While reading and writing for The Quill is one of my passions, I also have two young daughters who are the joy of my life. Each week, we go to the library and pick out 5-10 new picture books from their incredible selection and make our way through them (purchasing those that we find outstanding). As of now, we have gone through over 1000 picture books. As I know a number of you are also parents now, I thought it might be helpful to put together a list of some of our top lesser-known picks in case you are looking for a new read for kids. I suspect that I will continue to find new books in the coming years, so I have ambitiously decided to call this piece volume 1. Not all of the picks are fantasy and science fiction related, but many of them are, as I can’t help but put my thumb on the scale when it comes to steering them towards these fabulous genres. Below the gallery, you will find short one-sentence summaries of each pick.
- 5-Minute Ocean Stories – This author has done a series of five-minute stories that are all beautifully illustrated and fun to read, but the ocean ones in particular are enchanting and poetic
- A Book of Maps For You – A delightful metastory about a love of maps and mapmaking
- Don’t Eat Eustace – An absurd, humorous, and approachable story about a fish begging for its life from a bear that plans to eat it
- East Dragon West Dragon – A comedy about a western dragon and an eastern dragon being scared of each other and then finding that they each have things that make them special
- Everyday Bean – A laid-back and calming collection of shorts about Bean the hedgehog that makes a great wind-down book
- Floor It – A silly story about a baby racing through their family’s home in the style of a NASCAR race
- Forts – A thoughtful book about the nature of solitary spaces and a lesson on how to appreciate being alone and examining the world around you
- Frank’s Red Hat – A silly book about a penguin that likes to invent things and the ways in which it goes wrong/right
- Good Luck Ice Cream Truck – A love letter to all kinds of trucks and a book that is great at building anticipation with young ones
- Gustavo the Shy Ghost – A fantastically illustrated story about a shy ghost who wants to play violin for his friends, great for the Fall
- Hogbert – A boar who gets lost in the forest learns to trust his instincts and the kindness of new friends
- How to Apologize – A step-by-step guide on how to handle messing up and effectively say you’re sorry
- Interstellar Cinderella – A modernized sci-fi retelling of Cinderella with better themes and lessons
- Lion in Bed – An outrageous book about the benefits of taking it slow sometimes. I particularly like the art in this one as the house evolves
- Little Wonder – One of our favorites (found by Cole), a heartwarming story about the power of imagination and the ever-present love of parents
- Mina – An introverted daughter has to put up with the hijinks of her crazy father and help fix the problems he accidentally causes
- Pencil – A textless book about the power of drawing. The art is gorgeous and helped my eldest take the next step in analyzing what was happening in a story
- Piccolo – A silly tale about an Italian Shrew who always takes care of his friends first, and how that love comes back around
- Sandcastle – An imaginative and fantastical story about a girl who builds a crazy sandcastle on the beach and the people who come to live in it
- Shibu’s Tail – A cat uses their tail to express their emotions, and a cautionary tale about not telling people how you feel
- Shy Willow – A shy rabbit must overcome her fears in order to help a little boy give the moon to his mother for her birthday
- Some Questions About Trees – A love letter to trees and a guide to asking complicated questions with unclear answers
- Star Fishing – One of our all-time favorites, a story about a gang of friends who can’t fall asleep and go on a journey with the rabbit on the moon
- It’s Taco Knight – A punny story about learning to love food and why it’s important to try new things
- The Everything Trail – A slow and beautiful book about the greatness of nature and the wonder of exploration
- The Girl and the Dinosaur – A girl who loves digging for fossils so much that her love brings her imaginary dinosaur companion to life
- The Truth About Dragons – A wonderful story about a mixed-race family and the two different traditions of dragons that are both a part of their story
- Ursula Upside-down – A lesson about the values of other perspectives and doing things your own way. Plus, it features a catfish, which I love
- When I’m Big – A coming-of-age story about a baby T. rex who is trying to figure out what she should be as she grows
- While You’re Asleep – A very funny goodnight poem that goes horribly wrong when the narrator slowly realizes that not all animals sleep at night
