Great Picture Books for Preschoolers and Family Reading

When three mysterious visitors from "Europe" crash-land in Mr. Li's field, he does what any good host would: he invites them back to his farmhouse and offers to help fix up their "car". No, there's nothing strange about these guests at all. Just like other humans, they "make business", "play sportsball" and "wear hat". As the townsfolk also come to the aid of the visitors and the gathering turns into a little party, interplanetary relations reach an all-time high.

An extraordinary book that celebrates skateboarding, family, and community. Every day, a little boy watches kids pass by on skateboards, and dreams of joining them. One day, his mother brings a surprise: her old skateboard, just for him! haw êkwa! Let's go! Together, they practice on the sidewalk, at the park, in Auntie's yard--everywhere. But when it comes time to try the skatepark, the skateboarders crash down like a waterfall. Can he find the confidence to join them?

Joy comes in many forms in The Yellow Bus by Loren Long (Roaring Brook Press, 2024). We see the new yellow school bus carrying children from home to school. “And they filled her with joy.” Then, the bus has a new life driving older riders to the library and to country parks. They, too, “filled her with joy.” The illustrations show the sunshine yellow of the bus and everything in and around the bus drenched in color. Beyond these bright colors, the rest of the page is muted and in greyscale. This makes the yellow bus always pop off the page.  The bus takes on new roles as a place for unhoused people to sleep overnight and, later, a spot for goats to climb on in the country. It is only when she is empty and forgotten does she go dark and silent. Readers ride the emotions of happiness and sadness as the bus journeys along. Her final stage is underwater and surrounded by colorful fish. “They swam in. Swish-swoosh, swim-swoosh, glub, glub-swoosh. . . And they filled her with joy.” Long does a masterful job offering this simple, yet very poignant, portrait of a bus.

For other books illustrated by Loren Long, look for Otis, Otis and the Kittens, and Little Tree.

Jack wants to apologize for hurting Zoe's feelings. He just can't seem to find the right words. Turns out there's more to an apology than just saying "I'm sorry.”

Children watch in amazement as the bicycle food deliverers of Tokyo stack their noodle bowls like architects, zip through the city like acrobats, and deliver delicious noodles to students, office workers, and families.

Trucky Roads sees all kinds of trucks, and when he imagines the kinds of trucks that could be, there is no stopping him.

Two-year-old Chooch seeks to help everyone, often with disastrous results, in this tender familial picture book from Cherokee creators Rogers and Kunz. The child's older sibling, Sissy, relates how "Chooch helped" as Elisi paints a mural, Etsi sews pucker-toe moccasins, and Edutsi makes grape dumplings, among other events. Delicately hued, layered mixed-media images that utilize Cherokee iconography, meanwhile, reveal Chooch painting a line across the mural, tearing at the moccasin leather, and pouring flour onto the kitchen floor. When Sissy attempts to make a clay pot, and Chooch's desire to help wreaks havoc with the project, emotions run high until, in response to Sissy's tears, "Chooch helped."

As a young girl seeks reassurances to more elaborate what-ifs, her father's reassurances paint a picture of infinite care, showing her there is no limit to the love he has for her.

While a young Panamanian American girl and her father share "just-us" time on an early morning horseback ride around their town, he tells her cowboy stories and she realizes she is a cowboy too.

Ameena feels invisible. It's been that way since she started at her new school. But now there is another new girl in class. Ameena sees her brownness, her hijab, even though the other kids do not. Ameena wants to be her friend, but she can't seem to find the right words or do the right things. Until one day, they find them together: "Assalamu Alaikum, Sister. Welcome.”