As the air becomes crisp and the leaves start to fall, there’s no better time for your kids to cozy up with a new page-turning book collection. Here’s our list of the top, newly released children’s books your kids will fall in love with this season.
Ages 2-5
ABC: The Alphabet from the Sky
By: Benedikt Gross and Joey Lee
This gorgeous ABC book, based on the successful Aerial Bold Kickstarter campaign, is like no other alphabet book you’ve ever seen. Using aerial photography images from around the country, it introduces children to the alphabet and asks them to look for letters from a bird’s-eye view.
A Perfect Mess
By: Steve Breen
A sweetly oblivious white rhino tries to stay clean on school picture day in this irresistible story about being yourself.
The Adventure of Pistachio Mustachio
By: Daniel Bryson
Pistachio Mustachio is different than all of the other nuts. He embarks on an adventure to find a place where he can fit in. On his journey, he makes some new friends who show him that maybe it isn’t so bad to be a little different.
What Color Is a Kiss?
By: Rocio Bonilla
Monica loves to paint with a rainbow of colors. One day she wonders, “What color is a kiss?” She paints items and animals she knows in every color she can think of, hoping to discover the answer. Charming text and vibrant illustrations help Monica and her mother demonstrate that love comes in any and every color.
Sleepyheads
By: Sandra J. Howatt
The sun has set, and sleepyheads all across the land are tucked into their cozy beds. But there’s one little sleepyhead who’s missing. Where, oh where, could he be? This sweet and snuggly bedtime book with irresistible illustrations by Joyce Wan is the perfect read-aloud story to prepare little ones for a cozy night’s sleep.
Ages: 6 – 9
Milk Goes to School
By: Terry Border
First days of school are tough, and making new friends is even tougher. Milk’s dad gave her a sparkly new backpack and told her that she was the creme de la creme, but most of the other kids don’t seem to agree. In fact, some of her new classmates think Milk is just little a bit spoiled. In this latest hilarious picture book from Terry Border, our food friends go to school and learn that it’s not just Milk that’s the creme de la creme. Some other food can be just as sweet.
The Enchanted Wood
By: Ruth Sanderson
A widowed and grief-stricken king calls on his three sons to end the drought that has ravaged the kingdom. The princes eagerly accept the quest to find the Heart of the World, which, once found, will save the land. One by one each prince confidently enters the Enchanted Wood. This beautifully illustrated, original fairytale is filled with romance, magic and adventure.
Captain Perseverance: How I Became a Superhero
By: Brod Bagert
Captain Perseverance, one of three members of the ‘Grit Alliance,’ is an ordinary kid turned superhero who discovers an amazing superpower—he can turn the dread of struggle into the joy of success! From learning to read to working on a project for the dreaded science fair, Captain Perseverance helps young readers learn the power of perseverance, hard work and determination.
What’s Up, Chuck?
By: Leo Landry
Chuck Wood is jealous. As the winner of the Best of the Forest art contest three years in a row, he finds it very difficult to deal with the prospect that newcomer Scooter Possum’s abstract paintings might beat his wood sculptures. But with the help of his forest friends, Chuck deals with his hurt feelings and realizes that his love for creating art is greater than his need to win. When he follows his heart, everyone’s a winner.
Princess Cupcake Jones and the Dance Recital
By: Ylleya Fields
Princess Cupcake Jones loves taking dance class at Madame’s School of Ballet, but is having trouble with an arabesque. While all of her friends are excited about the dance recital, Cupcake is nervous that she won’t be able to do it. Follow Princess Cupcake Jones as she learns that with practice and determination there isn’t anything she can’t do if she puts her mind to it.
Ages: 10-13
Maxi’s Secrets
By: Lynn Plourde
When a BIG, lovable, does-it-her-way dog wiggles her way into the heart of a loudmouth pipsqueak of a boy, wonderful things happen that allow him to become a bigger, better person—in a book that will appeal to fans of Because of Winn Dixie.
The Misadventures of Max Crumbly: Locker Hero
By: Rachel Renee Russell
Max Crumbly is about to face the scariest place he’s ever been: South Ridge Middle School. There’s a lot that’s great about his new school, but there’s also one big problem—Doug, the school bully whose hobby is stuffing Max in his locker. If only Max could be like the hero in his favorite comics. Unfortunately, Max’s uncanny, almost superhuman ability to smell pizza from a block away won’t exactly save any lives or foil bad guys. But that doesn’t mean Max won’t do his best to be the hero his school needs!
A Long Pitch Home
By: Natalie Dias Lorenzi
Ten-year-old Bilal liked his life back home in Pakistan. But when his father suddenly sends the family to live with their aunt and uncle in America, nothing is familiar. While Bilal tries to keep up with his cousin Jalaal by joining a baseball league and practicing his English, he wonders when his father will join the family in Virginia. Maybe if Bilal can prove himself on the pitcher’s mound, his father will make it to see him play. But playing baseball means navigating relationships with the guys, and with Jordan, the only girl on the team—the player no one but Bilal wants to be friends with.
The Littlest Bigfoot
By: Jennifer Weiner
Fitting in isn’t easy, and that’s true whether you’re human or a not-so-mythical Bigfoot. Weiner, the bestselling author of numerous books for adults including In Her Shoes, makes her children’s book debut with an entertaining yet empathetic story of cross-species friendship set at a boarding school in the country.
Ages: 14+
Our Chemical Hearts
By: Krystal Sutherland
John Green meets Rainbow Rowell in this irresistible story of first love, broken hearts and the golden seams that put them back together again.
Between Worlds
By: Skip Brittenham
Lost inside a mysterious forest, teen outcasts discover their own magical powers they didn’t know they had. Together, they must find a way to control their new powers, escape their enemies and get back home.
Sophomores and Other Oxymorons
By: David Lubar
Scott Hudson has somehow managed to survive Freshman year. But with a new baby brother in the house, and a whole host of new adventures awaiting him at school, Sophomore year will be anything but boring.
I’m Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl
By: Gretchen McNeil
When math brainiac Beatrice Maria Estrella Giovannini’s boyfriend throws her over for the loveable and quirky Toile, the epitome of the manic pixie dream girl archetype, Bea decides to take action. Using The Formula, a mathematic path to social success, Bea sets out to become just like Toile in order to win him back. But things don’t go according to plan, and the casualties of The Formula may be too numerous to count.
A Torch Against the Night
By: Sabaa Tahir
A Torch Against the Night takes readers into the heart of the Empire as Laia and Elias fight their way north to liberate Laia’s brother from the horrors of Kauf Prison. Hunted by Empire soldiers, manipulated by the Commandant and haunted by their pasts, Laia and Elias must outfox their enemies and confront the treacherousness of their own hearts.
The Boys in the Boat
By: Daniel James Brown
Out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the astonishing tale of nine working-class boys from the American West who at the 1936 Olympics showed the world what true grit really meant. With rowers who were the sons of loggers, shipyard workers and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew was never expected to defeat the elite east coast teams, yet they did, going on to shock the world by challenging the German boat rowing for Adolf Hitler.
