Today’s list of book recommendations highlights ten great children’s titles that celebrate families and many of the different people and roles they might include!
Pro-tip: Track the books you & your children are reading. Download the free app The Storygraph, created and owned by Black female tech entrepreneur Nadia Odunayo.
All titles are available through the Debra S Fish Early Childhood Resource Library, a branch of the St. Paul Public Library.
Daddy, Papa, and Me (Age Focus: 1 – 3 Years)
Rhythmic text and illustrations with universal appeal show a toddler spending the day with its daddies. From hide-and-seek to dress-up, then bath time and a kiss goodnight, there’s no limit to what a loving family can do together.
Share the loving bond between same-sex parents and their children in this heartwarming story of family.
Grandpa (Age Focus: 1 – 3 Years)
This sweet story about grandpas is older, but its photographs of grandfathers with their grandchildren are timeless and sure to charm you and the children in your life.
The Family Book (Age Focus: 2 – 4 Years)
The Family Book celebrates families and all the varieties they come in. Whether they’re big or small, look alike or different, have a single parent or two, Todd Parr assures readers that every family is special in its own unique way.
Wolfie the Bunny (Age Focus: 2 – 5 Years)
The Bunny family has adopted a wolf son, and daughter Dot is the only one who realizes Wolfie can–and might–eat them all up! Dot tries to get through to her parents, but they are too smitten to listen. A new brother takes getting used to, and when (in a twist of fate) it’s Wolfie who’s threatened, can Dot save the day?
Bedtime Bonnet (Age Focus: 2 – 6 Years)
This joyous and loving celebration of family is the first-ever picture book to highlight Black nighttime hair traditions–and is perfect for every little girl who knows what it’s like to lose her bonnet just before bedtime.
Bedtime Bonnet gives readers a heartwarming peek into quintessential Black nighttime hair traditions and celebrates the love between all the members of this close-knit, multi-generational family.
You and Me Together (Age Focus: 3 – 5 Years)
Award-winning author Barbara Kerley has written a charming, heartwarming book about parent and child togetherness worldwide. You and Me Together is ideal for reading aloud with children to explain and reinforce the bond between moms, dads, and kids everywhere. The pages are illustrated with gorgeous imagery from National Geographic’s stunning archive, capturing the universal bond between children and parents across the cultures of our diverse world. The text takes a themed look at cultures around the world. A map shows the location of each photograph and helps the reader connect to each place. Everywhere these wonderful images take us, children and parents are seen sharing the simple activities and joys that add together to forge the universal family of mankind.
Hungry Johnny (Age Focus: 3 – 7 Years)
“I like to eat, eat, eat,” choruses young Johnny as he watches Grandma at work in the kitchen. Wild rice, fried potatoes, fruit salad, frosted sweet rolls—what a feast! Johnny can hardly contain his excitement. In no time, he’ll be digging in with everyone else, filling his belly with all this good food.
But wait. First there is the long drive to the community center. And then an even longer Ojibwe prayer. And then—well, young boys know to follow the rules: elders eat first, no matter how hungry the youngsters are. Johnny lingers with Grandma, worried that the tasty treats won’t last. Seats at the tables fill and refill; platters are emptied and then replaced. Will it ever be their turn? And will there be enough?
As Johnny watches anxiously, Grandma gently teaches. By the time her friend Katherine arrives late to the gathering, Johnny knows just what to do, hunger pangs or no. He understands, just as Grandma does, that gratitude, patience, and respect are rewarded by a place at the table—and plenty to eat, eat, eat.
Just Like a Mama (Age Focus: 4 – 8 Years)
Carol Olivia Clementine lives with Mama Rose. Mama Rose is everything—tender and sweet. She is also as stern and demanding as any good parent should be. In the midst of their happy home, Carol misses her mother and father. She longs to be with them. But until that time comes around, she learns to surrender to the love that is present. Mama Rose becomes her “home.” And Carol Olivia Clementine concludes that she loves Miss Rose, “just like a mama.”
This sweet read-aloud is, on the surface, all about the everyday home life a caregiver creates for a young child: she teachers Clementine how to ride a bike, clean her room, tell time. A deeper look reveals the patience, intention, and care little ones receives in the arms of a mother whose blood is not her blood, but whose bond is so deep—and so unconditional—that it creates the most perfect condition for a child to feel safe, successful, and deeply loved.
One Family (Age Focus: 4 – 8 Years)
From veteran picture book author George Shannon and artist Blanca Gomez comes a playful, interactive book that shows how a family can be big or small and comprised of people of a range of genders and races.
Benji, the Bad Day, and Me (Age Focus: 5-8 Years)
Nothing seems to be going right for Sammy today. At school, he got in trouble for kicking a fence, then the cafeteria ran out of pizza for lunch. After he walks home in the pouring rain, he finds his autistic little brother Benji is having a bad day too. On days like this, Benji has a special play-box where he goes to feel cozy and safe. Sammy doesn’t have a special place, and he’s convinced no one cares how he feels or even notices him. But somebody is noticing, and may just have an idea on how to help Sammy feel better.
By Jennie Walker Knoot
