The best children's books

Thanksgiving is near! A multicultural family boards a plane and flies to a relative's house for Thanksgiving Day. The main character participates in the shopping, cleaning, pumpkin-picking, and helping Grandma with the pie-making. Big brother comes home from college and together they put a puzzle together. A hike outside showcases the falling leaves in the bright illustrations, and Grandpa takes her to a shelter where they donate bags of food. Ends with tips on how you can be thankful.

I was intrigued by this book from the first page when Boy wakes up all alone on an island with no memory of who he is or how he got there. From there, Boy must piece together his identity while figuring out how to escape from the island and get back home – wherever that may be. The tone of the story is unsettling and mysterious, leading to a conclusion that is surprising, heartbreaking, and rewarding.

In this interactive picture book, every other page is cut to look like a blanket. My kids love tucking in each animal by turning the page. This simple, gentle bedtime book also features repeated lines, so kids can join in the reading. “Who else needs to be tucked in?” / “I do!” It’s a wonderful way to get toddlers engaged in the story (but not in a rambunctious way) before settling into bed. 

I first discovered this little gem of a book while researching a historical fiction novel of my own. Set in the 1920s, it’s about a little orphan girl named Bo who's being raised by two rough and tumble gold miners—both men. It’s a fun and exciting adventure story, while at the same time providing an insightful and authentic look at life after the famous Alaska gold rush. A perfect read for ages 8-12. 

While I loved all of Marguerite’s horse books as a child this one was my favorite. This may be listed as a “children’s book” but the story is in no way “dumbed down” nor is the cruel treatment of Black Gold by his trainer glossed over. Featuring the charming illustrations of Wesley Dennis, Black Gold is a sweet but ultimately tragic underdog story.

Jenna Fox wakes from a year-long coma after a terrible accident and tries to figure out who she is now. This is a book with futuristic medicine and technology, but the feelings and emotions are universal. Jenna’s struggle to find out the truth about her past, and her place in the present make this one of my very favorite books, which I’ve read and reread many times.

The great thing about picture books is they can give these incredible, and sometimes incredibly simple, messages about life. Celeste the Giraffe Loves to Laugh is a story about Celeste, who doesn’t know where she fits in, she feels like all the other animals are cooler than her. So she sets out to be like them in order to be “better”. But that leads to one disaster after another, with Matt Cosgrove’s hilarious illustrations adding to the action as Celeste uses all sorts of random items for her costumes.

In the end, Celeste finds her own special gift, the thing that makes her at least as cool as all the other animals!

Finley’s divorcing parents send her to live with her grandparents and she struggles to fit in.

Her battle to find her place worried me as I dove into her story. Unlike Finley, I had a library of books where I could escape. Instead, she wrote about a fantasy world in a journal, to feel sane. When she discovers her fantasy world is real and right next door, this magical forest becomes her salvation, and things begin to make sense.

The trees were my friends as a child as well, and in both our cases, the magic of the forest helped us find our footing in the real world. Finley’s journey supported my belief that a trust in magic and the trees can help guide you in your real world.  

Salma and her mom live in a refugee camp in Canada, and they miss Salma’s dad, who is still in Syria. Salma decides to cook a Syrian meal for her mom, but to make the meal a success, she needs to get help and ingredients from everyone in the village. I loved how making and sharing the food they miss from their home in Syria helped Salma and her mom start to build a new community. And the illustrations are as delicious as the food they cook! 

I was lucky enough to be given an advance copy of this book written by debut author, Skye Mackenna and I instantly fell in love with the characters and the story. Perfect reading for middle-grade readers who like longer, more challenging magic books. It is set in a world similar to ours which also has witches, scary fairies, goblins, and talking animals. Cassie, the heroine, sets out to discover why her mother disappeared seven years ago and in the process starts a new life, makes new friends (not least the wonderful talking cat, Montague), learns more about her witch-family heritage, and encounters terrifying faeries. This is the first book in the Hedgewitch series and is due to be published in 2022 - I can’t wait to read the rest!

Weather, magic, the power to control the weather, and the power of friendship… This story has all the ingredients I love. Perfect for slightly younger readers, it’s packed with quirky cartoony illustrations and has a wonderful cast of characters, including my favourite: the farting cloud cat, Nim. A gentle magical adventure that will leave young readers looking up at the sky and wondering…

This was one of the first meta picture books I ever read and I completely fell in love with the style and voice. In fact, it heavily influenced my own picture books, This Is a Sea Cow and This Is a Seahorse. Contrary to what the title would have you believe, The Blobfish Book doesn’t focus on blobfish facts alone. It also highlights other really interesting deep sea animals. The blobfish character provides a hilarious commentary throughout the book that is sure to get readers laughing. I have a special place in my heart for books that get children laughing and learning at the same time.

