Previously I’ve mostly written about board books. This year our favorites are mostly picture books. I honestly do not have time to get weepy about the merciless march of time so I’m going to PLOW ONWARD and talk about how great these books are… they are really great. Not all of them were published in 2019, but my just-3-year-old and still-4-year-old-for-a-couple-more-months have fallen in love with them this year, and so have I.
Rocket Says Look Up! (Amazon | BN | Indiebound) I can’t tell you how much I love this book. My 4-year-old is very into space, so Rocket’s astronomical did-you-knows are finding their ideal audience. And probably any contemporary family can identify with the constant struggle between the world in the phone screen vs. the world at large. The loving, clever text and funny, individual illustrations of Rocket and her family and neighborhood are absolutely stellar. Representation: Rocket is a black girl (around 6?) and we also meet her brother Jamal (12? 15?) and her mother. They live in a diverse, walkable urban neighborhood.
Grumpy Monkey (Amazon | BN | Indiebound) Just as good as everybody says. Represents only some very good observation on what it’s like to be grouchy in ungrouchy company.
Swan Lake (Amazon | BN | Indiebound) Charming and lively illustrations depict the carefully told plot of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, with buttons to push to hear snatches of the music. I still marginally prefer The Story Orchestra’s Sleeping Beauty but the whole collection is just wonderful. Representation: Siegfried, Odile and Odette have medium brown skin and the other swan-maidens are diverse in their skin color (if not their body types).
Thank You, Omu (Amazon | BN | Indiebound) My kids really enjoy this one and I 1) tear up every time and 2) desperately want some of that soup. Oge Mora has a new one out, Saturday, which I love but it is also going to make me cry every time we read it, so. Representation: Omu is a black woman past middle age who lives in an apartment building in a diverse, walkable urban neighborhood.
How Do Animals Talk? (Amazon | Usborne) This Usborne lift-the-flap board book is full of demonstrations and explanations about animal communication, pitched well for a 4-year-old with a lot of “why.” I do edit some of the gendery stuff on the fly, but it’s genuinely interesting info and the reason I had to field a question about potty-training a hippopotamus at bedtime yesterday.
What Can You Do With a Paleta? (Amazon | BN | Indiebound) The combination of ice-cold treats and imaginative alternative uses is always in demand for my popsicle-obsessed, warm-weather kiddos. Representation: Two Latinx kid take us on a tour of their walkable working-class barrio in two languages.
Three of these books came to us from OurShelves, which is working to build a demonstrated market for diverse books. As you can see, they’re pretty good at knowing what kids like!