I’ve got six great picture books for you this week!
If I were to only buy one book on this week’s list, it would be Elijah’s Easter Suit. This would be a great companion to Baptiste Paul’s Patchwork Prince (2023). I really like that this book is set during Easter but is not religious in nature. Church is part of the story, but it’s more about Black culture, tradition, and community.
Eyes That Weave the World’s Wonders by Joanna Ho is a companion to Eyes That Kiss in the Corners and Eyes that Speak to the Stars. If those are popular in your library, you’ll definitely want this third one. I love the rhythm of these titles!
New York City libraries will not want to miss A Grand Idea: How William J. Wilgus Created Grand Central Terminal by Megan Hoyt. This is a great engineering story for any library looking for more STEM titles.
For older readers, pair Tree of Life with Marcie Colleen’s Survivor Tree. One is about the Holocaust, and the other is about September 11, 2001. Both are stories of trees representing hope after great tragedy and loss.
Author: Brentom Jackson
Illustrator: Emmanuel Boateng
Publication date: January 23, 2024
Genre: picture book, holidays
Setting: Easter holiday at a Black church
Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
Themes: clothing, fashion design, Easter, church, patchwork clothing, family, Black culture, honoring one’s culture
Protagonist: young Black boy
Starred reviews: Booklist and Kirkus
Pages: 32
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
Elijah is on a mission to find the perfect church outfit for Easter.
But when failed attempts at his town’s stores leave Elijah disappointed, an important conversation with Deacon Brown and Mother Green about tradition, culture, and clothing gives him the courage to create his own Easter masterpiece: a patchwork of perfection that tells his story with style.
Families at Easter will appreciate seeing the themes of church and Black culture throughout Elijah’s quest, in this sweet yet important story about a young boy’s journey toward an understanding of those who came before him.
An afterword from the author delves into the traditions and culture of Black communities at Easter and the historical importance and significance of Easter clothing and style.
Author: Joanna Ho and Liz Kleinrock
Illustrator: Dung Ho
Publication Date: January 23, 2024
Genre: picture book
Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
Themes: transracial adoption, looking different from family, alliteration, cultural differences
Protagonist: female, Korean adopted by an American family
Starred reviews: SLJ
Pages: 40
Notes: Companion to Eyes That Kiss in the Corners and Eyes That Speak to the Stars.
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
From New York Times bestselling Joanna Ho, of Eyes that Kiss in the Corners, and award-winning educator Liz Kleinrock comes a powerful companion picture book about adoption and family.
A young girl who is a transracial adoptee learns to love her Asian eyes and finds familial connection and meaning through them, even though they look different from her parents’.
Her family bond is deep and their connection is filled with love.
She wonders about her birth mom and comes to appreciate both her birth culture and her adopted family’s culture, for even though they may seem very different, they are both a part of her, and that is what makes her beautiful. She learns to appreciate the differences in her family and celebrate them.
Author: Liana Finck
Illustrator: Liana Finck
Publication date: January 23, 2024
Genre: picture book, humor
Recommended for: Grades 2-5
Themes: authority figures, getting into trouble, scolding, irony of parents’ words and behavior
Protagonist: anthropomorphized animals; includes parent and child animals
Starred reviews: Publishers Weekly and Kirkus
Pages: 48
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
This collection of classic parental nags are cleverly betrayed by the situations shown, in which it’s made clear that the child knows better.
Each scenario is worthy of a giggle, adding a lightheartedness to the inevitable dynamics between parents and children.
Cartoonist Liana Finck has created a catharsis for her own childhood memories of knowing better than authority figures, and in doing so, validates young readers with the respect and understanding they deserve.
Author: Megan Hoyt
Illustrator: Dave Szalay
Publication Date: January 23, 2024
Genre: picture book biography
Setting: Grand Central Station, New York City, USA; turn of the 20th Century
Recommended for: Grades K-4
Themes: New York City landmarks, STEM, engineering, iconic buildings, train stations, architecture, robber barons
Protagonist: male engineer, American
Starred reviews: SLJ
Pages: 48
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
There was once a place in New York City that had a tennis club, movie theater, and art gallery—all in the same building! It also had a secret passageway, a huge library, and even a ski slope.
This astounding building is Grand Central Terminal, and it was the work of one brilliant man: William J. Wilgus. When William, an experienced engineer, wanted to create a new electric-powered train system, he knew he needed to house this special fleet somewhere exceptional.
His grand idea of a solution? An underground multilevel train station that would become an iconic New York landmark, and one that is still an integral part of the city over a century later.
Author: Patrick O’Brien
Illustrator: Patrick O’Brien
Publication date: January 23, 2024
Genre: informational picture book
Recommended for: PreS-Grade 1
Themes: dinosaurs, babies, size comparisons
Starred reviews: no starred reviews
Pages: 32
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
How big (or small) was your favorite dinosaur–as a baby? We see how some stack up, alongside childhood favorites such as a toy truck or a rubber duck. Did you know that T. rex hatchlings were only about the size of a turkey? Or that the huge, long-necked brontosaurus are said to be only eleven pounds at birth?
In this early picture book, young readers learn that before dinos grew to be large and powerful, they started off as something much smaller to behold.
Author: Elisa Boxer
Illustrator: Alianna Rozentsveig
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Genre: informational picture book
Setting: Terezin ghetto, Czechoslovakia; 1940s
Recommended for: Grades K-4
Themes: world history, concentration camps, Terezin, Holocaust, WWII, planting trees, courage, teachers, Holocaust Museum, hope
Protagonist: teacher and various children imprisoned in Terezin ghetto
Starred reviews: no starred reviews
Pages: 40
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
During World War Two, in the concentration camp Terezin, a group of Jewish children and their devoted teacher planted and nurtured a smuggled-in sapling.
Over time fewer and fewer children were left to care for the little tree, but those who remained kept lovingly sharing their water with it.
When the war finally ended and the prisoners were freed, the sapling had grown into a strong five-foot-tall maple.
Nearly eighty years later the tree’s 600 descendants around the world are thriving…including one that was planted at New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage in 2021.
Students will continue to care for it for generations to come, and the world will remember the brave teacher and children who never gave up nurturing a brighter future.
THE LINKS YOU’LL NEED FOR JANUARY
- January 2024 – Picture Books – Google Slides presentation – click “use template” to make a copy – share with students and teachers! Remember that this presentation will eventually include all Picture Book Spotlight titles for January 2024. You may want to wait until the full presentation is complete (end of January) before downloading and showing to students. This will give you time to get some of the new titles in!
- Printable list of all January 2024 Spotlight titles – sorted by genre and grade level group; click “use template” to make a copy
- The Ginormous Book List – this week’s Picture book Grade titles are #3799 – #3804 on The Ginormous.
MORE JANUARY 2024 NEW RELEASE SPOTLIGHTS
ABOUT THE SPOTLIGHT
The New Release Spotlight began in May 2016 as a way to help librarians keep up with the many new children’s and YA books that are released each week.
Each week, school librarian Leigh Collazo compiles the New Release Spotlight using a combination of Follett’s Titlewave, Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble. Recommended grade levels represent the range of grade levels recommended by professional book reviewers. See the full selection criteria here.
Inevitably, there are far more books that meet my criteria than can make it on the Spotlight. When I have to make the tough decisions on what to include, I just use my “librarian judgment.” Would I buy this book for my own library? Would my students want to read this book? Is the cover appealing? Does it fill a need?