Tag Archives: Animals

At The Window

This sweet story captures the essence of childhood wonder and imagination. A  young girl and her dog take a stroll and observe the lives unfolding in her neighborhood.  She meets a writer who is always sitting at her window, working. One day, the window is dark, and there is a For Sale sign in the yard. The girl learns about connection, empathy, and the beauty of everyday moments. She even starts writing herself. The airy, expressive ink-and-watercolor illustrations alternate between panels and full-bleed spreads, employing a range of perspectives. They are enchanting, filled with soft hues and intricate details that enhance the narrative’s emotional depth. The storytelling invites readers to appreciate the world around them while nurturing their dreams. 
Title: At The Window
Author: Hope Lim
Illustrator
: Qin Leng
Publisher
: Candlewick Press
Copyright
: 2025
Original Language
: English
ISBN
: 978-1-5362-2478-8
Hardcover pages
: 40
Age range
: 3-7
Genre
: Picture Book
Author’s ethnicity
: South Korean
Author’s residence
: San Francisco
Illustrator’s residence
: Tokyo
Subjects
: Authors, Community, Curiosity, Dogs, Neighbors, Windows, Writers

Cinderella

This beautifully illustrated picture book features the original Brothers Grimm version of the fairy tale, featuring artwork by the renowned British illustrator Bernadette Watts. Often known throughout Europe simply as “Bernadette,” Watts first created the distinctive illustrations for this book in the 1970s using a unique, rich, textured, scratch-on-acrylic style. The illustrations provide a warm, textured, and distinctively nostalgic, old-world European charm. The rich color palettes use deep earth tones juxtaposed with sudden, luminous bursts of golds, deep reds, and soft creams, making the forest and palace scenes look lit from within. Unlike the popular Charles Perrault or Disney adaptations, this version shows a pious Cinderella who receives magical help from doves and a hazelnut tree at her mother’s grave—rather than a fairy godmother.

Title: Cinderella
Author: Brothers Grimm. Jacob (1785-1863). Wilhelm (1786-1859)
Illustrator
: Bernadette Watts
Publisher
: North South Books. New York
Copyright
: 2026
Original Language
: German
Translator
: Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwards
Original Title
: Aschenputtel
Original Publisher
: NordSud Verlag AG
Original Copyright
: 1812, (1978)
ISBN
: 978-0-7358-4643-2
Hardcover pages
: 32
Age range
: 4-8
Genre
: Picture book, Fairytale
Author’s ethnicity
: German
Illustrator’s ethnicity
: English
Illustrator’s residence
: Northampton, England
Subjects
: Fairytales, Folktales, Golden slipper, Princes, Self-esteem. Stepmothers, Stepsisters.

Tom And Momo

This warm and comforting  story follows Tom (a bear) and Momo (a rabbit), two lonely children who recently moved into the exact same city apartment building but have yet to meet. Throughout the book, they constantly cross paths like “ships in the night”—Tom is on a bus while Momo cycles past, or Tom’s family walks into a diner just as Momo’s family is leaving. On Christmas Eve, both children are out running holiday errands with their parents, and both happen to be wearing bright canary yellow. After noticing each other in a crowd at a Christmas cake shop, they end up walking the same path home and finally realize they live in the same building, sparking an instant friendship. The illustrations feature a blend of soft charcoal textures and digital rendering. This gives the city scenes a grainy, tactile, and nostalgic quality. The backgrounds feature a moody  palette of grays, muted blues, and warm earth tones. This captures the vastness and slight loneliness of city life.To contrast the muted city, both Tom and Momo wear bright canary-yellow outfits. This serves as a brilliant visual anchor for young readers, making the two main characters instantly recognizable in crowded urban scenes.

Title: Tom And Momo
Author: Akiko Miyakoshi
Illustrator
: Akiko Miyakoshi
Publisher
: Kids Can Press. Toronto
Copyright
: 2026
Original Language
: Japanese
Translator
: Shana Rieko Shimizu
Original Title
: Tomo to Momo
Original Publisher
: Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Inc. Tokyo, Japan
Original Copyright
: 2024
ISBN
: 978-1-5253-1447-6
Hardcover pages
: 32
Age range
: 3-7
Genre
: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity
: Japanese
Author’s residence
: Japan
Illustrator’s ethnicity
: Japanese
Illustrator’s residence
: Japan
Subjects
: Apartment buildidngs, Bears, Christmas, City life, Friendships, Holidays, Rabbits

Mother Goose Goes To India

Mother Goose takes a trip to India in this unique collection of 15 classic European nursery rhymes with a distinctly Indian flair. This creative book introduces young readers to basic Hindi vocabulary by smoothly weaving in Hindi words.  “This Little Piggy” becomes “This little sooar goes to the bazaar”, and Little Miss Muffet eats dahi (yogurt) instead of curds and whey. The artwork features bright, saturated jewel tones like turquoise, deep saffrons, and rich fuchsias. The characters are drawn with soft, round features and joyful expressions that appeal directly to toddlers and preschoolers. Each page spreads the action across the entire layout, drawing the child’s eye to small cultural details. Characters are dressed in beautifully detailed, authentic Indian attire like colorful saris, lehengas, and kurtas. Key scenes depict recognizable Indian settings, from bustling local bazaars to illuminated homes decorated with diyas (clay lamps) for Diwali. Traditional European animals are replaced with native Indian fauna, showing playful monkeys, decorated elephants, and local birds.

Title: Mother Goose Goes To India
Author: Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal
Illustrator
: Wazza Pink
Publisher
: Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster
Copyright
: 2021
Original Language
: English
ISBN
: 978-1534439603
Hardcover pages
: 32
Age range
: 4-8
Genre
: Picture book. Poetry
Book setting
: India
Author’s ethnicity
: Indian
Illustrator’s residence
: Vietnam
Awards
: NCTE Notable Book in Poetry
Subjects
: Asia, Counting, Diversity, Hindi, Numbers, Nursery rhymes, Poetry, Rhymes

Click! Snap! Picture That!

This smart and quirky story focuses on how we present ourselves to the world and how we want to be seen by others. It features a series of animals sharing their grand, playful aspirations. The rock star pig imagines performing on stage alongside a wild boar. The elegant cockatoo, a highly fashionable bird, dreams of being painted by a famous artist.  A high-jumping athletic frog wants to become the greatest soccer goalie ever. Gottwald uses a bright, saturated color palette that immediately captures a child’s attention and matches the book’s energetic tone. The backgrounds are kept simple and clean, which keeps the focus entirely on the animals’ highly expressive faces and comical body language. The artwork combines flat shapes with mixed-media textured layers, giving the characters a tactile, slightly retro feel. The book uses a repetitive, rhythmic structure that works perfectly for reading aloud, and it concludes with an empty frame that invites young readers to imagine how they would capture themselves in a photo.

Title: Click! Snap! Picture That!
Author: Dieter Boge
Illustrator
: Benjamin Gottwald
Publisher
: North South Books. New York
Copyright
: 2026
Original Language
: German
Translator
: David Henry Wilson
Original Title
: Alle wollen ein Bild: Aber nicht irgendeins
Original Publisher
: Aladin in Thienemann-Esslingen Verlag
Original Copyright
: 2024
ISBN
: 978-0-7358-4638-8
Hardcover pages
: 48
Age range
: 4-8
Genre
: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity
: German
Author’s residence
: Germany
Illustrator’s ethnicity
: German
Illustrator’s residence
: Hamburg, Germany
Awards
: German Youth Literature Award (illustrator)
Subjects
: Identity, Imagination, Pictures, Visual literacy

The Boy Behind The Wardrobe: How C.S. Lewis Grew Up To Create Narnia

This inspiring picture-book biography captures the imaginative and sometimes painful childhood of C.S. Lewis. It beautifully connects Lewis’s early losses, boarding school struggles, and close friendships to the ultimate creation of Narnia. The warm, whimsical illustrations, created with graphite pencil and Procreate, perfectly evoke a sense of nostalgic wonder and anchor the emotional depth of the story. By highlighting how real-world hardships can fuel creative storytelling, the book serves as a powerful testament to the resilience of imagination. It is an enchanting read for young fans eager to discover the real-life magic behind the world of Narnia. Included are an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, a timeline of Lewis’s life, suggestions for further reading, and recommended resources. 

Title: The Boy Behind The Wardrobe: How C.S. Lewis Grew Up To Create Narnia
Author: Suzanne Poulter Harris
Illustrator
: Mia Miroslavova
Publisher
: Eerdmans Book for Young Readers
Copyright
: 2026
Original Language
: English
ISBN
: 978-0-8028-5616-9
Hardcover pages
: 56
Age range
: 6-12
Genre
: Picture book, Biography
Book setting
: Ireland, England
Author’s ethnicity
: Irish
Author’s residence
: Washington, DC
Illustrator’s ethnicity
: Bulgarian
Illustrator’s residence
: England
Subjects
: Biography, Books, Boxen, Imagination, J.R.R. Tolkien, Narnia, Reading, Wardrobe

People Are Weird

Written from the perspective of an inquisitive child going about an average day, this delightful book explores the many strange habits, fears, and eccentric outfits of the diverse, multigenerational humans around him. It delivers a lighthearted and comforting message: it is entirely normal to be weird, and it might even be weird to be normal. The bold, vibrant, and quirky mixed-media illustrations were rendered with various dry media, watercolor, and wet charcoal digital brushes.

Title: People Are Weird
Author: Victor D.O. Santos
Illustrator
: Catorina Sobral
Publisher
: Milky Way Picture Books. Canada
Copyright
: 2025
Original Language
: Portuguese
ISBN
: 978-1990252488
Hardcover pages
: 32
Age range
: 5-8
Genre
: Picture book
Author’s ethnicity
: Brazilian-American
Illustrator’s ethnicity
: Portuguese
Illustrator’s residence
: Lisbon, Portugal
Awards
: White Ravens Catalog
Subjects
: Emotions, Feelings, Humor, Self-esteem, Urban world

The Hunt For The Nightingale

Ten-year-old Jasper is waiting for his beloved nightingale to return to his garden to sing. He is also waiting for his sister, who has been away at college. His parents are sad and preoccupied and are not paying him much attention. So, Jasper sets out alone with his backpack, his Book of Birds, survival tools, and his courage, on a walk to find them both. On his way, he meets new friends who are also searching for lost things, discovers nature, learns to handle his loss and grief, and finds his way again. Thirty-eight wondrous bird facts are sprinkled throughout the book. Black-and-white sketches of birds further enhance this moving story. The endpapers depict all of the birds mentioned by Jasper on his journey.
Title: The Hunt For The Nightingale
Author: Sarah Ann Juckes
Illustrator
: Sharon King-Chai
Publisher
: Kane Miller
Copyright
: 2024
Original Language
: English
ISBN
: 978-1-68464-947-1
Paperback pages
: 272
Age range
: 9 up
Genre
: Fiction
Book setting
: England
Author’s ethnicity
: English
Author’s residence
: East Sussex, England
Illustrator’s ethnicity
: Australian
Illustrator’s residence
: London
Subjects
: Anxiety disorder, Bereavement, Birds, Death, Grief, Hope, Loss, Maps, Wilderness

The Cariboo Trek Of Callum McBay

The Cariboo Trek of Callum McBay follows the 1862 journey of seventeen-year-old Callum McBay as he embarks on a perilous trek through the Cariboo region of British Columbia during the gold rush, hoping to save his family’s farm in Scotland from foreclosure. Along the way, he faces challenges that test his resilience and character, while also forming bonds with fellow travelers. The writing style is vivid and immersive, capturing the harsh realities of the landscape and the emotional depth of its characters. An author’s note, a map of Callum’s trek, and a historical note are included.
Title: The Cariboo Trek Of Callum McBay
Author: Colin Campbell
Publisher
: Tradewind Books. Vancouver
Copyright
: 2025
Original Language
: English
ISBN
: 978-19905-98364
Paperback pages
: 138
Age range
: 12-17
Genre
: Historical Fiction
Book setting
: Scotland, British Columbia
Author’s ethnicity
: from Scotland
Author’s residence
: Vancouver, BC
Subjects
: Camels, Canadiana, Caribou, Environmental destruction, Fortune, Gold Rush, Indians, Indigenous Peoples, Prospectors

How Do You Eat Color?

