I couldn’t help but fall in love with Mel, a young Kingfisher bird who one day bravely decides to leave the nest. To me, this is the best blend of fiction and nonfiction, heart and humor.
Mel is a determined character who tries something new even though she’s scared. The book is encouraging, sweet, and beautifully illustrated. Even the format of the book is fun, as you rotate it around while reading.
3
authors picked
Mel Fell
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
4,
5,
6, and
7.
What is this book about?
A Caldecott Honor Book and ALA Notable Book of the Year! An innovative and charming tale about a plucky little bird, from the award-winning author-illustrator of Fox the Tiger.
Readers will delight in turning their book sideways and upside down to follow Mel on her journey from downward fall to triumphant flight in this tale of self-confidence and taking a leap of faith.
An especially enjoyable and satisfying read-aloud!
As a mom of three girls, I taught my daughters to celebrate the differences in themselves and others. My older two girls were diagnosed with Celiac Disease prior to the trend of gluten-free foods being widely available. They had to bring their own food to birthday parties and food-based school events, and it was harder to be spontaneous and stay at a friends’ house for dinner or sleepover. Needless to say - they felt different. One of the things that helped them begin to appreciate their difference, was reading picture books that demonstrated that it is differences that make people special and keep life interesting. I am hopeful that my story will do the same for the kids who read it.
For anyone who has kids who are perfectionists or are perfectionists themselves, this is a perfect book! It helps kids recognize that something does not have to be perfect to be beautiful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, especially with art. But in my opinion, this message can apply beyond art and help parents talk with their kids about being beautiful just as they are. This was a popular one in my house and one that we still reference even now that the kids are older.
1
author picked
Ish
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
5,
6,
7, and
8.
What is this book about?
A creative spirit learns that a drawing doesn't have to look exactly like anything in this gentle fable from the creator of the award-winning, bestselling picture book The Dot.
An inspiring, encouraging story for budding artists everywhere, the acclaimed illustrator of The Dot, Sky Colour and the Judy Moody series tells the story of Ramon, who loves to draw. Anytime. Anything. Anywhere. Drawing is what Ramon does. It's what makes him happy. But in one split second, all that changes. A single remark by Ramon's older brother, Leon, turns Ramon's carefree sketches into joyless struggles. Luckily for Ramon, though, his…
No one would ever describe me as a unicorn. I’m not graceful. My mane of hair is half an inch long. And I rarely (if ever) prance. I’m a donkey in a party hat and that’s perfectly okay with me. But sometimes it can be kinda rough in a world that tells you that you must be gorgeous instead of goofy, fabulous instead of funny. So I love stories that make me feel a little less alone in my awkwardness – that remind me that all of us, from the most beautiful unicorn to the weirdest little goblin, are not quite what they seem.
Fern the unicorn likes fixing and inventing more than prancing and dancing, a fact that gets her teased. When things fall apart at the party, her friends learn to see the value in her gifts. But will she want to help them after they call her names?
I love this book because it pushes back on the idea that feminine can’t mean smart. Even better, it honors Fern’s reaction to the bullying rather than pushing the normal narrative of easy forgiveness. I admire its emotional honesty.
Fern isn't your usual unicorn...she loves chemistry and math more than glitter or flowers-and she refuses to change who she is in this sweet and empowering picture book about being yourself-and standing up for yourself, too!
Meet Fern! She's a smart, creative unicorn who prefers building robots and coding software to jumping through shimmering rainbows and splashing in majestic waterfalls. Even though Fern is a good friend and always willing to help others, the other unicorns tease her and call her a nerdycorn.
One day, Fern has had enough and decides to stop fixing her friends' broken things. But then…
I’m fascinated by the relationships component of leadership. I’ve worked for major service firms, taught MBAs for years, advised many teams and organizations, and educated millions via my courses on LinkedIn Learning. When I look at performance, I see the same issues popping up over and over: people issues! You can know a lot about how to run a team operationally or how to roll out a change step by step – but it’s all for nothing if you don’t know how to positively relate to and lead others. Communication, motivation, empathy, etc. – these are the essential people skills required to allow you to actually add value with your business knowledge.
I am a big fan of this book! Selena uses a voice that is warm, positive, and personal to share her ideas.
From building confidence, to interacting with others, and dealing with challenges and setbacks, this is a career “must read.” It’s ostensibly about confidence, but really, it’s way more. I was an organizational behavior for years teaching MBA students, and this has all of the topical coverage you’d want to convey in any course related to leadership and career success.
But instead of being boring like a textbook, it stays focused on crisp actionable advice for improving how you think, interact, and achieve. Not to mention, her use of short examples and anecdotes makes it a fast fun read too. Highly recommended.
