Published: 2018
Theme: Beavers (Natural History)
Best for: 6 and up
“This is a beaver. Just an ordinary beaver. But even ordinary beavers are extraordinary. In fact, even ordinary beavers are superheroes.” A great way to present facts of natural history to young readers; enjoyable yet fact-filled.
Published: 2002
Theme: Nature Adventure and Adoption
Best for: 9 to 12
“I felt unbound. I was free as the wind. And I wasn’t in just any old canoe, but one I had made myself. She floated, she sped, she was unreal.” A great book by a classic children’s book author, about adoption, and self-sufficiency in nature.
Published: 2018
Best for: mature 12 and up
Theme: Mixed-race Love
“My mother, the pacifist, would kill me dead if she knew what I’d just done. I rescheduled my interview. For a girl. Not even a Korean girl, a black girl. A black girl I don’t really know., …who might not even like me.” Get ready for a ride on the hormones of a couple of teens who fall in love…
Published: 2002
Theme: Storytelling
Best for: 6 to 9
“The class stared at the new girl with admiration. They had never met anyone like Gooney Bird Greene…Her clothes were unusual. Her hairstyles were unusual. Even her lunches were very unusual.” This fun first-chapter book explores how easy it is to tell a good story, with imagination.
Published: 2018
Theme: Thomas Edison
Best for: 5 to 8
“Behind the shelves lay the University of Mice. Here any inquisitive mouse could learn everything there was to know about the history of mice: mice who had traveled the world, mice who had made great discoveries…” A beautifully illustrated, large-size children’s book with a fanciful story about Edison’s invention.
Published: 2007
Theme: Historical Fiction; French Revolution
Best for: 11 and up
“I know how to make needle lace and sew and hem and build a fire and tend it and clean the ashes out. I can make tea and toast and cook a chicken if I have to. I can empty chamber post and scrub floors…” This very well-written historical fiction about the French Revolution is based on a true incident…
Published: 2018
Theme: Historical Fiction, India’s Partition
Best for: 11 and up
“We would go somewhere fresh and new where people were happy. All kinds of people practicing all kinds of religions..[where] nobody would mind that you were Muslim and Papa was Hindu….” This is a no-holds-barred experience of the tragedy that ensued from the Partition in 1947 into India and Pakistan. For 11 and up.
Published: 1982
Theme: Self-acceptance
Best for: 8 to 11
“Milo wondered how in the world wearing a stalk of broccoli around his neck could possibly help make him perfect…” This children’s book is perfect medicine for any young person thinking they need to be perfect! Silly but convincing…
Published: 2017
Theme: Light-weight Science Fiction
Best for: 9 and up
“I’ve got a doctorate in astrophysics and a black belt in karate,” the woman replies, poking me hard in the chest with her telescope. “So sit down before I knock your block off.” This book does a great job of making both space and science fiction, very readable and enjoyable.
Published: 2009
Theme: Community
Best for: 4 to 7
“Night after night/Fox walked alone,/came home to a bed made of feathers and stone/” A very sweet and simple illustrated children’s book, blending independence with sharing with others. Nicely told in rhyme.
Published: 2018
Theme: Breaking Stereotypes
Best for: 8 to 11
“Ellie hated it when her friends got in trouble in front of her, especially when she had something to do with it. She thought about what her dad said – that engineering was supposed to help people- and her stomach went squiggly.” . Let’s hear it for books that let girls be engineers, boys like dolls, and old people doing more than just drinking tea…
Published: 2018
Theme: Sexual Preferences
Best for: Girls 11 and up
“In the end, this was about me, not them,” Robin said, tapping her chest. “And the people in my life could either accept that or they could live without me.” Ivy swallowed hard. “Did anyone choose to…well…” “Live without me?” An excellent peek in the confusion that a young gay teen experiences as her preferences begin to emerge…
Published: 2005
Theme: Gay Teens
Best for: 9 and up
“I took one of the pins Aunt Pam had given me and put it on my shirt. It said Celebrate Diversity. Then I took it off, thinking I’d give it to Addie, because it’s one she’d really like, and I put on another one: Being Who You Are Isn’t A Choice.” A superbly written, sensitive and humorous children’s book dealing with being gay as a teen.
Published: 2018
Theme: Magical Fantasy
Best for: 8 to 12
“Something must have hatched inside that box! And the mysterious creatures must be strong enough to have rocked the box as they were being born. Yet they’re small enough to fit inside the empty mint tin.” A delightful and lightweight fantasy with witches, time travel, and baby dragons, set in Brooklyn.
Published: 2018
Theme: Saving the World
Best for: 8 to 11
“Max didn’t have a mother or father to tell her when it was time to wake up, go to bed, do her homework, eat her vegetables, turn off the TV, or hurry because she’d miss the subway. Max was completely on her own.” An odd and quirky book that tries to have children solve the mess of the world, with a bit of adventure thrown in.
