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The Collectors, steady, calm, curious storytelling for ages 4 and up

Kids love to explore spaces and imagine that the stick that they find outside is a dinosaur bone. The Collectors is an illustrated book that taps into that curious and playful spirit that kids of a certain age have. As with any discovery or adventure, the aspect of doing it, is only part of the story and sometimes the journey is the destination. In The Collectors, we meet Winslow and Rosie, two young girls who have amassed a huge collection of natural wonders but strive for something more. What follows is a trip into the countryside where the girls find some great examples of things that they haven’t seen or otherwise might not be attainable.

Easy going, old soul, curious and easy to embrace

This Book Is Not A Bedtime Story! is book happiness for ages 3-6

If you have a child who is a certain age then This Book Is Not A Bedtime Story! is one that you need to have in your forever library. The exception to this is, if you often read illustrated books aloud to kids aged three through six, then you need to have this near your reading table. This Book Is Not A Bedtime Story! is a new book as of 2021, but it’s wrapped in a timeless veneer that would make it at home in 1970 or 2060. For us, the book was reminiscent of one that we immediately loved, Are You Scared, Darth Vader? from 2018.

This Books Is Not A Bedtime Story! combines succinct words, friendly art and lots of humor to create a great, good-night book that kids will love anytime.

Spooky monster cuteness for ages 3 and up year-round

Nerdycorn, a fun, smart illustrated book for all, plus unicorns

If the world were a fair and just place there would be 10 copies of Nerdycorn in the book rack at our local big box store. As mentioned earlier, we were there and saw copies of a book that has a similar theme, but wasn’t nearly as great at Nerdycorn. This is an illustrated book that revels in color, has text length that makes it a great good-night book, funny characters, lessons to learn, and intelligence. It also has unicorns, which for some will be the main reason for reading. If that’s the case then that’s cool, come for the unicorns and stay for the STEM.

STEM, pictures and unicorns-What more could you love or want?

The King’s Golden Beard is a new children’s picture book classic

We haven’t read a children’s illustrated book like The King’s Golden Beard in a long time. It’s a timeless illustrated book that feels as old as the hills, yet as current as whatever is trending on social media now. It’s a book that’s short on words, but long on story, instead of letting the illustrations and the white spaces within the pages fill in the blanks for young audiences. The King’s Golden Beard is also very smart and treats those young readers, or anyone else who jumps into the book, like the intelligent readers they are, even if they suspect they know where the story is going.

This book is awesome, read on to see why

Claris, The Chicest Mouse in Paris Holiday Heist is an acquired taste

When I was a kid the only comic book that one of my friends was allowed to read was Richie Rich. Whenever we’d go on trips I’d bring my Spider-Man comic books and he’d bring the ones that he was allowed to read. It’s not that I didn’t like Richie Rich, it’s just that there was very little relatable in that comic book. Cut somewhat from the same cloth is the children’s illustrated book series Claris. Claris, The Chicest Mouse in Paris Holiday Heist leaves me with a conflicted feeling. It’s obviously cute, has beautiful drawings and nice characters, but is annoying and pretentious at the same time.

Like Bonfire of the Vanities, but with a mouse

Jonas Hanway’s Umbrella, makes non-fiction fun for early elementary

Without Jonas Hanway, The Umbrella Academy might not exist and Britons would’ve possibly continued letting the rain soak them since 1750. Jonas Hanway’s Scurrilous, Scandalous, Shockingly Sensational Umbrella is the sort of stranger than life, non-fiction illustrated book that young readers will love if they give it a chance. The last part of that phrase is key because the book ticks off all of the blocks needed for it to be ridiculously engaging and entertaining for ages six through ten.

A story of public shaming and the dry man who was right

This Thing Called Life, an intelligent illustrated book on any level

A children’s illustrated book can be a simple thing. They can also attempt to convey complex matters. It’s really rare to have an illustrated book tackle life. It was done a couple of years ago with One Day A Dot, a book that distills the universe in a STEM-happy way for young children to understand. This Thing Called Life by Christian Borstlap addresses the same grand scale of life, but does it in a simpler way, via timeless graphics, simple-yet realistic text, a sense of humor, and a side vibe of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

This Thing Called Life is as great and classic as an illustrated book can get. It’s also to the point, intelligent and with great art.

Stop. Find this book and get it if you have kids who are aged 2 through 8

When Pencil Met The Markers runs with energy and fun for ages 4 and up

Celebrate the weird, embrace the relentlessly happy and color outside of the lines. That sounds like an alternate catchphrase from The Magic School Bus. In reality, it’s a phrase that perfectly embodies When Pencil Met The Markers. When Pencil Met The Markers manages to hit all of these hallmarks in an illustrated book that could’ve been as effective as a peach marker trying to write on a polyurethaned table. Instead, the book delivers a joyous story that any kid will enjoy.

When Pencil Met The Markers is a familiar tale that’s offered in a superior way. This is a simple illustrated story that can demo older and is a great good-night book

A great, good-night book is a thing to celebrate, this is one of them.