Here are 59 books that Butternut fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’m an award-winning children's book author-illustrator. I’ve spent the last fifteen years dreaming up stories that I hope will inspire curiosity and wonder in kids of all ages. I’m also a life-long learner! I can’t get enough info about this amazing world we live in. The more I learn, the more I realize that being a noticer, someone who slows down to observe the tiny details around them, will inspire questions and the need to find some surprising and fascinating answers. When my daughter asks a question (and there are many), my mantra has become, “I don’t know, let’s find out!” I hope this list inspires your own adventurous inquiries.
Wordless picture books are sometimes a bit tricky. How do you “read” them anyways?
But Journey (and its sequels Quest and Return) allow you to dive into the gorgeous artwork and compelling story. Just soak it all in, and you’ll want to set off on your own adventure by the time you're done.
6
authors picked
Journey
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?
Be swept away on an elaborate flight of fancy in this Caldecott award-winning, wondrously illustrated picture book about self-determination and unexpected friendship.
The winner of the prestigious Caldecott Honor, and described by the New York Times as 'a masterwork', Aaron Becker's stunning, wordless picture book debut about self-determination and unexpected friendship follows a little girl who draws a magic door on her bedroom wall. Through it she escapes into a world where wonder, adventure and danger abound. Red marker pen in hand, she creates a boat, a balloon and a flying carpet which carry her on a spectacular journey ...…
Lisa Bournelis is a transformation leader in healthcare, a new author, and TEDx speaker. Prior to this, she worked for the United Nations and NGOs in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Africa. Dealing with the unknown makes her passionate about promoting books that empower children to overcome anxiety.
As a mom to a child with a mental health diagnosis, she wanted to help children by writing an uplifting novella based on her son’s experiences with OCD during the pandemic. Her aim is for anxious and neurodiverse kids to see themselves as heroes of their own stories. A portion of the royalties from her book will be donated to pediatric OCD research.
This is a unique cultural exploration of how Halloween is celebrated as the ‘Day of the Dead.’Until the movie Coco came out by Disney, I had no idea of the practices associated with ancestral remembrance.The story engenders curiosity in young readers through the protagonist who goes on a journey to follow a young girl as she explains this celebration through her culture’s lens.A fun read for children aged 3-5.Empowers children to explore cultural diversity with curiosity and without fear.
Andy's off to a costume party. As he waits by the car, a mysterious girl with a skeleton mask appears with a special gift that opens his eyes to the phantasmic world of The Day of The Dead. Join Andy on his latest adventure! For children ages 0-3
I write nonfiction books for children and teens that focus on current environmental stories. But environmental headlines are usually gloomy and filled with foreboding, so, I prefer to focus on stories that involve individuals identifying an environmental problem and working to develop a solution – hence this list of happy conservation stories. The stories in this list – and many others – are the antidote to the headlines. They are the hope. They show human ingenuity at its most creative, most flexible, and most caring. Happy conservation stories empower kids, teens, and adults to care about the role they play in nature and unite them in action.
Conservation success isn’t always about saving animals or an ecosystem. Sometimes it’s about learning to live with nature.
Richard Turere’s story is a wonderful tale about how he protected his family’s cows – the first duty of a Maasai warrior – with an invention of his own making. And he was only twelve years old! His lion lights became so popular, they are protecting other Maasai families’ herds, too. I love this story of ingenuity, STEM, and learning to decrease human-wildlife conflicts to coexist.
Richard Turere's own story: Richard grew up in Kenya as a Maasai boy, herding his family's cattle, which represented their wealth and livelihood. Richard's challenge was to protect their cattle from the lions who prowled the night just outside the barrier of acacia branches that surrounded the farm's boma, or stockade. Though not well-educated, 12-year-old Richard loved tinkering with electronics. Using salvaged components, spending $10, he surrounded the boma with blinking lights, and the system works; it keeps lions away. His invention, Lion Lights, is now used in Africa, Asia, and South America to protect farm animals from predators.
Lisa Bournelis is a transformation leader in healthcare, a new author, and TEDx speaker. Prior to this, she worked for the United Nations and NGOs in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Africa. Dealing with the unknown makes her passionate about promoting books that empower children to overcome anxiety.
