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Age: Toddler-Preschool
Food: pumpkin pie
Nature: Gardening
SEL: Collaboration, cooperation, community

Repetition, rhyme, minimal text, visually captivating characters, working together to achieve something good: This is a perfect fall read-aloud for daycares!

Age: Preschool-2nd grade
Nature: Flowers

The artwork is totally captivating and stunning. Not only are the colors exceptionally vibrant but the entire positioning and style and connection to the text is sublime. And while you're enjoying the artwork and the flower theme, Harris launches the book into a contemplation exercise that seamlessly starts inviting the reader/listener to reflect on their own connection to nature. A fascinating execution in every way.

Age: Toddler-Kindergarten
Activism: Body positivity
Body: Skin, hair, eyes, face, fingers, tummies, legs, scars

Remarkably inclusive, each page spread contains 10-20 people representing a full spectrum of our real world. The text is short and rhythmic with the repeating phrase "Bodies are cool!"

The busy pages are best suited for a one-on-one read but the text is simple enough for storytime and read-alouds. As a one-on-one read, children can really investigate all the different ways people can appear in our world. Hopefully, adult readers can pause, talk, and investigate with them.

Edit: My 5-year-old daughter was enamored with the spread that shows a gathering of people in the past and a gathering of people in the present/future. She loved imagining the people grow and change, even observing that a transboy was "hiding inside the girl all along."

Age: High School
History: 1950s San Francisco
Identity: 2nd gen Chinese American
LGBTQ: coming-of-age lesbian romance
STEM: Space exploration

Another tremendous addition to historical fiction novels that are intriguing and page-turning. Lo writes a heart-melting romance between Lily and Kath but doesn't stop there. All aspects of Lily's identity are explored, examined, and influence each other: her career aspirations, her family, her culture, her neighborhood, and her emerging curiosity into a world outside her own. This is a fascinating presentation of intersectionality and it is highly recommended for fans of unexplored/suppressed history and queer fiction.

Age: High School

Although written by a female, the black boy teen experience is always welcome with open arms in YA lit.

Morris originally sought out to write a book strictly about black boy joy but found that the carefree attitude was at odds with real life for most boys. So she changed her angle to be "black boy joy despite" toxic masculinity, intergenerational trauma, pressure to be a provider, and the weight of the past.

A compelling, realistic narrative is set forth, detailing the trials that Alex must go through as a mere 16-year-old. The modern day problems--racism, grief, healing a family relationship--are real but the twist is not: Alex can see future visions of anything he touches. And he soon finds out that his brother can see visions of the past.

All in all, a unique addition to YA lit that manages to address the mountains that society forces a black boy to climb, and emerging triumphant in spite of it all.

Identity: Ojibwe tribe, biracial identity
Tough Issues: Drug abuse,
Spoilermurder of best friend

First line: "I start my day before sunrise, throwing on running clothes and laying a pinch of semaa at the eastern base of a tree, where sunlight will touch the tobacco first."

Dang. Although the length of this book is hefty, Boulley was given the breathing room to present a tantalizing mystery alongside a full representation of this tribe's specific culture.

Age: Preschool-Kindergarten
LGBTQ: nonconformist

Nothing new or ground-breaking but the rhyming text carries a joyous tone and the illustrations are delightful.

Age: Toddler-Preschool
Things that go: truck, car, bus, taxi, unicycle, police motorcycle, tow truck

Die-cuts encourage listeners to guess the next vehicle based on the sound of the animal. Simple but cohesive story that will get children excited to participate.

Age: Toddler-Kindergarten
SEL: Breathing for calm technique

Catchy refrain that looks at Chomp the alligator going through a variety of stress-inducing situations. Instead of roaring, stomping, or chomping, Chomp is encouraged to chill (awash in blues and whites) and breathe as long as he needs to.

Age: Preschool-2nd grade
Art: Painting
Identity, protagonist & author: Cherokee
Math: Volume, capacity, and area
Series: Storytelling Math
Toy: Marbles

Bo is elated to sell his hand-painted marbles at his family booth at the Cherokee National Holiday. But the table is limited in space and his grandma tells him that his marbles must fit on the size of a mat. Bo goes through a variety of trial-and-error until he finds the perfect container.