Best New Childrens Books of the Year! (Early Elementary)

Parents’ Choice Recommended

An inquisitive fox sets off on a seafaring voyage with a crew of deer and pigeons in this enchanting tale of friendship and adventure.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author Malala Yousafzai’s first picture book, inspired by her own childhood.

This beautifully illustrated volume tells Malala’s story for a younger audience and shows them the worldview that allowed Malala to hold on to hope even in the most difficult of times.

Working up the courage to take a big, important leap is hard, but Jabari is almost absolutely ready to make a giant splash.

 In a sweetly appealing tale of overcoming your fears, newcomer Gaia Cornwall captures a moment between a patient and encouraging father and a determined little boy you can’t help but root for.

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * A School Library Journal Best Picture Book of the Year * A 2018 Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book * A Junior Library Guild selection

In this fascinating and fun take on nonfiction, Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris investigate a seemingly small trait of America’s most emblematic statue.

What they find is about more than history, more than art.

What they find in the Statue of Liberty’s right foot is the powerful message of acceptance that is essential of an entire country’s creation.

From acclaimed, bestselling creators Drew Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home, and Adam Rex, author-illustrator of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, comes a laugh-out-loud hilarious picture book about the epic tale of the classic game Rock, Paper, Scissors.

As one artist incorporates accidental splotches, spots, and misshapen things into her art, she transforms her piece in quirky and unexpected ways, taking readers on a journey through her process.

Told in minimal, playful text, this story shows readers that even the biggest “mistakes” can be the source of the brightest ideas — and that, at the end of the day, we are all works in progress, too.

La Paz is a happy but noisy village. A little peace and quiet would make it just right. So the villagers elect the bossy Don Pepe as their mayor.

Before long, singing of any kind is outlawed.

But there is one noisy rooster who does what roosters are born to do – he sings!

A Neal Porter Book

Nerdy Birdy and his best friend, Vulture, are very different. Nerdy Birdy loves video games, but Vulture finds them BORING.

Vulture loves snacking on dead things, but Nerdy Birdy finds that GROSS.

Luckily, you don’t have to agree on everything to still be friends.

This delectable romp from award-winning children’s poet Denise Doyen and acclaimed illustrator Eliza Wheeler honors classic children’s literature and revels in nostalgia for free-to-roam days full of playful invention.

When a scary old tree blooms with the most beautiful pomegranates ever seen, the neighborhood kids’ mouths water with anticipation.

But the tree isn’t theirs—and it has a protector!

So begins the Pomegranate War, a fun, rollicking, rhyming tale of a battle between the sly, plucky young rascals and their wry, witchy neighbor who may have more than one trick up her sleeve. 

This story of an ordinary boy who grew up to do extraordinary things is perfect for children. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly was the first to spend an entire year in space!

Discover his awe-inspiring journey in this fascinating picture book memoir (the perfect companion to his adult book Endurance) that takes readers from Scott’s childhood as an average student to his record-breaking year among the stars.

Prince and Pirate are proud masters of their very own fishbowls, and life goes along swimmingly–until they’re scooped up and plopped into shared waters.

Prince is horrified to find this cheeky cod trespassing in his kingdom. “Halt, peasant!”

Pirate is sure this scurvy sea slug has come to plunder his treasure. “Avast, ye scurvy sea slug!” And so begins a battle of regal sneers, seaworthy stink-eyes, and off-the-hook insults.