As a mom to a child with a mental health diagnosis, she wanted to help children by writing an uplifting novella based on her son’s experiences with OCD during the pandemic. Her aim is for anxious and neurodiverse kids to see themselves as heroes of their own stories. A portion of the royalties from her book will be donated to pediatric OCD research.
The author is a mom and clinician herself and based on clinical best practices has written a lovely rhyming book to help young children deal with boundaries and bullies in a way that is accessible for younger readers.Ideal for school, daycare, and clinical settings.As a parent of an empathic child, I found this book an easy way to introduce the concepts of self-worth and appropriate relationships.If you have a child that is experiencing bullying or needs to set boundaries at school, then this book is an excellent addition to your library.
“Being aware of our feelings is a building block for our emotional and social intelligence. In this charming and creative book, Christina Furnival offers children a way to sense and shape their emotions that emerge in the important friendships that shape who we are now, and who we will become later on in our lives.” ―Daniel J. Siegel, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Developing Mind, Parenting from the Inside Out, and The Whole Brain Child
How can I help my child deal with a bully? What do I teach them about handling an on-again-off-again, not-so-friendly friend? My…
I've spent decades teaching art to preschool and elementary school-aged kids in New York, California, Arizona, and here in Mexico where I live now. Children’s minds make connections that adults rarely do, especially in their art. Watching their imaginations at work have helped me keep my mind fresh when it comes to my own writing and art. Stories and books like these in my list connect to a child’s sense of wonder. Something that so many people lose as the world wears them down. I’m thrilled to share authors and artists here who have held onto that magic and I look forward to more books from all of them.
This book captures the joy and wonder of being a child. The little girl becomes fascinated by the giant muddy puddle, that becomes so much more in her mind. The illustrations add to this book perfectly, and are brightly colored and rich in detail. Told in verse it tells such an imaginative story that every child can relate to.
My Muddy Puddle is a children's rhyming book that follows a child's love of playing in muddy puddles. When the rain dries up, the puddles go away, and there's nothing else she wants to do. Using basic language, repetition, sight words, and beautiful illustrations, My Muddy Puddle is perfect for shared reading with emergent readers.
I've spent decades teaching art to preschool and elementary school-aged kids in New York, California, Arizona, and here in Mexico where I live now. Children’s minds make connections that adults rarely do, especially in their art. Watching their imaginations at work have helped me keep my mind fresh when it comes to my own writing and art. Stories and books like these in my list connect to a child’s sense of wonder. Something that so many people lose as the world wears them down. I’m thrilled to share authors and artists here who have held onto that magic and I look forward to more books from all of them.
The classic fairy tale of “Little Red Riding Hood” told in magnificent and detailed illustrations. The art is carefully rendered in black and white with bright red highlighting each page creating a unique look. This book, fortunately, has created a happier ending than Red getting gobbled up by the wolf. This mixture of a classic tale told through a new lens is truly enchanting.
Red is on her way through the woods to visit Grandmother when she meets the Big Bad Wolf. What are that Wolf and all of those woodland creatures up to? This version of the classic folktale ends a bit differently. A delightful surprise awaits Red and readers in this wordless picture book featuring newcomer Jed Alexander's exquisite two-color illustrations.
I've spent decades teaching art to preschool and elementary school-aged kids in New York, California, Arizona, and here in Mexico where I live now. Children’s minds make connections that adults rarely do, especially in their art. Watching their imaginations at work have helped me keep my mind fresh when it comes to my own writing and art. Stories and books like these in my list connect to a child’s sense of wonder. Something that so many people lose as the world wears them down. I’m thrilled to share authors and artists here who have held onto that magic and I look forward to more books from all of them.
Magical creatures, especially fairies, are always a plus in any book. This little story of Lulu waiting for her tooth fairy in training trying to track her down across the globe is much fun. I also love the layered and carefully done illustrations by artist Jon Ortiz. That childhood sense of wonder is perfectly captured in this book.
Have you woken up to find your tooth still under your pillow? Have you wondered why you missed a visit from the Tooth Fairy? Have you had to explain why the Tooth Fairy has gone missing? If so, this picture book, which the Kirkus Review described as "A clever, humorous, and joyful tooth story," is for you!
