The Boy with Flowers in His Hair

Written by: Jarvis 

Why you should read this book: With simple, meaningful language and simple, colorful illustrations, the author conveys a vast allegory of meaning about what it is to be different, what it is to be accepting, and what it is to be a loving friend. A little boy is best friends with David, a child who is visibly unlike other children, but still happy and kind and well-liked. When his difference become more acute and less acceptable, his friend finds a way to make him happy, not by making him more like other kids, but by helping him feel more like himself.

When the Schools Shut Down: A Young Girl's Story of Virginia's "Lost Generation" and the Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka Decision

Written by: Yolanda Gladden, Dr. Tamara Pizzoli, and Keisha Morris

Why you should read this book: This autobiographical picture book follows the experience of Yolanda Gladden, a Black girl born in segregated Topeka the year that Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional. When Yolanda is finally old enough to go to school, racist local lawmakers decide to fight integration by closing down all public schools. For five years, the Black community rallies to create their own grassroots school system where children like Yolanda are educated and learn to love learning for five years until another Supreme Court decision forces the community to reopen the public schools and remain integrated.

Mommy's Hometown

Written by: Hope Lim and Jaime Kim

Why you should read this book: A little Korean-American boy loves listening to his mother's stories of her idyllic childhood playing in the river with the other village children in her hometown. He dreams of visiting the place where Mommy grew up, but when he finally gets to Korea, he's disappointed to find that modernity has turned the pastoral haven into a bustling metropolis that bears no resemblance to Mommy's bucolic bedtime stories. But the river is still there, just as Mommy remembers it, and once the boy connects to the experience of playing in the water, he's able to see the beauty and magic of the new city.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't adapt well to change.

Extra Ezra Makes an Extra-Special Friend

Written by: Kara LaReau and Vincent X Kirsch

Why you should read this book: Ezra is a flamboyant elementary student who lets his light shine extra bright, injecting pizzazz and panache into everything he does, and his many friends appreciate his way of being "extra." When he meets a new kid, Jane, with rainbow barrettes and a glittery soccer ball, he's determined to make her his extra-special friend, but Jane is "blue" and has no interest in being cheered up. Ezra has to think hard about how to change his usual approach and offer Jane what she really needs, finally making a friend through the power of empathy.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You hate rainbows and glitter.

Anna Hibiscus

Written by: Atinuke and Lauren Tobia

Why you should read this book: At the heart of this warm, charming chapter book about a little girl growing up in a big family compound in Nigeria is the idea of community, in the African sense of the word, where no sensible person would ever want to be alone even for a moment. Anna Hibiscus can't imagine a world without aunties and uncles and cousins and parents and grandparents and siblings all around her, and when her nuclear family attempts to take their own vacation, disaster ensues! Anna Hibiscus, like a young Ramona Quimby, learns important lessons about life, culture, and caring for others, driven by her own exuberance and her family's loving guidance. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You absolutely despise other people. Just hate them. Misanthropy squared. Can't stand having them in the vicinity.  

Marco Polo Brave Explorer

Written by: Cynthia Lord and Stephanie Graegin

Why you should read this book: This short easy chapter book tells of the adventure of Marco Polo, a mouse-shaped Christmas ornament who is repurposed as a children's toy that can be checked out of the public library, except that no kid ever checks him out because he's so small every adult is sure that he will be lost. Finally, a little boy named Seth overcomes his father's objection to Marco Polo because he has a secret: Seth is afraid to attend his first sleepover, and also afraid that his friend will make fun of him if he brings his primary love object, an old gray bunny, for comfort. Marco Polo, being small enough to hide in Seth's sleeping bag unnoticed, does indeed go on a tremendous adventure, and Seth learns that your real friends don't make fun of you, and are probably afraid of the same things you're afraid of. 

Why you shouldn't check out this book: You wouldn't let your child play with a plushie that every other kid in town had played with.

Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle's Incredible Journey Home

Written by: Lindsay Moore

Why you should read this book: There's something quietly stunning about this nonfiction picture book, which recounts the story of an injured sea turtle who is rescued by Japanese fishermen and taken to an aquarium in South Africa for rehabilitation. Her injury healed, Yoshi spends twenty years on exhibit at the aquarium before marine biologists recognize that she should be released back into the ocean. By gluing a tracking tag to her shell, scientists are able to track her journey from Capetown back to the Australian beach where she was born, and the author recreates this underwater journey in beautiful detail.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You are wholly unconcerned with the plight of sea turtles, you monster. 

Ada and the Galaxies

Written by: Alan Lightman, Olga Pastuchiv, & Susanna Chapman

Why you should read this book: Living in a big city, Ada can barely see any stars at all, and looks forward to visiting her grandparents in Maine, where the night sky is easily visible. All day Ada enjoys the coastal life and learns about nature, but the entire time she's just thinking about when she can see the stars, and when the sun finally sets, the fog rolls in and Ada still can't see the stars. Instead, she continues learning astronomy from her grandfather and his books, and finally, just before bed, realizes that the fog has lifted and she can see the stars after all. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: The premise seems a bit far-fetched but I guess it takes all kinds.

Nigel and the Moon

Written by: Antwan Eady & Gracey Zhang

Why you should read this book: This intensely sweet and relatable picture book shows little Nigel, who wants to be an astronaut, a superhero, and a dancer when he grows up, speaking his truth every night to the moon, while finding himself utterly incapable of sharing these secrets with his class in the daytime. It's career week at school, which makes his shyness about the subject (and fear of ridicule) even more intense, and the fact that all his classmates' parents seem to have more important jobs than his doesn't help. When his postal-worker mother and truck-driver father show up to present to the class and are accepted by the other students, Nigel finds the courage to finally speak up about his own dreams without fear. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You already know who you are, and who you're supposed to be, and you've never had any self-doubt.

I'm a Neutrino: Tiny Particles in a Big Universe

Written by: Dr. Eve M Vavagiakis & Ilze Lemesis

Why you should read this book: In heroic couplets, this book discusses the general qualities and behaviors of tiny particles known as neutrinos, while also explaining that we don't know very much about them and encouraging children to pursue careers in physics to solve some of the mysteries presented. The text itself is extremely basic, suitable for very young readers, and the illustrations are likewise dynamic and appealing. Three pages of notes at the end actually explain all the concepts and illustrations much better than the book itself manages.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's cute but insubstantial; I'm not sure kids in the intended age group could possibly get anything out of it, and once you're old enough to grasp subatomic particle physics, this book might be a bit young for you.