbable things that you probably can’t do, such as expecting your hamster to sing you a song, but then goes onto plant the seed of why not.
I love that this humorous book encourages out of the box thinking, after all the impossible is only impossible until someone decides to make it possible. ❤️
📚 YOU CAN’T DO THAT!
✍️🎨 @martykelleybooks
@Sleepingbearpress
#PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #KidLit #ReadAloud #ChildrensBooks
🐿️🥜 Get ready to laugh as you count alongside a hungry squirrel gathering ALL the nuts. 😂
In this hilarious new picture book, a squirrel is working hard to gather as many nuts as possible and definitely doesn’t want to share any of them.
A playful and humorous story that encourages counting and shows that maybe sharing isn’t so bad after all. ❤️
📚 NUTS ABOUT NUTS
✍️🎨 @biamelo_illo
@happyyakbooks
@QuartoKids
#PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #KidLit #ReadAloud #CountingBooks
😩 “Gaaaahhhhm there’s nothing to do!”
This super relatable book features a child complaining that they are bored without screens and anything to do. Suddenly, the child finds themselves with the boredom monster, who encourages the boy to just be and eventually put his imagination to work. Suddenly, the day is filled with fun, from trampolining to drawing to ocean adventures.
I love that this book playfully shows that our imaginations are one of the most powerful tools we possess and that there really is lots to do if we are willing to put the screens down and think creatively! ❤️
📚 THE BOREDOM MONSTER
✍️ @ellerymariana
🎨 @clarareschke.art
@beamingbooksmn
#PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #ScreenFreeKids #KidLit #ReadAloud
🏒❄️ Do you have a hockey fan in your house? 🦊🦉🐿️
If so, they will love this playful woodland hockey-themed twist on the beloved Night Before Christmas poem.
The story features a group of woodland creatures gathering to play Shinny out on the ice in the middle of the night. It has Blue Jay refereeing and chipmunks calling the plays and even a surprise visitor helping them back on track.
A sweet hockey-themed story highlighting the love of the game, teamwork and sportsmanship.
📚 ’TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE SHINNY
✍️ @lornasn
🎨 @art_by_ejc
@sleepingbearpress
#PictureBookRecommendations #HockeyKids #WinterBooks #KidLit #ReadAloud
🔥🍗 Big feelings can lead to big reactions as this humorous and heartfelt book shows.
When a young girl`s request for a pet penguin is denied, she begins to feel angry, overwhelmed, and very SPICY!
I love that we see her embrace her emotions, sit with them, and process them until she is ready to be comforted by her mother.
I AM A SPICY NUGGET with humor and heart shows that being angry is a normal emotion and okay to let yourself feel and process.
📚 I AM A SPICY NUGGET
✍️🎨 @lorynbrantz
@penguinkids
#IAmASpicyNugget #LorynBrantz #PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #KidsBooks #ChildrensBooks #KidLit #Bookstagram #ReadAloud #FunnyPictureBooks #BooksAboutFeelings #BooksAboutAnger #BigFeelings #SELBooks #SocialEmotionalLearning #PictureBookLove
🏡❤️ I love that this book left me thinking about what a home really is and what it means and represents.
This moving new picture book is a heartwarming story of a family who built a true home in every sense of the word, even while suffering under the rule of Communist Romania. It shows how a couple built a house themselves, brick by brick, beam by beam, and created a safe space for their family to grow and make memories.
This is a powerful book that shows the impact of a home and heart on multiple generations and a reminder of an important time in history. ❤️
📚 THE HOME WE DREAMED
✍️🎨 @ancasan
@quilltreebooks
@harpercollins
#PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #FamilyStories #KidLit #ReadAloud
🙃 I love how much this book made me think. It left me thinking about how going against the norm may make others uncomfortable but as long as your actions aren’t hurting anyone else it is important to do what feels right.
This book features a young girl who is hanging upside down. As people walk by, they just can’t understand why she would do such a thing and they try to get her to come down and act more like them.
What I love most about this book is that the girl is content being who she is and just hanging upside down – after all, she isn’t hurting anyone, she is simply choosing to do things differently. The book doesn’t offer an outright explanation as to why she is hanging upside down which makes it perfect for conversations with littles around why she might choose to do this, happiness? Mindfulness? The possibilities are endless and though provoking.
Funny, clever, and delightfully odd, this is a great conversation starter about confidence, individuality, and having the courage to march to the beat of your own drum. 🎺✨
📚 THE UPSIDE DOWN GIRL
✍️🎨 @keithnegley
@clarionbooks
@harperkids
#PictureBookRecommendations #PictureBooks #KidLit #ReadAloud #BooksForKids
❤️ I love that this book shows that "I love you" goes beyond words. It gently shows that love is in our actions and the small in between moments and isn`t only something that we say.
In this sweet book we see a young girl who speaks english and her Nani who speaks Urdu navigating their language barrier and finding ways to express their love for one another through their actions. The grandmother oil`s her grandaughter`s hair until it shines and the young girl takes a turn making breakfast.
A lovely reminder of the universal language of love. ❤️
📚 LOVE IN EVERY LANGUAGE
✍️🎨 @anooshadraws
@penguinkids
#PictureBookRecommendations #MulticulturalKidLit #PictureBooks #DiverseBooks #ReadAloud
