PARENTING TIPS
PREGNANCY
BABY CARE
TODDLERS
TEENS
HEALTH CARE
ACTIVITIES & CRAFTS
Wowza, does April have a lot of excellent picture books! I wanted to stop reviewing books at about ten, but there were too many good picture books this month, so I kept going. You’ll find funny, heartwarming, and lyrical stories that will engage your readers and keep them hooked. Happy reading!
New Picture Books, April 2025
A Cup of Quiet written by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson 
NATURE’S SOUNDS
Lyrical and sensory, this is a meditative exploration of the sense of sound in nature. During her two special weeks at Grandma’s house, the girl and Grandma search for a cup of quiet. Grandma gives the girl an invisible cup to fill up with the sounds in the garden — “I snap up a handful of his buzzing and drop it in the cup, then crouch low to the ground at the sound of a lizard scuttling across a dried leaf.” Her sensory exploration leads her back inside when the rain arrives, and the girl shares her invisible cup with Grandma. Her cup of nature is noisy but peaceful and perfect.
Big Enough written and illustrated by Regina Linke
FOLKTALE
Little Ah-Fu must bring his Ox home, but he’s not supposed to ride him or lead him. When he sees how big the ox is, he feels scared. But, it turns out that the ox is scared, too. That’s when Ah-Fu learns that he’s “big enough.”
Worm Makes a Sandwich written and illustrated by Brianne Farley
GROWING PLANTS / GARDEN
Worm wants to make the little girl a sandwich. All by themself. All Worm needs is GARBAGE. First to eat and then to poop out delicious nutritious poop! The poop is not for the sandwich, it’s for the compost for the garden. The Worm continues sharing the process: making dirt for growing plants, and waiting for the tomato to grow big enough, and then slicing, adding bread and mayo, and a fancy toothpick. Written conversationally with charming illustrations, your readers will love the fun style and narration about the process of growing things. Backmatter shares more about composting.
Wind Watchers written and illustrated by Micha Archer
WEATHER – WIND
Lyrical, figurative-language-filled writing personifies Wind interacting in the lives of children through the seasons of the year. “BOOM! BANG! Wind can surprise us! making doors SLAM and branches fly. “Some days I like to be WILD!” Wind roars.” Amazing acrylic and collage artwork is a feast for your eyes.
Mouse by the Sea: A Vacation in Nature written by William Snow and illustrated by Alice Melvin
ADVENTURE
Mouse explores the seaside and invites readers along in beautifully illustrated watercolor experiences. Page cutouts, lift the flaps, detailed illustrations show what he does at the beach, on a boat, at a tidepool, and at a lighthouse. Wonderful!
Under Anna’s Umbrella written by Amanda Driscoll, illustrated by Luisa Uribe
GRIEF
When her father died, a storm drenched Anna’s family, and Anna began carrying her umbrella around everywhere. Under her umbrella, Anna felt angry and sad and lonely. One day, she shared her umbrella with a boy getting wet in the rain, and she invited him to share her umbrella. Under the umbrella, they talked and played and soon, Anna let go of the umbrella to play in puddles with her new friend. “Without her umbrella, Anna felt light and free.” A moving story of grief.
Just a Banana written and illustrated by Barney Saltzberg
HUMOR
From the creator of BEAUTIFUL OOPS! comes a silly board book lift-the-flap asking the question if a banana is just a banana. When you lift the flap, you’ll see Barney’s drawings on the banana and realize it’s NOT a banana, it’s a smile, a boat, and a mouse. What else will it be? Will it ever be just a banana?
It Started With a P written by Brittany Pomales, illustrated by Andrew Joyner
HUMOR
Get ready to laugh hysterically! This entertaining story starts with a king with a dream. A bad dream. He dreams that something starting with the letter P will ruin his birthday party. But he forgets what the word is. So, he goes to extreme lengths to get rid of all P words, including people and parties, pepperoni pizza and presents… He even leaves his castle for a tiny island with no p-words anywhere and that’s when he suddenly remembers what the word was! Will you guess? Laughter guaranteed!
Old Blue Is My Home written and illustrated by Lita Judge
UNHOUSED
A young girl loves her home in Old Blue, her family’s blue bus home. But sometimes, she feels like she is from everywhere and belongs nowhere. It’s hard when school friends don’t want to come over to play. When the girl feels sad, she and Mama cuddle in Old Blue until its walls feel warm again. Maybe one day, they will have a forever home. For now, Old Blue gives her family everything they need, shelter and safety, a bedroom and a library, …a home. Heartfelt writing and impactful illustrations show a loving family experiencing housing insecurity inspired by Lita Judge’s childhood experiences.
The Bear-Shaped Hole written by John Dougherty, illustrated by Thomas Docherty
GRIEF
Orlo makes Gerda feel safe and understood; he always has time for a game or story. But as he gets slower, he shares that he will be dying…which makes Gerda feel a storm of emotions — sad, mad, bad. But Gerda listens to Orlo about how when someone goes away, they leave a hole in your life, and it hurts, but you will still have memories to fill that hole. This is a sweet friendship, death, and grief story with lovely, painty illustrations and a heartwarming message.
Fairy Walk written and illustrated by Gaia Cornwall
Take a sensory, verby walk in nature to search for fairies on the ground, under rocks, near puff belly mushrooms, and under the pixie blanket. Will you spot the fairies that the kids don’t see? Shhh. Listen for the whisper-soft fairy wings. Look at all the treasures from the fairies and leave them a treasure, too. You will love the magical illustrations and the color palette of greens and blues with pops of colors for the kids!
