Best New Early Elementary Reading Books

Inspired by real-life makers such as Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie, Ada Twist, Scientist champions girl power and women scientists, and brings welcome diversity to picture books about girls in science.

George and Harold have created a new hero who digs into deception, claws after crooks, and rolls over robbers.

When Greg the police dog and his cop companion are injured on the job, a life-saving surgery changes the course of history, and Dog Man is born.

With the head of a dog and the body of a human, this heroic hound has a real nose for justice. But can he resist the call of the wild to answer the call of duty?

We can all be heroes.

That’s the inspiring message of this New York Times bestselling picture book biography series from historian and author Brad Meltzer.

Learn all about Jane Goodall, the chimpanzee scientist.

A wonderfully silly early graphic novel series featuring three stories. 

Narwhal is a happy-go-lucky narwhal. Jelly is a no-nonsense jellyfish.

The two might not have a lot in common, but they do they love waffles, parties and adventures.

Join Narwhal and Jelly as they discover the whole wide ocean together.

Four friends. Three cookies. One problem.

Hippo, Croc, and the Squirrels are determined to have equal cookies for all! But how?

There are only three cookies… and four of them!

They need to act fast before nervous Hippo breaks all the cookies into crumbs!

Combines elegant images by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston’s typographical landscapes shaped from excerpts of children’s classics and lullabies!

A Child of Books is a stunning prose poem on the rewards of reading and sharing stories — an immersive and unforgettable reading experience that readers will want to pass on to others.

Here is a hilarious (and heartfelt) reminder of how technology can take us backward… all the way to the times of prehistoric man!

Tek is a cave boy in love with tech.

Can anyone in the village convince Tek to unplug and come outside into the big, beautiful world?

This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers.

With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina.

This series is full of clever wordplay and homophones that make Haggis and Tank’s adventures even more fun!

Juana loves many things. But she does not love wearing her itchy school uniform, solving math problems, or going to dance class. And she especially does not love learning the English.

Why is it so important to learn a language that makes so little sense?

But when Juana’s abuelos tell her about a special trip they are planning — one that Juana will need to speak English to go on — Juana begins to wonder whether learning the English might be a good use of her time after all.

The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago, when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats’s obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra’s dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one.

But Ezra was determined.

By high school he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics.

But it was many years before Keats’s greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book.

Inspector Flytrap in the Da Vinci Cold introduces kids to the humorous and wacky world of Inspector Flytrap’s Detective Agency, home to the world-renowned solver of BIG DEAL mysteries.

Celebrating the disabled yet enabled, the character of Inspector Flytrap is wheeled everywhere (on a skateboard, of course) by his goat sidekick as this mystery-solving duo works on cases such as “The Big Deal Mystery of the Stinky Cookies” and “The Big Deal Mystery of the Missing Rose.”

Perfect for emerging and reluctant readers, this clever and surprisingly warmhearted chapter book shows that being tough all the time can be really tough.

With beautiful mixed-media paintings, the Caldecott Honor–winning artist Pamela Zagarenski explores the transcendent nature of friendship and love.

Almost thirty-five years ago Berkeley Breathed launched a little-known yet laugh-inducing comic strip called “Bloom County” that was full of characters who instantly entered the public consciousness — none more so than Opus (the penguin) and Bill the Cat.

For the comic’s youngest fans, and for those who never stopped wishing for its return, here is an all-new, kid-friendly story for anyone who ever wanted to know the origin story of Bill the Cat.

“Bloom County” has never been more fun!

The overlapping stories of three delightful characters, offering a slightly different perspective each time, come together in a truly original, beautifully illustrated book for dog (and underdog) lovers of all ages.

Far away, in a winter wonderland, an amazing sled race is about to begin.

The winner can make one wish, and it will magically come true! Two friends, Sika and Shen, want to win more than anything.

But all they have is a pack of yappy, yippy, pug puppies.

Ten pugs can’t move their sled. Even with thirty, it doesn’t budge.

But what about . . . SIXTY-SIX? With a little bit of luck, anything is paws-ible.

When soft-hearted Travis discovers an abandoned baby skunk, he can’t help but bring him home and take care of him.

Stinky, as Travis names him, settles in pretty well. But when Travis discovers Stinky’s litter-mate, Winky, who is in need of some help, things get complicated around the Tate house.

One skunk is a piece of cake; two is just asking for trouble.

Will Travis and Callie be able to keep the critters away from Mother’s careful eyes―and nose?

In a place called Hunger Mountain there lives a lord who has everything imaginable yet never has enough.

To satisfy his every desire, he hires builders to design the tallest pagoda; a world-famous tailor to make his clothing from silk and gold threads; and a renowned chef to cook him lavish meals with rice from the lord’s own fields.

What more could he possibly want?

Yet when drought plagues the land, Lord Cat is faced with his first taste of deep loss, he ventures down the mountain and what he discovers will change his life forever.

In this book, Tiger and Luna get pulled into the painting Surprised! or Tiger in a Tropical Storm by Henri Rousseau.

They must escape the jungle adventure before time runs out, otherwise they’ll be trapped in the painting forever!

If you are a mouse, then you might know about Ava and Dean Squeakerton.

They are kind of famous, for mice. That’s because Ava and Dean and the rest of their family live in the White House.

A new president is moving into the White House, and best of all she has kids! That means cool kid treasures for Ava and Dean Squeakerton. Maybe they’ll even find a Lego!

There’s only one problem. . . . Sneaking around means Ava and Dean will each have to be as quiet as a . . . mouse.

And the Squeakerton siblings aren’t so good at that. But moving day is so busy, nobody would notice two mice searching for toys . . . right?