Great Picture Books! (21)

Welcome to another round-up of recently read and recommended picture books, including two early reader titles! In no particular order, here are the books: let’s start with the whimsical and utterly clever and charming Owls Are Good at Keeping Secrets: An Unusual Alphabet by Sara O’Leary, illustrated by Jacob Grant, a wonderfully inventive alphabet story that had me delighted me start to finish; The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonker, illustrated by Mark Pett, tells a sympathetic and thoughtful story about misplaced fear, being brave, and making unexpected friends; The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee, a visually exciting and bold meta picture book about a misguided knight, a brick wall, and the dangers about making presumptions about “the other side”; The Good for Nothing Button! by Charise Mericle Harper, an Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! reader that is as raucous and frenzied as it is genuinely funny; another great and goofy Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! reader is The Itchy Book! by LeUyen Pham, featuring dinosaurs getting increasingly worked up over a sign that states they are not to scratch any kind of itch; Molly Idle’s gorgeous and dreamy Pearl, a fairy tale/fable of sorts about a young mermaid’s ability to make a huge change in the world by taking care of just one grain of sand; Alison Murray’s Dino Duckling, a fresh take on the classic story of The Ugly Duckling, at once warm and sweet, and brightly, eye-catchingly illustrated; My Teacher’s Not Here! by Lana Button, illustrated Christine Battuz, an adorable rhyming story centered around a little kitten worried about making it through a day at Kindergarten when her beloved teacher is absent; and last but not least is Brian Lies’ Got to Get to Bear’s!, which is a stunningly illustrated, tenderhearted and rich story about the lengths friends will go to help each other out.