Hello friends! Last year I put together a post of some of the picture books I was looking forward to in 2022. There were a LOT of them. Well, now that the year has ended, I thought I’d follow through with some of my favorites of the year… and a half. Yes, some of these came out in 2021 but most were 2022, and I read them all in 2022. Since I read PBs AND other books for kids, I thought I’d include some of my fave early readers, graphic novels and middle grade books as well. This list is by no means exhaustive – while I WANT to read everything on my TBR or every new PB that comes out, I miss A LOT. Time, friends, is fleeting.
PICTURE BOOKS:
Anzu the Great Kaiju by Benson Shum. Are you familiar with Kaiju? Think Godzilla. But this little guy, rather than being scary, is quite sweet.
Bathe the Cat by Alice B, McGinty and David Roberts. A family, some chores, and a naughty cat with access to the refrigerator alphabet magnets.
Big and Small and In-Between by Carter Higgins and Daniel Miyares. I could spend hours with this book. So much to ponder, and gorgeous illustrations. Would make a great writing prompt book!
The Boy With Flowers in his Hair by Jarvis. Simple, quiet, and loving. A boy with (really) flowers in his hair begins to lose them. His best friend comes up with a solution to support him until they grow back.
Color the Sky by David Elliot and Evan Turk. Birds, rhyme, and flowing color.
Don’t Eat Bees: Life Lessons from Chip the Dog by Dev Petty and Mike Boldt. Chip the Dog knows what’s up. This is hilarious and will resonate with dog owners everywhere.
Dress-Up Day by Blanca Gomez. Gomez’s illustrations remind me of Christian Robinson so I therefore love them. A little girl misses dress-up day in her classroom so decides to wear her costume the following day – with surprising results.
Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter and Oge Mora. Everyone is awakened by a series of noises in the red brick building.
A Grand Day by Jean Reidy and Samantha Cotterill. An ode to a day with the grandparents.
Ice Cream Face by Heidi Woodward Sheffield. A boy experiences many emotions while waiting in line to get ice cream.
I’m Hungry!/¡Tengo Hambre! by Angela Dominguez. Dominguez writes THE BEST simple, toddler-friendly bilingual stories. A Spanish-speaking tiny dino communicates with an English-speaking bird in order to get something to eat.
It’s So Quiet: A Not Quite Going-to-Bed Book by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tony Fucile. Mouse can’t sleep because it’s TOO quiet. Well, not for long!
Like by Annie Barrows and Leo Espinoza. We are more alike (and still different) than we think.
Lizzy and the Cloud by the Fan Brothers. A little girl buys a pet cloud in the park – the have lots of fun, until the cloud outgrows her.
Miguel’s Community Garden by JaNay Brown-Wood and Samara Hardy. Book 2 in the garden series! Great for building background knowledge. Help Miguel find the sunflowers in his garden by comparing what we know about sunflowers to the things that we find growing!
Read Island by Nicole Magistro and Alice Feagan. Take a magical trip to the land of stories!
Swim, Jim by Kaz Windness. Jim is an alligator, so he should not be afraid to swim, right? Well, he’s NOT afraid of swimming. He’s afraid of SINKING. Will he find a way to overcome his fear?
Where is Bina Bear? by Mike Curato. This warmed my introvert’s heart. Bina Bear wants to be at the party to support her friend, but also… she doesn’t want to be there.
Wonder Walkers by Micha Archer. Take a walk and wonder about the world around.
EARLY READER:
Duck and Cluck: This Egg is Mine! by Liz Goulet Dubois. Sadly, Goulet Dubois passed away this year, not long after her debut early reader was released. This is a fun, sweet story about two friends fighting over an egg they find. Perfect for those just finding their reading feet. Is that a thing?
GRAPHIC NOVELS:
The Aquanaut by Dan Santat. A girl who lost her father at sea is visited by a mysterious… creature? Are they bringing her a message from her dad?
Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen. An anthropomorphized garlic, who lives in a vegetable town overseen by a witch, makes a dangerous trek to visit a vampire who has moved into a nearby castle. No, it’s not scary at all – it’s sweet.
Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo. Sue would rather spend the summer at comics camp with her friends than have a quinceañera party. But her mom has different ideas – she will be spending the summer in Honduras visiting extended family and yes, she WILL have a quinceañera. Can Sue and her mom compromise?
The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao. Can Christina make it on to the cheerleading squad – and survive her first year in middle school? Based on the author’s experience.
MIDDLE GRADE:
[It became clear to me as I put together this list that I mostly gravitate toward stories with adventure, magic, mystery and kids finding out they are not who they thought they were. Plus school stories.]
Amari and the Great Game by B. B. Alston. The second in the series. Not quite as good, but only because I loved the worldbuilding of the first and of course that didn’t need to happen this time. But still excellent, fun, and suspenseful.
Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley. If you want a suspenseful, atmospheric, spooky story this is for you! Three kids get stuck on an island overnight – an island that just happens to be home to a long-abandoned prison that harbors a LOT of secrets.
A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser. A girl, her mother and her sister move into an apartment in a shelter for houseless families. There she meets other kids like her, some who are new and some who’ve lived there for years. What will they do when the city decides to shut the shelter down?
Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros. Isaac and Marco couldn’t be more different – one is tall and athletic, the other short and academic. This year, though, they each want to achieve what the other has, for different reasons. Luckily, they have each other.
Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation by Sylvia Liu. Hana loves to build bots and can’t wait to join Start Up and be connected to the whole world through a neural net. But when her classmates begin to get sick, she finds out being connected to everything might not be the dream she thought it was.
Hide and Geek by T. P. Jagger. Four friends try and solve the final puzzle of a local toymaker in order to save their town.
Hither and Nigh by Ellen Potter. A missing brother and a mysterious magic teacher. Are they connected? Nell’s going to find out.
Jennifer Chan is Not Alone by Tae Keller. One of the most compelling school stories I’ve ever read – about bullying and when it’s time NOT tofollow the crowd.
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee. Maizy and her mom spend the summer helping her grandparents out at the Minnesota restaurant they’ve had for years. Through an act of racist vandalism, Maizy begins to learn about her family’s history and secrets.
Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tolá Okagwu. Onyeka’s hair is magical! That leads her to be enrolled in the Academy of the Sun where she discovers things are NOT as they seem.
Shinji Takahasi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa. This reads like an Indiana Jones adventure – but with kids as the heroes.
Sisterhood of Sleuths by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. For fans of Nancy Drew! While trying to uncover the truth about a photograph she finds, Maizy learns her grandmother might have been connected with the original author(s) of the series.
Sofia Acosta Makes a Scene by Emma Otheguy. Sofia’s family is all about ballet, and Sofia wants to be, too, but her real talent lies somewhere else.
Team Chu and the Battle of Blackwood Arena by Julie C. Dao. Two siblings are competitive about everything, especially laser tag. But when they discover a ghost within the game at the new arena, they have to work together to figure out what’s going on!
Those Kids from Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly. I will read anything and everything Entrada Kelly writes. This is, in my opinion, one of her best. It will surprise you.
Undercover Latina by Aya De Leon. Andrea comes from a family of spies, and is tasked with going undercover to befriend the son of a suspected white supremacist terrorist.
Valentina Salazar is Not a Monster Hunter by Zoraida Córdova. Valentina’s family gave up monster protecting (NOT hunting) when her father was killed. But now Valentina must convince them to join her on a quest to protect a magical egg that could wreak havoc on the whole world.
Witchlings by Claribel Ortega. Seven Salazar can’t wait to be placed in the coven of her dreams (with her best friend) and begin learning magic. When she’s not placed in a coven, and instead becomes a “spare,” she must take on an impossible task to prove herself worthy.
Happy reading, friends!
Revision.