Knock, knock, knock! Someone is at your door. Odds are, it’s a package delivery. But for the bunny in this story, every knock means a storybook character is here for a visit! Mr. Thatcher’s House is the tale of a perfectionist carpenter rabbit whose house grows and grows as he searches for meaning – but […]

Ever heard the expression “marching to the beat of your own drum”? For Ladie B. Marie, ladybug rockstar in the making, nothing could be closer to the truth. But the insects in the forest aren’t quite on board with all her singing, dancing, and guitar-playing—in fact, even her dad wishes she would just be quiet […]

Around Christmas 2010, my mother was diagnosed with Celiac disease. She couldn’t eat gluten – breads, pastas, cakes, cookies, and grains of all sorts were suddenly off limits. In fact, her intestines had suffered so much that for a year, she couldn’t eat dairy either! Going to a restaurant? Forget it! Who even knew what […]

A mom, a dad, and two youngsters – that was the model family in children’s literature for many, many years. But more and more, picture books are beginning to reflect the multitude of blended families out there! After all, whether it’s a single parent, two dads, a remarried couple, or any other combination of parents […]

Have you ever told a lie that got out of hand? Has it cost you a friendship with someone important? Is it difficult for you to tell the difference between lying and exaggerating? In Roo Parkin’s July 2022 picture book Sid’s Big Fib, two friends compete to outdo each other with news of their weekend […]

More and more children’s books these days show different types of families: gay parents, multicultural, biracial, single parent, adoptive, divorced… but, like author Joni Halabi realized, far fewer are about single mothers by choice who conceive using a donor. What did she do to fill this void? She wrote and published Sweet Little You (2022), […]

Whether you have experienced the loss of a child, know someone who has, or simply want to reflect on grief and healing, this book is the one you should read. Dear Rainbow Baby by Samantha Gassman is a heartfelt letter to a future baby after the loss of a child. The book uses free verse […]

If you pay attention when you go outside, you’ll notice squirrels scampering across the grass and finding shelter in the trees. But have you ever stopped to feed them? To gain their trust and become friends? In Hat Cat by Troy Wilson, Grandpa goes out to feed the squirrels all the time, setting peanuts on […]

If you look out your window, you’ll probably see a tree somewhere—on your lawn, in the park across the street, in the nearby forest. But did you ever stop to think that this tree might be yearning for adventure? Nadja Springer’s The Big Adventures of a Little Tree – Tree Finds Friendship is the heartwarming […]

If you’ve been to an aquarium, you’ve probably seen coral, sharks, and even manta rays. Maybe you’ve studied hermit crabs or helped rescue a dolphin or two. But have you ever seen a grandma turn into the extinct ocean giant Megalodon? In The Adventures of Grandmasaurus – At the Aquarium Rescue Centre by Caroline Fernandez, […]

Imagine boarding a ship headed for a new land. Imagine leaving behind part of your family, the country you love, the person you were before. For the immigrants among us, it isn’t a matter of imagining but rather of remembering our own families’ journeys. Paper Son tells the inspiring story of a Chinese immigrant with […]

Alright, I’m not going to lie: this one had me in tears. If you’re searching for a children’s book that addresses the hybridity of identity, the struggles of immigration, and the familial love that knows no boundaries, look no further than Areli Is a Dreamer, a true story by Areli Morales. From the protagonist’s childhood […]

Run faster. Jump higher. Swim farther. Cycle, surf, punch, shoot, ride, row. For millennia, humans have been training to go above and beyond their bodies’ limits. Overcoming obstacles is basically a requirement in the age-old Olympic tradition. Paralympic athletes are no stranger to overcoming obstacles—since the first Paralympics in Italy, 1960, thousands of people with […]

As adults, we have loved and lost and learned to smile again. But for a child, a loved one’s passing is much more difficult to imagine, let alone to process. How do we approach heavy topics like mortality, sickness, and death with our little ones? What should we say to a kid who lost a […]

Most of us, as least in North America, have never ventured into the rainforest. What animals might we find there? What plants bloom, what birds sing, and what bugs crawl through the trees? Dive into Zonia’s Rain Forest and explore the mysteries of the Peruvian Amazon through the eyes of a curious young Indigenous child. […]

When it comes to family, nothing is more important than love and mutual respect. In Lindsay B’s A Mother’s Day Surprise (available in French as Joyeuse fête des Mères!), little Rainbow reaches out to family and friends for help planning the sweetest Mother’s Day surprise for her two wonderful mothers. When the celebration doesn’t go […]