A Color of His Own
Author: Leo Lionni
Illustrator: Leo Lionni
Publisher: Random House
Recommended Age Range: 2 to 5
In this classic story, a lonely chameleon simply wants A Color of His Own – like all the other animals; yet, no matter where he goes, or what season it is, this dream eludes him. However, when another chameleon appears, he learns that while their color may not last forever, their friendship always will.
A funny little bird
Author: Jennifer Yerkes
Illustrator: Jennifer Yerkes
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, an Imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
A funny little bird is a wonderful book about an almost invisible bird that wants to be noticed. To make himself stand out, he begins to gather feathers, leaves, and other items nature has left behind. Feeling pretty good about himself, in a visibly showy way, all is well, until…Without giving it away, this funny little bird learns a very valuable lesson: We are all made in our own special way…for a reason!
Awards: 2013 Society of Illustrators, Original Art Gold Medal Winner; Bologna Children’s Book Fair Honor Award
Alma and How She Got Her Name
Author: Juana Martinez-Neal
Illustrator: Juana Martinez-Neal
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Website
Awards: A Caldecott Honor Book, 2019; Ezra Jack Keats Award Writer Honor 2019; NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children Recommended Title 2019; ILA Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Awards-Primary Fiction Honor 2019; Americas Book Award Commended Title 2019; NCSS and CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2019; ILA CLRSIG Notable Books for a Global Society 2019; Children’s Literature Assembly Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Award Books 2019; TX Library Association 2×2 Reading List 2019; ALSC Notable Children’s Book 2019; KS National Education Association 2019 KS State Reading Circle Catalog-“Best of the Best” Selection; IL Monarch Award Master List 2019-2020; Tejas Star Reading List 2019-2020; We Are Kidlit Collective Summer Reading List 2019; Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year 2019; Bank Street College Best Children’s Picture Books of the Year in Spanish 2019; Great Texas Mosquito List 2019-2020 Master List; Cybils 2018 Fiction Picture Book Finalist; SLJ Best Books 2018; ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice 2018; New York Public Library Best Books of 2018; Chicago Public Library Best Books of 2018; Evanston Public Library 101 Great Books for Kids 2018; ABA 2018 ABC Best Books for Young Readers; Nerdy Book Club Award Fiction Picture Book 2018; Bookstagram Choice Award Best Own Voice Picture Book 2018; Indiana Library Federation 2019 Read Alouds Too-Good-To-Miss: Ageless; Pima County Public Library Southwest Books of the Year 2018; Amazon 2018 Best Books of the Year So Far; Kids’ IndieNext TOP 10 Spring 2018; A Junior Library Guild Primary Spanish Selection; 2018 Society of Illustrators Original Art Selection
Avocado Asks: What am I?
Author: Momoko Abe
Illustrator: Momoko Abe
Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
Fruit or vegetable? This question leads avocado on a grocery store adventure to discover just where he belongs. A charming book that shows – through wordplay and humor – that it’s what’s inside that counts.
Carrot & Pea: An Unlikely Friendship
Author: Morag Hood
Illustrator: Morag Hood
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 7
Awards: Winner of the UKLA 3-6 2018; A 2018 Read for Empathy Book
Website
Cloudette
Author: Tom Lichtenheld
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt & Company
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
Website
Cloudette is a charming story about a very small cloud who, while happy being small, has big dreams. When a storm blows her far from home, Cloudette discovers that she can make a difference in the lives of others – a big difference – as long as she’s willing to try. A terrific story with a timeless lesson: We all matter.
Awards: Selection, 2011 Society of Illustrators Exhibit, New York;
New York Public Library’s Best Children’s Picture Books 2011 selection; Book Page Best Children’s Books of 2011 selection; Society of Illustrators 2011 Original Children’s Book Art Show selection; Nebraska Book Award Young NF Winner; New York Charlotte Award Master List; NH Children’s Choice Award (Ladybug) – ML
! (Exclamation Mark)
Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Website
! is an exceptional book about an exclamation mark that longs to be like his friends (period). ☺ When a question mark annoys him with a barrage of questions, ! loses his cool. Lucky for him, when he screams “STOP!” he learns not only his true calling in life, but how “…to make his mark.” A fantastic book!
Awards: Parents’ Spring 2013 Picture Books Silver Honor; Bank Street Books Best Book of 2014; 2015 California Young Reader Medal winner; Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Books of 2013; Newsday Top 10 Children’s Books of 2013; A Junior Library Guild selection; School Library Journal, Best Books of 2013; Bank Street College of Education 2014 Best Books of the Year for Children and Young Adult; Selected for Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2014; Master List, 2013 Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens
Frederick
Author: Leo Lionni
Illustrator: Leo Lionni
Publisher: Dragonfly Books (English Language Edition)
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
In this classic tale, Frederick is a mouse who, well, doesn’t really act like one. When his family gets ready for winter, Frederick doesn’t help gather food; rather, to his family’s chagrin, he sits in thought. Yet, when the food runs low, and Frederick begins to share the words that he has collected, the intangible beauty of verse begins to change the minds of the other mice, their mood, and their understanding of just what Frederick has to offer.
Awards: Caldecott Honor Book, 1966; ALA Notable Children’s Book Winner, 1966; Library of Congress Children’s Books of the Year, Winner, 1966; New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year, Winner, 1967; School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, Winner, 1967
Giraffes Can’t Dance
Author: Giles Andraea
Illustrator: Guy Parker-Rees
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Through rhyming words and dancing animals, the message – to be yourself – is not only shared, but celebrated.
