Families

A handful of new picture books feature characters and stories from popular books for older kids, introducing these worlds to younger readers!

Monday is the best day of the week (according to Mabel). 

This gorgeous books tells the story of a young girl who wakes up before the sun for a chance to ride with her Daddy, just the two of them. After collecting apple slices from Abuelita, they are out the door before the sun is up, feeding and grooming the horses under a starry sky. Our protagonist usually rides after school, but today is special because she gets to ride through the streets, like a cowboy, like her Daddy. As the sky starts to lighten, they ride past houses with darkened windows, past the panadería with layered cakes in the window, waving at the few cars that drive by. 

A young boy takes on the legacy of farming from his Papa/grandpa in The Last Stand by Antwan Eady and Illustrated by Jarrett & Jerome Pumpherey (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024). Papa sells pumpkins, peppers, plums, and eggs at the local Farmer’s Market. But, each year the market has fewer and fewer stands – until - Papa’s stand is the very last one. Papa takes his job of farming very seriously and steadfastly harvests crops and eggs every Saturday. “Papa’s hands are black and wrinkled. And each wrinkle tells me a story.

Joy comes in many forms in The Yellow Bus by Loren Long. We see the new yellow school bus carrying children from home to school. “And they filled her with joy.” Then, the bus has a new life driving older riders to the library and to country parks. They, too, “filled her with joy.” The illustrations show the sunshine yellow of the bus and everything in and around the bus drenched in color. Beyond these bright colors, the rest of the page is muted and in greyscale. This makes the yellow bus always pop off the page.

Don't miss these new fall-themed picture books that showcase the season:

Let me just start by saying this is my current favorite book - I think everyone can learn something about emotions, apologies, and sincerity by reading this epistolary tale filled with classroom drama.

First, the facts. Jack knocked over Zoe's castle, and now he is trying to write an apology letter. The story opens with a crumpled note stating "sorry," and we see Jack working through various iterations. A couple attempts later: