BEST MOTHER’S DAY BOOKS 2024 ∼ A ROUNDUP ∼       I REALLY LIKE MOM Written by Su-an Lee Illustrated by So-ra Kim Translated by Paige Morris (Abrams BYR; $15.99, Ages 4-8) “With a sweet, universal message and charming illustrations full of irresistibly cute animals, author Su-an Lee and illustrator So-ra Kim’s picture book I Really Like Mom is a loving tribute to moms everywhere.” Translated from Korean, this upbeat picture book featuring many different animal mom and child pairs will make young readers feel good all over. “I really like Mom,” is repeated throughou ..read more

  PABLO DREAMS OF CATS Written and illustrated by Timo Kuilder (Atelier Enfants; $18, Ages 2-5)       Publisher Summary: Pablo dreams of painting cats. But his pack doesn’t approve and the cats just dash away from him. Will this painter ever be able to make the art he dreams of? Dutch artist Timo Kuilder’s first children’s book introduces us to an imaginative dog who is infatuated with cats, celebrating diversity and inviting all animals to conquer their misconceptions, and embrace everyone. Review: This adorable board book, Pablo Dreams of Cats, the debut from Timo Kuilde ..read more

    CHARLOTTE CHENG INTERVIEWS MARIA WEN ADCOCK, AUTHOR OF IT’S CHINESE NEW YEAR, CURIOUS GEORGE ILLUSTRATED BY REA ZHAI (Clarion Books; $9.99, Ages 0-4)         INTERVIEW: Maria Wen Adcock is the author of IT’S CHINESE NEW YEAR, CURIOUS GEORGE [Clarion Books], which is a perfect book to introduce Chinese New Year traditions to little ones. In this interview conducted by Charlotte Cheng, author of NIGHT MARKET RESCUE [Rocky Pond Books], Maria discusses her process for writing the book, her experience seeing the book published, and much much more.  Thanks for ..read more

      BARN IN WINTER: SAFE AND WARM ON THE FARM Written by Chambrae Griffith Illustrated by Taia Morley (Cottage Door Press; $9.99; Ages 1-4)         From the publisher: “Winter has come to the farm and covered everything in a blanket of icy snow. But where is the cow? Where are the pig and the goat? They are snuggly and snoozy, dozy and dreaming, tucked in all toasty, safe, dry and warm inside the cozy barn. Celebrate winter with this beautiful keepsake book that any farm-loving toddler is sure to love!”   Review: Chambrae Griffith and Taia Morely deli ..read more

  A ROUNDUP OF THE BEST NEW HANUKKAH BOOKS FOR KIDS 2023 REVIEWS: LATKE’S FIRST HANUKKAH Written and illustrated by Alan Silberberg (Viking BYR; $7.99, Ages 0-3) Little ones will love meeting Latke, a lovable creation of author-illustrator Alan Silberberg’s whimsical imagination. What’s great about his books is that parents will be entertained reading them as much as their kids. The new 16-page board book, Latke’s First Hanukkah, is no exception. Add various voices for the characters during a read-aloud and you’re set! Applesauce and Sour Cream get into a tiff over which topping tastes b ..read more

    DÍA DE MUERTOS: A Papel Picado Lift-the-Flap Book Written by Dori Elys Illustrated by Alicia Más (Little Simon; $8.99, Ages birth and up)         FROM THE PUBLISHER: In the vein of Coco, this bright board book highlights the beauty of Día de Muertos with colorful lift-the-flaps that look just like papel picado revealing details of the holiday.   REVIEW: This 14-page interactive board book written by Dori Elys and illustrated by Alicia Más is not only lovely to look at, but it’s also made the Día de Muertos holiday accessible to little ones. Right fr ..read more

  RAJANI LAROCCA INTERVIEWS VICKY FANG, AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR OF ALPHABOT (MIT Kids Press/Candlewick Press; 14.99, Ages 3-7) PUBLISHER SUMMARY: Found your circuit-board head? Your voice-control torso? Your hydrojet feet? Hooray! You’ve made one of the 729 mix-and-match robots that are possible with this innovative flip-flap book. Alongside the bright and cheery illustrations of robot parts is a basic alphabetical listing of terms—from android to gears, neural network to program, wheels to Z-drive—and a basic definition of each. With a conceal ..read more

A ROUNDUP OF FIVE MOTHER’S DAY BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 2023         MOMS CAN DO IT ALL! Written by Ted Maass, Illustrated by Ekaterina Trukhan  (Grosset & Dunlap; $8.99, Ages 0-3) This 18-page rhyming board book lovingly portrays moms as positive role models for little ones. Maass and Trukhan hooked me with an illustration that shows a mom typing on her laptop beside Baby accompanied by this text, “Some moms use their imaginations to become writers, …” Alongside that one, the sentence ends “while others use their courage to become firefighters,” depicting a mom extingu ..read more

THANKFUL THANKSGIVING Written by Deb Adamson Illustrated by Benedetta Capriotti (Cottage Door Press; $8.99, Ages: 1-4)         REVIEW: There’s much to be grateful for this holiday season, including the appropriately titled book THANKFUL THANKSGIVING. This board book for young readers sets the mood with autumn colors and a family of cheery mice carrying baked goods on the cover. You can expect to read along to Deb Adamson’s delicious rhyme and experience the comfort of positive vibes in this sixteen-page read-aloud. ee Interior spread from Thankful Thanksgiving written by ..read more

  NEW HANUKKAH BOOKS FOR 2021 ∼A ROUNDUP∼       BABY LOVES ANGULAR MOMENTUM ON HANUKKAH! Written by Ruth Spiro Illustrated by Irene Chan (Charlesbridge; $8.99, Ages  0-3) The popular Baby Loves Science board book series has notched up over 15  titles in the collection touching on myriad STEM subjects from quarks to coding. In Baby Loves Angular Momentum on Hanukkah! little ones are introduced to the holiday, and in particular, the dreidel or spinning top game played by Jewish families around the world. Using the dreidel, Spiro presents the fascinating physics’ co ..read more