Click below to see the other books in each age band.
2024: Grades k to 2
Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year
by Andrea Beaty
Lila Greer is full of worries. Even the smallest things—from cabbages to cardboard—fill her with dread and what-ifs. So when her family makes a big change—moving to a new town—the worry and what-ifs only grow. What if things go wrong? What if no one likes her? At first, Lila feels right to be worried. In her new home, everything is strange. The new kids, the new smells. Lila feels alone and invisible. But there’s one person who sees her: Lila’s teacher, Ms. Kern. Through some creativity, blackboard erasers, and—most of all—kindness, Ms. Kern finds a way to make Lila feel welcome and open to new experiences. A lesson that will resonate with Lila long after second grade.
3x4: TOON Level 1
by Ivan Brunetti
Fun by the dozen! Annemarie and her clever classmates must draw sets of twelve and use their imagination to come up with creative and innovative solutions. Young readers will delight in the counting game while learning the basics of multiplication. Star cartoonist Ivan Brunetti, author of spectacular books like Comics: Easy as ABC! and Wordplay makes an ingenious and fun-to-read comic that turns everyone, young and old alike, into a math whiz!
The New Bicycle
by Darcy Day Zoells
Mari lives in a very normal house in a very normal neighborhood. One day, she gets a new bicycle. It's bright, bold and brimming with possibilities! Mari sets off to see where her new bicycle will take her and her trip down the block becomes a fantastic adventure. During her journey, paving her own way, she meets new friends, transports precious cargo, and finds endless places to explore before returning home.
Not a Monster
by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez
An axolotl may look like one, but it is certainly Not a Monster. This curious creature, made popular by Minecraft, is actually a salamander that will never lose its gills or fins. Not a Monster explores the traits of the axolotl, the Aztec origin myth about the species, and the way pollution is affecting its natural habitat: the canals of Xochimilco in Mexico City. Fun and engaging, this playful and informative read-aloud introduces curious readers to one cool character who is NOT a Monster!
You Are A Story
by Bob Raczka
An empowering reflection on the many things we are and the ways we relate to the world. Poet Bob Raczka’s You are a Story highlights all of the nuance and potential of a growing person’s identity, delighting in the things that make us special and connect us to others. Text and illustrations replete with inventive imagery and appealing metaphors show how we all live as individuals and citizens of the world. You are a living thing. You breathe. You eat. You Sleep. You work and play. You have dreams and fears. You have thoughts and memories. You are. What makes you you? So much goes into who you are, and you are so many different things: A child, an animal, a body of water, a friend, a mystery, one-of-a-kind, a miracle. You are and could be so many things, but whatever you choose to do, it’s your life to write, you are a story.
How to Explain Coding to a Grown-Up
by Ruth Spiro
Grown-ups do NOT have all the answers! In this tongue-in-cheek guide, an in-the-know narrator instructs perceptive kid readers in the fine art of explaining coding to a grown-up. Both children and their adults learn the basics of coding, including hardware, software, algorithms, and debugging. Cleverly disguised “pro tips” suggest best practices for teaching any topic. Fun and fact-filled, the How to Explain Science series will empower kid experts to explore complex scientific concepts with any grown-up who will listen.