Lulu has lost her first tooth and cannot wait for her first visit from the tooth fairy. Trixie has been training and training and cannot wait to finally become an official tooth fairy. Everything would be perfect... but mishap after mishap prevent Trixie…
I loved cooking and baking since I was a child, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I rediscovered the joy of the kitchen. Even though I may enjoy tossing off a batch of eclairs on a whim or experimenting with sous vide, I can get into a cooking rut of last-minute dinners and grab-and-go meals and forget why I enjoy it in the first place! These five books never fail to remind me of the figurative (and sometimes literal) magic of making delicious food with my own hands.
This sweet romance might be short in length, but it’s long on culinary delights and the idea that food can bring people together.
The book’s main appeal is the internal journeys of the food blogger heroine and chef hero, but I can’t lie—the mere mention of things like blueberry-and-basil scones has me rushing to my baking supplies to figure out my own version…and the scene involving butternut squash lasagna with browned butter, sage, and apples has my mouth watering every time.
In fact, I might need to take a break from this book rec to whip up a dupe.
Sometimes I feel like we know more about the anthropologies of ancient civilizations and remote tribes than about the business most people do every day. There's mystery behind the curtain. To me, good nonfiction that goes deep inside a business is about our culture and how our world works. It's a way to understand everything we interact with and how it got there. I have enjoyed telling specific business creation stories as a business journalist, but understanding what truly turns the gears has informed writing I have done on every subject, including my humor.
Sorry, it's another behind-the-scenes food book on my list. But food is something we all like to eat, and we ought to know how it happens. Lorr rips into the way supermarkets choose foods based on profit margins, shelf appeal, and turnover rather than necessarily tasting great, or being healthful. And also on lucrative "slotting fees" -- manufacturers paying to have products on the shelves. Lorr saves special spite for the way the trucking industry exploits drivers. His histories of grocery chains like Trader Joe's and ALDI are fascinating, and he gets a job at Whole Foods, where he learns the magic phrase employees are trained to say to cranky or bothersome customers: "Sounds important!"
"A deeply curious and evenhanded report on our national appetites." --The New York Times
In the tradition of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma, an extraordinary investigation into the human lives at the heart of the American grocery store
The miracle of the supermarket has never been more apparent. Like the doctors and nurses who care for the sick, suddenly the men and women who stock our shelves and operate our warehouses are understood as 'essential' workers, providing a quality of life we all too easily take for granted. But the sad truth is that the grocery industry has…
People tend to think of food as being simple and self-evident, or at least feel it should be. In fact, almost every aspect of modern food has been dramatically reshaped by science and technology. Something that fascinates me as a historian is thinking about past transformations in our foodways and how they explain the social tensions and political struggles we live with today. My book From Label to Table tells a biography of the food label, using it as a prism to explore Americans’ anxieties about industrial foodways. I found these books to be an excellent primer for understanding the emergence of America’s packaged food economy and its many problems.
Consumers in America today take for granted what it means to go to a supermarket and pick from shelves upon shelves of products. But this is, from a historical perspective, a weird way to shop for food.
Deutsch’s book is an excellent study of the “self-service revolution” in food retailing. She also breaks down all the gender, race, and class dimensions to it in a way that will make the reader rethink the “ease” and straightforwardness of supermarket shopping.
The most powerful aspect of this book was how it challenged me to think about all the work that goes into shopping. What once required skill and savvy to negotiate prices and manage customer relationships was transformed by supermarkets, through store layout and other tactics, to bury the politics of shopping for food.
Supermarkets are a mundane feature in the landscape, but as Tracey Deutsch reveals, they represent a major transformation in the ways that Americans feed themselves. In her examination of the history of food distribution in the United States, Deutsch demonstrates the important roles that gender, business, class, and the state played in the evolution of American grocery stores.
Deutsch's analysis reframes shopping as labor and embeds consumption in the structures of capitalism. The supermarket, that icon of postwar American life, emerged not from straightforward consumer demand for low prices, Deutsch argues, but through government regulations, women customers' demands, and retailers'…