Published: 2018
Theme: Healing through books
Best for: 9 and up
“It’s better to read in the library. Sitting at my favorite table… reading and listening to the sound of other folks turning pages makes me feel I’m in a house full of company I don’t have to talk to.” A beautiful and lyrical small book set in 1946, exploring the loneliness that comes from being uprooted from South to North.
Published: English: 2018 (original: 1945)
Theme: Imaginative Tale
Best for: 6 to 9
“At first Moominmamma was frightened too, but then she said soothingly: “It’s really a very little creature. Wait, and I’ll shine a light on it. Everything looks worse in the dark, you know.” This is wonderful way to be introduced to the family of Moomintrolls, since it is the story where they first came to life…
Published: 2013
Theme: Biography
Best for: 10 and up
“We must melt the hearts of the Government with love… Remember, we can only win the opponent over by love, never by hate. Hate is the subtlest form of violence. Hatred injures the hater, never the hated.” This very thorough biography of Gandhi in graphic novel form is a pleasure to read.
Published: 2018
Theme: Refugees, Compassion
Best for: 9 and up
“The middle school cafeteria always makes me wish for the school in Istanbul. We often shared meals there, seated on the ground, with little to give. But most important, it was quiet.” It is time, past time, to bring our children into the conversation about religious tolerance, and immigration. This book is a start.
Published: 2018
Theme: Moral Courage; Refugees
Best for: 10 and up
“Ahmed–he had a name, Max reminded himself–was just a boy, a boy who liked soccer and comic book heroes. He had lost his parents, he was alone, and he seemed far more frightened than dangerous.” All I can say is – read this to crack open your heart with compassion for the plight of refugees.
Published: 2018
Theme: Optimism
Best for: 10 and up
“No one knew where the Mona Lisa was hiding. Chantal made a fist. How she hated the war. It had scared all the art way from the city.” A truly uplifting story about hope even during the direst of times, this will make your heart smile.
Published: 2018
Theme: Fantasy Adventure with Books
Best for: 10 and up
He’d been trained as a solider, after all. He knew how to fight. The same rules applied, if you thought about it, to books and to swords. For one thing, you didn’t run away from a challenge. You met it head-on. This is a non-stop, action packed books about libraries and librarians, and if you thing that’s an oxymoron, you’ll need to read this yourself…
Published: 2019
Theme: Mindfulness
Best for: 5 to 8
Laying down before I sleep / I visit every part /Of my soft animal body… What a wonderful way to go to sleep – thanking every part of our body. This is the beginning of a mindful practice of gratitude…
Published in English: 2003
Theme: Courage and Loyalty
Best for: 8 to 10
“Do the stars care if you play for them?” I wondered. I asked Nonno and he said he believed they did. So we sat around the fire, took out our flutes and played a little song for the stars.” This is a classic fantasy children’s book, one that easily transcends time and place.
Published 2017
Theme: Books and Readers
Best for: 9 and up
“Books are the external memory of mankind–a warehouse of memories.” Translated from Spanish, this excellent children’s book leads us into the investigation of the value and power of books and how to befriend them.
Published: 2018
Theme: Immigration and Survival
Best for: 14 and up
“Behind every one of the headlines on deportation there is a family. Innocent children. True stories that are rarely told. At last, I found the courage to tell you mine.” This is best for parents and children to discuss how to deal with the current inhumane immigration policies, and realize the impact on children.
Published: 2019
Theme: Adventure in Rural Kenya
Best for: 12 to 14
“Yeah, no one here has food allergies.” Hannah’s eyes shifted and narrowed. How is that possible? We’re worried about what food to let in our schools and here they’re worried about having food at all.” In this semi-fictional children’s book, we are inspired to extend ourselves to other cultures, to learn more about them, and to help when we can
Published: 2018
Theme: Protection of Endangered Species
Best for: 9 to 12
“This story is for all who have the courage to protect instead of dominate, to save instead of plunder, and to preserve instead of destroy.” A sequel to Dragon Rider, this action-packed adventure with fantasy animals, is all about protecting all living beings.
Published: 2003
Theme: Valuing Community
Best for: 9 and up
“Tee ball is killing baseball… They’re killing the ability of kids to learn the most important part of the game- to follow a ball with their eyes. And to swing and hit a moving target..” This is a lovely children’s book for kids who love their hometown baseball, played on their own local field, worth more than money can buy…
Published: 2018
Theme: Animal Kindness
Best for: 7 to 9
“When you are expecting the moon, it can be hard to know what to say to a small red squirrel. But still, the little cat gathered herself quickly. She was a polite cat.” In this poetic prose children’s book, we see the world through the eyes of a little cat looking for its own nesting place.