Brave Old Blue written by Colleen Muske, illustrated by Christopher Thornock
RESCUE HORSE
I adore this gentle, lyrical story about a rescue horse who finds his forever home. Old Blue arrives at the farm. “Unsure. Alone. Trying to be brave.” Bobby and her dad give Old Blue a bath and a carrot. When Old Blue gets scared of the wind, Bobby reassures Blue that he’s safe. (I’m not crying, you’re crying.) “Kindness fills the billowing sky, freshens the flowering fields.” The beautiful language and imagery feel as cozy and safe as Old Blue’s new home. Lovely earth-toned illustrations.
Oh Deer! written by Phaea Crede, illustrated by Erica J. Chen
INTROVERSION / FRIENDSHIP
Jasper the Sasquatch lived alone in the woods because the noisy, loud animals overwhelm him. Even though it was a little boring. So he decides to start gardening turnips. Which was still sort of boring until some deer ate his garden. To stop the deer, he tries fences, signs, a net, and noisy pans and cans, but nothing keeps the deer from eating his garden. When only one turnip is left, Jasper finds a fawn and learns that having friends can be a good thing.
The Terrakeet written by Jo Van der Borgh, illustrated by Jo Beasley
FUNNY / ASSUMPTIONS
The Jabberwocky meets the Gruffalo in this funny story about a family of seaside loafers who are terrified of the beastly Terrakeet. (Who wobbled around his smorgish fire.) When the young child Finlock meets the terrifying Terrakeet, the creature shares dinner with Finlock and Finlock realizes that maybe his assumptions were not accurate. Rhyming fun with invented language, you will enjoy reading this picture book out loud.
The Lots-of-Time Machine written and illustrated by Paulette Bogan
QUALITY TIME
Fifi wants to play with someone. She asks Momma and Peapaw and Daddy, but they’re busy, busy, busy. Her dog Felix has time to play fetch, though, which gives Fifi an idea: a lots-of-time machine that costs ten minutes to enter. What is that her family asks? Fifi explains that it’s a place where they have LOTS of time to play games and color and do puzzles and read stories! Will her family enter the machine? And what will happen when it collapses? Darling illustrations of a raccoon family enchant readers, most of whom can relate to this common struggle—with an amazing solution. Brilliant.
Hedgehogs Don’t Wear Underwear written and illustrated by Marissa Valdez
ACCEPTANCE
Jacques the French hedgehog has a secret. He LOVES underwear ever since he first saw them. But he’s worried the other hedgehogs will think he’s a weirdo and maybe even exile him or throw garbage on him or LAUGH. Yet, Jacques braves his overwhelming fears and shares his secrets. What will the other hedgehogs do? Sweet and poignant with a heartwarming message of acceptance — both of yourself and of others.
Don’t Trust Fish written by Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan Santat
ANIMALS / HUMOR
Mammals, reptiles, and birds are straightforward but NOT FISH. Fish don’t follow the rules. Some have gills. Others have lungs. Some live in fresh water. Some in salt water. The author continues with all sorts of fish weirdness and keeps warning readers: DON’T TRUST FISH. Cheeky humor shows the possible leader of the fish named Jeff and fish spies who report back to King Jeff. Readers, be warned — you will be tested! You have been warned multiple times. Hilarious with emotive illustrations!
Mistaco! A Tale of Tragedy Y Tortillas written and illustrated by Eliza Kinkz
DEALING WITH MISTAKES / HUMOR
Izzy is the queen of mistakes — and her mistakes are nonstop and frustrating. When she’s making tortillas with her abuelo Lito, she pours out all the mistakes that have happened. Lito has a great idea — tell the tortilla and then he will eat her mistakes in a “mistaco”! Written in intentional Spanglish with themes of family, mistakes and solutions, this is a sweet and silly story about a way to navigate failures with humor and love. Bright, scribbly illustrations capture the character’s emotions perfectly.
Echo written and illustrated by Adam Rex
DISAGREEMENT
For those kids who are fascinated by echos, they’ll enjoy this picture book about a boy named Junior Junior who believes his echo is an actual person who agrees with everything he says. But one day, a real person arrives and to Junior Junior’s horror, does not agree with him like his first friend. Junior Junior takes a journey to find his echo friend, which leads to an inner existential journey, leading to a new perspective about friendship and disagreements.
Hilwa’s Gifts written by Safa Suleiman, illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan
OLIVE HARVEST
When Ali visits his grandfather in Palestine, he gets to join in the olive harvest. At first, Ali doesn’t want to whack his special tree called Hilwa and tries to pick each olive one by one. It takes forever, and he’s tired. Ali decides to try the whacking, and it works just like Seedo told him it would. Then the leaves are removed and the olives go to the olive press. Ali experiences the whole journey that the olives make from the trees into olive oil. Seedo shares all the gifts that Hilwa gives, besides olive oil, and they celebrate with a family picnic. Beautiful illustrations.
Sleeping Beauty illustrated by Charlotte Gastaut, translated by Edwige-Renee Dro
FAIRY TALE
The illustrations in this oversized picture book are luminous. Some are cutout pages which give the illustrations 3-dimensional layers. The story is the familiar Sleeping Beauty story. Unfortunately, the text is very small at the bottom of the page in all caps (ugh) and dark ink on gold paper, which is very difficult to read. Even still, you could read this as if it were a wordless book and be completely satisfied with the narrative experience.
