Life is full of new beginnings. A mother bird tells her young bird it’s time to leave the nest in The Bird Song by Willie Beesley. The news makes him feel very nervous. The world feels so big, but his mom offers some encouraging advice....

Tower in the Stars (Torre en las estrellas) by Laura Carolfi is a children’s illustrated picture book about life and death. Tower is an older dog, and he is there when Tiny is born. I liken Tower to a grandfather figure, in his later years...

Mark Binder’s The Worst centers on an ordinary eighth-grader who navigates the awkward world of a small New England middle school along with his tight-knit group of friends. Calling themselves Team Bomb Shelter, these clever middle schoolers use an ironic scale to rank their daily...

The Seashell Safe Harbor: Friendship by Sherrie Schmidt takes readers on a bright, cheerful adventure. It introduces you to the friendship group—Happy the sailboat, Starfish Sue, Pelican Hugh, Dolphin Rue, Captain Drew, and their guests—who all set out together on the Friendship Trip. They plan...

The Girl Who Makes a Million Mistakes: Dance Practice by Brenda Li is a children’s picture book about a high-spirited girl named Millie who rose to the occasion. When Miss Julianna announces that the class has an exciting dance recital coming up, Millie is absolutely...

The Kindness Bus by Barbara Ann Elder is about a girl named Jess. The story follows Jess, who doesn't love everything about school—homework, for one, she could do without. But every morning, she's first in line for Bus 252, and it's easy to see why....

Does it really matter what color you are? Or what color someone else is? In Andrew Ginsburg’s The Colors of My Sky, Lester, the blue butterfly, is taught by his mother to only play with other blue butterflies. Why? Because blue is the color of...

Independence, strength, courage, resilience, purpose – these are gifts we share with loved ones, old and young. In Devaunshi Mahadevia’s The World, For You, a mother shares her love for her child, beginning with the moment the child is born. The love is shared in...

The Noisy Leaves: A Tale of Gratitude is a children’s picture book written by Alexandra Barlow with illustrations by Katie Lamb. It follows the seasonal changes through the story of a tree and its leaves. During summer, the leaves really come alive. They absorb sunlight...

The Playbook: Switched On by Alex Almosawi sneaks up on you. It gives us an overview of Zaki's world. He is an eleven-year-old desperate for a pair of expensive sneakers he can't quite afford. Zaki is the kind of kid whose brain never really switches...