Hands-on, bite-sized strategies for improving your confidence
In Quick Confidence: Be Authentic, Create Connections and Make Bold Bets On Yourself, best-selling author and renowned leadership speaker Selena Rezvani delivers an effective and eye-opening new approach to building confidence and presence for professionals. In the book, the author walks you through-and helps you leap over-the 9 most common obstacles that stand in the way of building authentic confidence. She offers digestible actions, behaviors, and exercises you can use to change the way you think and the way you present yourself to others.
Relying on sound, scientifically validated data, the book helps…
My perspective as a parent, grandparent, and teacher has changed since I’ve read Mindset. I only wish I had heard about this book sooner. After I read Mindset, I felt like I had discovered the secret sauce for learning. As a teacher, I was always searching for new ways to motivate my students. I adopted innovative strategies and new trends that were engaging. As a result, I was named Teacher of the Year in my school district. Because Dweck’s messages about how the brain learns, the value of mistakes, and perseverance are key to improving a child’s achievement, I annually present this topic at both teacher conferences and parent meetings.
I like this book because it has humor, a lesson learned, and (spoiler alert) a happy ending.
The main character, Beatrice, is very serious about being perfect. In fact, she prides herself on being a perfectionist. She seems perfect in practically every way until one day when she enters a talent show. One can only imagine all the worries or fear that come to mind when about to perform in front of an audience.
That’s why I enjoyed this book, because many probably have the same worries or fear like Beatrice – what happens when I mess up? Beatrice’s fear unfortunately becomes a reality when she’s faced with that very problem. How Beatrice handles it at the end is both puzzling and exciting. Perhaps we all should be more like Beatrice.
Every student, teacher, and perfectionist needs to read this book about learning and growing from your mistakes! The perfect introduction to growth mindset, The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes is:
A growth mindset book for kids A teacher must-have for classrooms An educational book for ages 4-8 (and for everyone learning growth mindset!)
Beatrice Bottomwell has NEVER (not once!) made a mistake. She never forgets her math homework, she never wears mismatched socks, and she ALWAYS wins the yearly talent show at school. In fact, the entire town calls her The Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes!
As a long-time expat in France, a creative and a Black woman, I get othered and rejected a lot. I’ve had to learn how to own my story – of starting over, of building something from nothing, of remembering where I’ve been, and reminding myself of where I’m going. I had to learn to reject the labels that others want to put on me and draft my own personal hype mantra – then embellish it with a little bombshell sparkle. The books I’ve chosen are meant to entertain while giving you the chance to remind yourself of who you are and who you can choose to be.
Sometimes things happen in life that bring us to our knees – illness, relationships fail, job losses.
And we may feel small, overwhelmed, incapable. In this awesome book about living audaciously, Jones advises the reader to write their own oriki, or personal hype mantra.
When we are at our lowest, we need to look back and see how far we’ve come, remind ourselves of who we were, who we are,and who we will be.
Just as we have the power to write our own orikis, we have the power to write our own next steps. That’s pretty bad-ass.
From the New York Times bestselling author of I'm Judging You, a hilarious and transformational book about how to tackle fear--that everlasting hater--and audaciously step into lives, careers, and legacies that go beyond even our wildest dreams
Luvvie Ajayi Jones is known for her trademark wit, warmth, and perpetual truth-telling. But even she's been challenged by the enemy of progress known as fear. She was once afraid to call herself a writer, and nearly skipped out on doing a TED talk that changed her life because of imposter syndrome. As she shares in Professional Troublemaker,…
I write about supporting and encouraging children’s and teens’ intelligence, creativity, productivity, and well-being. I’m an educational consultant with over 35 years of experience working with parents, teachers, and students within diverse communities, and I’m the award-winning author of seven books. I focus a lot on gifted education and procrastination. Within my books, articles, and presentations, there are tons of strategies and resources to help motivate kids—and empower their learning. My books include Being Smart about Gifted Learning and Beyond Intelligence (both co-authored with Dona Matthews), ABCs of Raising Smarter Kids, Bust Your BUTS, and Not Now, Maybe Later.
Michele Borba begins her latest book by getting right to the heart and mind of what matters for optimal child development—and then she moves on to the importance of cultivating will. In total, she focuses on seven integral points—self-confidence, empathy, self-control, integrity, curiosity, perseverance, and optimism—describing why each of these attributes matters, and how to nurture them. If you want your child to be happy, resilient, and able to flourish even through adversity, then Thrivers is an excellent resource for you.
The bestselling author of UnSelfie offers 7 teachable traits that will safeguard our kids for the future.
