November is Picture Book Month (PBM)! It is a month-long appreciation of the “beautifully crafted picture book.” Dianne de Las Casas, founder of PBM, wanted to show love for print picture books in an era of advanced digital technology. Every day in November, the PBM website featured picture book champions. The champions were selected authors and illustrators who wrote essays on the importance of picture books. Sadly, Dianne de Las Casas passed away last year, and according to PBM’s Facebook, there will not be any essays presented this year. However, everyone is encouraged to read past essays from picture book champions and continue to “Read! Share! Celebrate!” Our list includes 40 picture books for lots of reading fun as well as building self-awareness, empathy, and knowledge. For more picture books, visit our category page, Genres, Themes, and…. Happy Reading!
What Is Light? | Markette Sheppard | Cathy Ann Johnson | Agate Bolden | 2018
Whose Toes are Those? | Asim, Jabari | LeUyen Pham |LB Kids | 2006
Every Little Thing | Bob Marley | Cedella Marley | Vanessa Brantley-Newton | Chronicle | 2015
Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo | Kevin Lewis | Hyperion | 2001
Homemade Love | bell hooks | Shane W. Evans | Jump at the Sun | 2002
God’s Dream | Archbishop Desmond Tutu | Douglas Carlton Abrams | LeUyen Pham | Candlewick | 2010
Grandma’s Purse | Vanessa Brantley-Newton | Knopf BYR | 2018
The Big Bed | Bunmi Laditan | Tom Knight | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) | 2018
Baby Bear | Kadir Nelson | Balzer + Bray | 2014
The Field | Baptiste Paul | Jacqueline Alcántara | NorthSouth Books | 2018
I Am Enough | Grace Byers | Keturah A. Bobo | Balzer + Bray | 2018
Mommy’s Khimar | Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow | Ebony Glenn | Salaam Reads | 2018
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut | Derrick Barnes | Gordon C. James | Agate Bolden | 2017
Bintou’s Braids | Sylvianne Diouf | Shane Evans | Chronicle Books | 2001
My Hair Is a Garden | Cozbi A. Cabrera | Albert Whitman & Company | 2018
Hey Black Child | Useni Eugene Perkins | Bryan Collier | Little, Brown BYR | 2017
The Day You Begin | Jacqueline Woodson | Rafael López | Nancy Paulsen Books | 2018
Sing to the Moon | Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl | Sandra Van Doorn | Lantana | 2018
Being You | Alexs D. Pate | Soud | Capstone | 2018
Auntie Luce’s Talking Painting | Francie Latour | Ken Daley | Groundwood Books | 2018
Malaika’s Winter Carnival | Nadia L. Hohn | Irene Luxbacher | Groundwood Books | 2017
Thank You, OMU! – Oge Mora | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | 2018
On the Ball | Brian Pinkney | Disney-Hyperion | 2015
Max and the Tag-Along Moon | Floyd Cooper | Philomel Books | 2013
I’m A Big Brother | Katura J. Hudson | Sylvia L. Walker | Marimba Books | 2017
Beautiful Moon: A Child’s Prayer | Tonya Bolden | Eric Velasquez | Harry N. Abrams | 2014
I Got the Rhythm | Connie Schofield-Morrison | Frank Morrison | Bloomsbury USA | 2014
The Girl Who Saved Yesterday | Julius Lester | Carl Angel | Creston Books | 2016
Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation | Edwidge Danticat | Leslie Staub | Dial Books | 2015
Around Our Way on Neighbors’ Day – Tameka Fryer Brown | Charlotte Riley-Webb | Harry N. Abrams | 2010
Mr. Okra Sells Fresh Fruits and Vegetables | Lashon Daley | Emile Henriquez | Pelican Publishing | 2016
Thunder Rose | Jerdine Nolen | Kadir Nelson | Silver Whistle | 2003
Red, Yellow, Blue (and a Dash of White, Too!) | Charles George Esperanza | Sky Pony Press | 2015
Mousetropolis | R. Gregory Christie | Holiday House | 2015
Please, Puppy, Please | Spike Lee | Tonya Lewis Lee | Kadir Nelson | Simon & Schuster BYR | 2005
Raising Dragons | Jerdine Nolen | Elise Primavera | Silver Whistle | 1998
The Lion & the Mouse | Jerry Pinkney | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | 2009
You Are Not a Cat! | Sharon G. Flake | Anna Raff | Boyds Mills Press | 2016
Corduroy Takes a Bow | Viola Davis | Jody Wheeler Viking Books for Young Readers | 2018
PAR-TAY! Dance of the Veggies | Eloise Greenfield | Don Tate | Alazar Press | 2018
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