Age: 2-4 years
Food: Kimchi
Identity: Korean

Starting on Sunday, an excitable girl shares her love of kimchi on all sorts of delicious foods throughout the week. Each spread features a new day and a new food. Rhyming text, 1-2 sentences, and solid color backgrounds make this perfect for reading aloud. An excellent addition to storytime shelves!

Age: Kindergarten-2nd grade
All about me: Moving
Things that go: Bus

A nervous boy's first day of school gets off to the wrong start when he boards a bus headed to Puppy School! Listeners will be giggling along at the similarities and differences between regular school and Puppy School. A generally delightful read where children can laugh out the nervous first-day-of-school butterflies.

Age: 4th-8th grade
Adventure/Fantasy: Boats and sailing, dragons
Identity, author: Thai American

A water-filled expedition into the unknown full of action, a tantalizing mystery, and a determined protagonist who is ready to leave her past behind. Unique elements to this story include the integration of map-making, a fraught daughter-father relationship, and a flawed protagonist. Fantasy fans looking for adventures beyond space, superheroes, and dystopian worlds will find a new-to-them style of fantasy on the wild seas.

Age: High School+
History: African slave trade
Identity, author: Nigerian British

Incredible story inspired by West African folklore that I WANT MORE OF. Even the author's journey to write the book is interesting. Bowen always loved mermaids since she was a little girl but never saw herself in their likeness. In her research about West African folklore, she read about the presence of mermaids in Yoruba culture and the Ifa religion, along with a rich trove of fantastical mythology. Bowen's integration of this world that Simidele lives in provides vibrancy and depth to a tale that also includes the horrors of the West Atlantic Slave Trade.

Fast-paced, unique and with an incredible cliff-hanger, I cannot recommend this enough.

Age: K-3rd grade

A father tries to tell a bedtime story but keeps being corrected by the child. The father finally admits that telling a story isn't easy so he invites the child--and thus the audience--to fill in the blanks of the story of a lion traveling through space.

This would make a great primer for mad-libs but, if reading to a group, make sure there are some rules in place for suggestions before you start soliciting them, in case the group gets too unruly.

While I thought that this book was too short, too confusing, and too forceful, others might like it for just that: a short book with a unique format that references modern events.

Age: Kindergarten-3rd grade
History: United States Emancipation, Juneteeth
Art: Needlework, Quilting

A joyous moment in history is experienced through the eyes of a slave girl celebrating freedom and her birthday with a beautiful, symbolic present from her community: a quilted flag.

Not only is the quilted artwork unique and staged beautifully, but the writing style and flow are appealing for the age it is written. An incredible contribution to African American historical documentation, to a national holiday, and to children's literature.

Age: 2-5
Emotions: Defiance

As I slog through my day due to a night of 3-year-old negotiations, bribery, and subservience (me-->toddler), I feel seen by this book.

Grabenstein shines a tempting light on the joy of "yes" to a no-loving toddler. Surely all the defiant children will read this, have a revelation, and finally have a change of heart much to their parent's relief.