Ask Me
Author: Bernard Waber
Illustrator: Suzy Lee
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Ask Me offers a lovely glimpse into a father and daughter’s heartwarming conversation on a beautiful fall day (and night). Full of fatherly questions, often “recommended” by the little girl, this book will either bring back memories or inspire you to make new ones – maybe both. ☺ Stunning.
Awards: A New York Times “Editors’ Choice;” Junior Library Guild Selection
Finding Fire
Author: Logan S. Kline
Illustrator: Logan S. Kline
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Award(s): A Junior Library Guild Selection
Website
how to
Author: Julie Morstad
Illustrator: Julie Morstad
Publisher: Simply Read Books
Recommended Age Range: 2 to 6
Website
Children often hear how to do something…but not like this. Julie Morstad’s book how to is an original, and fanciful, look at such things as washing your face, making friends, and staying close. With its playful art, this story makes for a wonderful read that will spark your child’s imagination.
Awards: 2015 IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities selection 2014; Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award winner 2014; Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize winner; 2013 Alcuin Society Award for Excellence in Book Design, first prize winner; 2013 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award winner 2013
I Wonder
Author: K.A. Holt
Illustrator: Kenard Pak
Publisher: Random House
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
Have you ever heard a question that made you think about something in a completely new way or gave you a brand-new perspective on everyday objects? I Wonder does just that and more. A brilliant picture book that will make you smile with every turn of the page.
Just Because
Author: Mac Barnett
Illustrator: Isabelle Arsenault
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
Bedtime turns into question time as a child wonders aloud to his father. Playful answers create a charming and richly imagined picture book.
La La La
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: Jaime Kim
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Awards: Parents Choice Gold Award
Website
Questions, Questions
Author: Marcus Pfister
Illustrator: Marcus Pfister
Publisher: NortSouth Books
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 7
Small in the City
Author: Sydney Smith
Illustrator: Sydney Smith
Publisher: Neal Porter Books, Holiday House
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Awards: A Junior Library Guild Selection; A New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Books of the Year
Straw
Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrator: Scott Magoon
Publisher: Disney/Hyperion
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Website
The Antlered Ship
Author: Dashka Slater
Illustrator: The Fan Brothers
Publisher: Beach Lane Books, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Website
Adventure and friendship abound when a curious fox boards a ship to discover answers to many of life’s questions.
Awards: A Junior Library Guild Selection; A Kirkus Best Children’s Book of 2017; Amazon’s Picture Book of the Year; An IndieNext Pick; A Chicago Public Library’s Best Picture Book of 2017
The Little Book of Big What-Ifs
Author: Renata Liwska
Illustrator: Renata Liwska
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 7
Thoughtful questions, complemented by beautiful illustrations, take the reader on a journey of the everyday, showing that the “maybes” of life are often full of surprises.
There is a Tribe of Kids
Author: Lane Smith
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Recommended Age Range: 5 to 8
This house, once
Author: Deborah Freedman
Illustrator: Deborah Freedman
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
Website
Awards: New England’s SCBWI Crystal Kite Award Winner 2018; Society of Illustrators-The Original Art 2017 Exhibit; Huffington Post Best Picture Books of 2017; 100 Scope Notes & Watch, Read, Connect-Top 20 Books of 2017; NYPL 50 Favorite Illustrated Children’s Books of 2017; Children’s Literature Assembly-Notable Books in Language Arts 2018; Spring 2017 Kids’ IndieNext List; The Nerdies-A Fiction Picture Book Winner for 2017; Fuse 8-Best Picture Books, 2017; Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art-Favorite Books of 2017
this plus that: Life’s Little Equations
Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrator: Jen Corace
Publisher: Harper, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
We’ve all heard: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In this plus that it couldn’t be more true, or more creative. Using mainly addition (but no numbers), the author shows that in life (as in math), things often add up (or don’t add up) in the most surprising and unexpected ways.
Why?
Author: Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Illustrator: Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Publisher: Neal Porter Books, Holiday House
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
When a curious rabbit asks his kind friend Bear “Why?” we learn all about our world until, one day, there isn’t an answer to give. A beautiful book, with a surprise ending, that turns one question into a heartfelt answer.
Awards: Society of Illustrators Original Art Exhibit Selection, 2019/2020; ALA Children’s Notable Book 2020; CCBC Choices Best Books of 2020
Yellow Kayak
Author: Nina Laden
Illustrator: Melissa Castrillon
Publisher: A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Recommended Age Range: 4 to 8
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