Awards: Sheffield Book Award – Commended; Blue Peter Book Award-Shortlisted; Richard and Judy-Shortlisted
I Like Me
Author: Nancy Carlson
Illustrator: Nancy Carlson
Publisher: Puffin Books
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 5
Website
In very simple language, I Like Me, by Nancy Carlson, teaches young children to appreciate who they are and what they do, mistakes included!
I Like Myself
Author: Karen Beaumont
Illustrator: David Catrow
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
Awards: 2005 Wanda Gag Read Aloud Book Award; 2004 “Best Children’s Books” Awards – National Parenting Publications; 2004 “Best Children’s Books” Award – Disney
Website
Red: A Crayon’s Story
Author: Michael Hall
Illustrator: Michael Hall
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
We’ve all heard: Don’t judge a book by its cover, but a crayon by its wrapper? Well, actually, yes. In Michael Hall’s terrific book Red: A Crayon’s Story, “red” is actually, and obviously, blue – except to those who seem to know him best. Yet, it is only when a new friend “sees” him for himself does everyone else, including “red,” understand who he really is. A brilliant book on not just accepting, but embracing who you really are, no matter the “label.”
Awards: Goodreads Choice Awards 2015, Picture Books; Booklist Best Picture Books of 2015; Amazon.com Best Books of the Year 2015, Ages 3-5; Booklist Lasting Connections, 2015; 2016 CCBC Choices-Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; 2016 Rainbow List, Picture Books; Irma Black Award, 2016 Finalist; 2016 E.B. White Read-Aloud Award, Picture Books
Spoon
Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrator: Scott Magoon
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
Website
We’ve all heard the saying: “The grass is always greener…” Well, in Spoon’s world, it’s forks, knives, even chopsticks. Of course, if Spoon only knew how much his “pointy” friends would love to be him, he might change his mind. Yet, it’s not until Spoon’s mom reminds him just how wonderful it is being round – ever eat cereal or soup with a fork? – that Spoon sees just how amazing he really is.
Awards: One of Parents 20 Best Children’s Books of 2009; Indie Bound “Next List” pick for Summer 2009; Selected Top 13 Best Children’s Book for Family Literacy; Please Touch Museum Book Award; Society of Illustrators The Original Art juried show acceptance
Spork
Author: Kyo Maclear
Illustrator: Isabelle Arsenault
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
In this ingenius book, a mother and father – spoon and fork – have a “spork.” At the beginning, all spork wants to be is “one thing,” and he tries, but, of course, it doesn’t work. Then, one day, something appears – a messy something – and only spork can save the day.
A brilliant story about embracing what makes you who you are.
Awards: Prix Jeunesse des Libraires du Quebec (2012: Winner); Best Children’s Books of the Year, The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (2011); Top Ten Children’s Books, Ottawa Citizen (2011); Best Children’s Book of the Year, Bank Street Children’s Book Committee (2011); Best Children’s Books, Kirkus Reviews (2010); Magnificent Children’s Books, Fuse #8 Production (School Library Journal) (2010); Favorite Book (DRAWN) 2010
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
Author: Patty Lovell
Illustrator: David Catrow
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon is a fantastic book about being proud of yourself and what you can do. When very small Molly Lou Melon must move, she not only embraces this “Stand Tall” advice from her grandmother, she changes the attitudes of those around her.
A must read!
Awards: Georgia Children’s Book Award, 2003; Beehive Children’s Picture Book Award, 2003
The Big Orange Splot
Author: Daniel Manus Pinkwater
Illustrator: Daniel Manus Pinkwater
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
On a street – where all the houses are the same – a bird drops a can of orange paint on a man’s house; rather than fix it, the man creates a piece of art. While each neighbor tries to change his mind, it becomes apparent that the opposite is happening. By the end of the story, the houses are amazing – and a terrific reflection of who each person is inside.
Awards: School Library Journal “Top 100 Picture Books;” Alabama Emphasis on Reading Award
The Greedy Triangle
Author: Marilyn Burns
Illustrator: Gordon Silveria
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. (Pbk.)
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
This story – a geometry lesson with a moral – involves a triangle who is, simply, not happy with his shape so he keeps adding lines and angles. While, at first, it’s a good idea, it doesn’t end so well. A great story about being happy with who you are.
The Hueys in the New Sweater
Author: Oliver Jeffers
Illustrator: Oliver Jeffers
Publisher: Philomel Books, an Imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 6
The one thing you can always count on with the Hueys – they’re always the same: same thoughts, same look, same activities, same everything. And then there is Huey. Huey is not the same, or he is until he gets a new sweater. While, at first, the Hueys are shocked (same response☺), they soon realize that being different is actually quite catching. A wonderful book about standing out from the crowd!
Awards: The New York Times Book Review 2012- Best Illustrated Books
Zero
Author: Kathryn Otoshi
Illustrator: Kathryn Otoshi
Publisher: KO Kid’s Books
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Website
Using the same characters from her brilliant book One, Kathryn Otoshi introduces readers to the concept of self-esteem. In essence, Zero feels that she has no “value” – unlike the other numbers. Yet, with a little help from one through nine, she discovers that she can make all of her number friends “soar” by standing next to them.
An ingenius way to show that we all have worth. ☺