Sticky Notes centers on a parent who has early-onset Alzheimer’s and is told from the perspective of a 10-year-old boy, Foster. The voice is a genuine one and the writing is heartfelt, as Foster compares his own forgetting to Dad’s forgetting and sometimes convinces himself that there is no need to worry. The confusion and lack of clear discussion with Foster about what is happening is a real challenge for many dealing with the disease. As the forgetting gets worse and Dad begins to change, Touchell documents the family changes that Foster and his mother go through too, with a sensitive touch. 

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson visited New York’s Hayden Planetarium for the first time when he was just nine years old and the stars grabbed him. In Starstruck, non-fiction master Kathleen Krull and co-author Paul Brewer use relatable incidents, like a family trip when young Neil sees the dazzling night sky and decides to give up his ambition to be a baseball player to become an astrophysicist. Concepts like the Big Bang Theory and the reclassification of Pluto are explained simply but intelligently. Neil deGrasse Tyson’s road from inspired boy to world acclaimed scientist wasn’t easy, but it’s hard to imagine any kid- or adult- who won’t be motivated by this star-crossed journey.

I really enjoyed this Y/A novel about 15-year-old Miguel and his journey across Mexico. His goal is to reach the border in the north of the country, and from there to cross to a better life, freedom from poverty and hunger, hope. The early scenes as he is preparing to leave his beloved grandmother and his friends behind are poignant and touching. Miguel’s character is extremely well-drawn. His descriptions of his country life and his attitude towards his sister 13-year-old Elena, who longs to go with him, endear the reader to this desperate and courageous boy. Imagine his feelings when he realises that Elena has disguised herself and is following him!  The frustrations, dangers, and fears the siblings experience on their journey North make exciting and absorbing reading.

This novel is the story of Leonard. The book starts with a focus on Jamaica but most of the story is about life after Leonard arrives in the UK with his mother to join his estranged father, who left Jamaica when Leonard was a baby. I found this to be a thought-provoking but easy-to-read historical novel about leaving the home you know where you feel loved and starting again somewhere that doesn’t feel so warm and welcoming. The story is about family, the Windrush generation and the history of Jamaica and Great Britain. An interesting read drizzled with Benjamin Zephaniah’s poetry.

This book is so cool because it takes place in a timeless version of New York City where 12-year-old John is an orphan, hiding out and living alone in the crawlspace of a museum. With zero formal education, he still has all the smarts he needs to take care of himself until he gets mixed up in a seemingly impossible jewel heist where he is the only suspect. John’s mind isn’t enough to get him out of the mess. Instead, it’s his budding friendship and apprenticeship with the world’s greatest detective, Toadius McGee, that lets him deal with the crime, and his own emotions about feeling alone in the world. Oh, and this book has everything from root beer bars to Broadway shows to terrifying reformatory schools.  

Seraphina is one of the most unique young adult novels I've ever read. The story follows the eponymous protagonist as she navigates a Victorian-Esque fantasy world where she struggles to fit in because she has a secret. Seraphina is a human-dragon hybrid.

When Seraphina uncovers a plot to overthrow the kingdom, an adventuresome detective story unfolds. Hartman threads themes of feminism and the importance of diversity throughout the tale. Although dragons, humans, and other intelligent creatures live side-by-side, they do not live as equals. The struggles Seraphina and other characters face due to inequality add complications to the plot that mirror the social issues of today.

Derwood the Goat is a fussy farmer who grumpily guards his garden against dandelions, pigweed, crabgrass, sapsuckers, and all manner of invaders, especially rabbits. So, when he catches a cute little bunny named Tabitha nosing around his vegetables, he’s very suspicious, and very crabby. Tabitha has one excuse after another, all delivered in delightfully pun-filled banter with Derwood, who’s having none of it. Tabitha finally offers to weed the garden while the exhausted Derwood dozes off in his rocking chair. When Derwood wakes up, the weeding is done, and he rewards Tabitha by sharing his harvest with her. In the end, everybody gets what they wanted: food, friendship, and nonstop nibbling. I love this story because it shows how humor, conversation, and cooperation can turn adversaries into friends.

These interrelated short stories are whimsical, sometimes melancholy, and often use nonsense language. My parents read these to me when I was a kid and I always listened intently and laughed hysterically, and later I read them to myself. Many of the stories are narrated by the Potato-Face-Blind-Man, an old minstrel of the Village of Liver-and-Onions who hangs out in front of the local post office. That says it all right there. This book creates a magical, fantasy world which provided me with fodder for the rest of my life. These have been a huge influence on me!