This is absolutely the hardest stack for me to narrow down, so I cheated and put several collections in the same stack and counted them as one. When my oldest kid was for and 5 she took more interest in reading (thank goodness), we had the best time finding books that empowered and affirmed her and our family values. She and I agreed that these are our most loved books from when she was in preschool.
Andrea Beaty and David Roberts’ Questioneers series is actually 4 books, but we only have 3 (ahem, Santa). We couldn’t love them more: each is an inspiring story about a kid in Ms. Lila Greer’s class who has a dream, faces a challenge, and perseveres through. The three we have feature different female characters, Rosie Revere, Engineer; Ada Twist, Scientist; and Sofia Valdez, Future Prez. The fourth, Iggy Peck, Architect, is equally inspiring. We are hoping that Beaty and Roberts continue adding to this collection. They are absolute must-reads for the young elementary kids in your life.
Aaron Becker’s Journey, Quest, and Return are perfect for kids in pre-school or early elemenary grades with big imaginations. They don’t have any words, allowing readers to tell the story themselves. My older kid loved naming the characters, and looking at the beautiful, detailed, whimsical images to guide her story. Journey starts with a younger kid who looks bored, uses a magical crayon to draw her way into a magical land where she meets the inhabitants and finds a conflict she must draw her way out of. At the end she meets another kid with a magical purple crayon, setting the stage for the adventures the two of them have in Quest. Their final adventure in Return includes the kid’s Dad, too!
In My Feelings by Jo Witek and illustrated by Christine Roussey was gifted to us by good friends, and it became an instant favorite. The kid in the story explores how her heart feels when she’s experiencing different emotions using language that kids can relate to. The images helped my kid to be able to connect how her feelings might manifest, and they’re joyful and beautiful and simple.
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri is a well-known book, for good reason. If the kids in your life haven’t read this, they must! It’s a hilarious story about how much dragons love tacos and the horrendous effects when they eat spicy salsa. The illustrations are amazing, and the text appeals to kids and adults. We laugh throughout this read every time.
Karen Katz’s The Colors of Us is a celebration of skin of all colors. Lena’s mom is an artist who shows Lena the different and beautiful shades of brown that skin can be. They take a walk around their neighborhood and observe the varied colors of the people they know and love, noting how each is beautiful. Gorgeous, subtle, and celebratory- we love this one.
I have never been more immediately in love with a book than I was when I read Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. The beautiful images have the most stunning colors and stop me in my tracks every time I read it. Julián is kid who wants to be a mermaid and dresses up as one (creating quite a mess). He is worried about what his abuela will say when she sees him (and so was I until I turned the page). Her perfect acceptance of him makes my heart swell and gives me hope.
I love a book with a twist ending, and The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach got me! In it, Bear allegedly finds himself transported from the woods to a city where he explores and finds delicious sandwich. Whether that is the true story is something you and the kids in your life will have to debate! We can’t get enough of the images in this book, we even pour over the end papers with drawings of different sandwiches and pick the one we’d most prefer at each reading. Such a cute detail!
We hope you gift some of these to the kids in your life!