We think we have to push our kids to do more, achieve more, BE more. But we’re modeling the wrong traits—like rule-following and caution—and research shows it’s NOT working. This kind of “Striver” mindset isn’t just making kids unhappier, says Dr. Michele Borba…it’s actually the opposite of what it takes to thrive in the uncertain world ahead.
Thrivers are different: they flourish in our fast-paced, digital-driven, often uncertain world. Why? Through her in-depth research, Dr. Borba discovered that the difference comes down not…
Caroline and Katherine Brickley are twin sisters, award-winning children’s book authors, and content creators who specialize in producing literature and media that inspire children to believe in themselves and their ability to make the world a kinder, more inclusive place for everyone. Inspired by their mother, who made up stories for them each night, the sisters spent their childhood coming up with stories of their own and bringing them to life. The sisters made storytelling their full-time job in 2017 by founding Blossom Children’s Media Group from their shared college dorm room. Blossom continues to bring children, families, and educators from around the world together through wholesome stories and inclusive community experiences.
A familiar favorite, The Dot by author-illustrator Paul Reynolds tells the story of a young girl named Vashti who believes she cannot draw. Her art teacher, seeing Vashti struggle, helps her develop confidence in herself by telling her to try drawing just a single dot and to sign her name at the bottom. The next day, Vashti finds that her dot had been hung up above her teacher’s desk, inspiring her to try painting another dot, and then another, and then another. Soon she has created an entire collection of many different dots. And in a moving twist, Vashti’s artwork inspires children who also think they cannot draw to give it a try.
The Dot by Paul Reynolds is one of our favorite books to teach the SEL themes of self-confidence and growth mindset; showcasing all that can happen when we choose to believe in ourselves and persist in the…
1
author picked
The Dot
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
5,
6,
7, and
8.
What is this book about?
One little dot marks the beginning of Vashti's journey of surprise and self-discovery in Peter H. Reynolds' multiple award-winning modern classic.
In this inspiring, award-winning story of self-expression and creativity from Peter H. Reynolds, illustrator of Ish and the Judy Moody series, Vashti thinks she can't draw. But her teacher is sure that she can. She knows that there's creative spirit in everyone, and encourages Vashti to sign the angry dot she makes in frustration on a piece of paper. This act makes Vashti look at herself a little differently, and helps her discover that where there's a dot there's…
As a children’s writer I have to draw on my own creativity, celebrate my own ideas and quash self-doubt every time I work on a story. I teach creative writing, run workshops, and visit schools regularly – above all, I want to instill courage and the love of bold imagination in children. Picture book age children have such fantastic creativity and joyous wonder at the world around them. How wonderful to see that creative energy reflected back in a story which will hopefully spark more journeys into wonderful invented places, spaces, pictures, and tales. Imagination has brought me such great joy, I hope I can pass a spark of that onwards...
With simple and stunning illustrations we see long-legged Bob the bird learn to celebrate himself with a relaxed and creative flourish. Once seen, you will never forget those wonderful knobbly knees! Bob’s adventures cleverly and accessibly introduce art appreciation in a whole new way as he celebrates not only his own individuality but that of great artists too.
Bob the bird is just like all his friends, apart from his skinny legs. When Bob is teased, he decides to try and change himself to fit in. But little does he know where all his efforts will lead him...
An affirming picture book for age 3+ about the power of art and of being confident enough to be yourself.
I am a mom who always dreamed of becoming a writer, but was too scared to try until I met my baby. The overwhelming urge to express my love for her in what I have always considered the most sacred way, through writing, became too much to contain. I wanted to create a meaningful experience not only for my child, but for all children; one where they could be nestled in their parents’ arms, engaged in the most significant pastime, and where they could understand for the first time how much they were loved from the very beginning.
This all-around stunning picture book is representative of the last type of book that I believe to be the most meaningful to give at a baby shower. Find a book, whether it was planned to be read to a baby or not, that focuses at the heart of what is special about the baby and provides a great way to celebrate the baby’s uniqueness throughout their life.
Eyes that Kiss in the Corners is a revolutionary text that celebrates the beautiful shape of the character’s eyes, her incredible familial bond, and the story of her ancestors. As long as the book touches the parent’s soul, then the book will be read and reread countless times to their child, and what better gift is there than that?
A New York Times Bestseller and #1 Indie Bestseller * A School Library Journal Best Book of 2021 * Included in NPR's 2021 Books We Love List * Featured in Forbes, Oprah Daily, The Cut, and Book Riot * Golden Poppy Book Award Winner * Featured in Chicago Public Library's Best Books of 2021 * 2021 Nerdie Award Winner * A Kirkus Children's Best Book of 2021
This lyrical, stunning picture book tells a story about learning to love and celebrate your Asian-shaped eyes, in the spirit of Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry, and is a celebration of diversity.…