A boy, a girl, and their chameleon journey through the colors of fruits and vegetables, starting early in the day with leafy greens and moringa. They taste red tomatoes, red beans, and hibiscus. Next, they sample sunshine yellow in pineapple, mango, and cora. A rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables entices them as they continue their day. White coconut juice, orange carrots, purple yams – their day of colors darkens into the black of sleep. Then, tomorrow is another colorful day. Back matter explains about healthy eating, why we should eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, and how families can eat more colors together. Brilliant, colorful oil on paper illustrations depict dozens of delicious ways to eat something new and delicious. 
Title: How Do You Eat Color?
Author: Mabi David
Illustrator
: Vas Doctor
Publisher
: Eerdmans Book for Young Readers
Copyright
: 2025
Original Language
: Filipino
Translator
: Karen Llagas
Original Title
: Paano Kumain ng Kulay
Original Publisher
: Adarna House, Inc.
Original Copyright
: 2018
ISBN
: 978-0-8028-5638-8
Hardcover pages
: 40
Age range
: 4-8
Genre
: Picture Book
Book setting
: Philippines
Author’s ethnicity
: Filipina
Author’s residence
: Philippines
Illustrator’s ethnicity
: Filipina
Illustrator’s residence
: Manila, Philippines
Subjects
: Asia, Chameleons, Colors, Eating, Fruits, Healthy eating, Plants, Rainbows, Vegetables

The Richest Cow In The World

“The Richest Cow in the World” by Barroux is a charming modern fable that follows a contented cow who enjoys simple pleasures like resting under her apple tree, listening to the wind, and watching clouds drift by. When Pig arrives with an elaborate entrepreneurial scheme—suggesting Cow could sell apples, make pies and applesauce, plant orchards, and eventually build a multinational food empire to become the world’s richest cow—Cow listens patiently to these grand visions of fame and fortune. The story serves as a 21st-century retelling of the classic fisherman parable, exploring timeless questions about what truly brings happiness and contentment in life. Through Cow’s gentle wisdom, readers discover that she already has a much better plan than chasing wealth and expansion, one that values peace and satisfaction over material success. Barroux’s simple, humorous watercolor illustrations in a limited palette perfectly capture the story’s whimsical tone while reinforcing its profound message about money, contentment, and self-respect. mjw
Title: The Richest Cow In The World
Author: Barroux
Illustrator
: Barroux
Publisher
: Kids Can Press. Toronto
Copyright
: 2025
Original Language
: French
Original Title
: La vache la plus riche du monde
Original Publisher
: Les ARenes. Paris
Original Copyright
: 2024
ISBN
: 978-1-5253-1411-7
Hardcover pages
: 32
Age range
: 4-8
Genre
: Picture Book
Author’s ethnicity
: French
Illustrator’s ethnicity
: French
Subjects
: Careers, Cows, Fame, Fisherman parable, Fortune, Parables, Pigs

Rez Kid

This inspiring story captures the complexities of identity and belonging on an Indigenous Peoples’ reservation (rez).  The young girl is taunted by the kids while riding on the school bus home. She just wants to get home to the reservation, where she can feel safe. One by one, she tells her mom, nóhkom, moshum, and aunty about what happened, and they all offer advice.  She decides to share something from her reservations with the other children. She says that she does beadwork, can ride a horse, and that she eats food straight from the land. She gives them all a piece of bannock and explains that the people she lives with on the rez speak their own language, dance pow-wow, smudge, snare rabbits, and more. She invites them to visit her rez, her home, so that they can see what it’s like. The writing is both lyrical and accessible, drawing readers into this celebration of traditional ways of life and the power of sharing. The vibrant illustrations created with pencil crayon and finished digitally complement the narrative beautifully, enhancing the story’s themes and evoking a deep sense of place. A beautiful author’s note is included.  mjw
Title: Rez Kid
Author: Andrea Landry
Illustrator
: Isabella Fassler
Publisher
: Kids Can Press. Toronto, Canada
Copyright
: 2025
Original Language
: English
ISBN
: 978-1-5253-1125-3
Hardcover pages
: 32
Age range
: 4-7
Genre
: Picture Book
Author’s ethnicity
: Anishinaabe
Author’s residence
: Poundmaker Cree Nation, Ontario, Canada
Illustrator’s residence
: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Subjects
: Ancestors, Canadiana, Culture, Food, Indigenous Peoples, Reservations, Self-esteem, Self-reliance, Tradition