A builder father’s hands—“darker, poderosas, calloused”—anchor this gratitude-filled tribute to a papi actively working to support his community and family. In English and Spanish, Seron Richardson’s crisp narration expresses admiration for the way “my papi’s hands/ build cities” and “turn mesas into mansions/ and songs/ into sonrisas.” Voicing a variation on a refrain, the speaker astutely observes, “My world would look so different without my papi’s hands.” Tropical coloring gives Rodriguez’s stark, contemporary-feeling artwork—created with oil-based woodblock ink on paper—a warming brightness. Empathy infuses moments of notable contemporary relevance, as when Papi, head in hands, “tired—... from hate,” appears amid signs declaring “Migrants out!” and “Go back!” As the pair work to build a garden, signage that reads “Bienvenidos” drives home a profound message: “Because of Papi’s hands, I know what my hands can do. And together we will build a future.” Characters read as Latinx. Ages 6–8. (May)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Valdez and Sánchez Ayala offer an expansive look at language in a contemplative picture book that considers the power of “words given to us by those we love.” After Ms. Hernandez asks students to share terms “that make you feel warm or special,” the teacher disregards the protagonist’s offering of “poloché,” a Dominican expression for a polo shirt. Reflecting on Ms. Hernandez’s request for more standardized English or Spanish, the child contemplates other words used at home, reasoning that “if real words hold magic, then of course Mami’s words are real. They are bursting with magic.” Vibrant digital scenes focus on classroom and domestic moments, and on the words as a clear component of Mami’s loving care. In one, Mami’s uttering “poloché” works as a spell that disappears a shirt’s wrinkles; in another, Mami slathers the child’s chest with vaporú before bed. A final classroom-wide conversation crystallizes the importance of honoring words that “link... connect... remind.... hold magic” in this empowering read. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Flipping common idioms on their head, cookbook author Costello directs readers toward emotional resilience, kindness, and open-mindedness in an advice-packed picture book debut. A setup line (“Did your mother ever tell you”) leads into seven expressions, including “Hold your horses” and “Don’t cry over spilled milk.” Reassuring rhymes follow each, frequently highlighting the support that can arise from a parent (“So talk through those feelings/ with Mom or with Dad./ When you say them out loud,/ worries don’t seem so bad”). Soft coloring and gentle textures give Lucas’s illustrations a mild quality, while frequently humorous depictions of animals add an amusing dimension to the extended advice. Accompanying “Birds of a feather flock together,” matching avian characters march along a fountain while more colorful species soar nearby. Even as lengthy text sometimes strains to execute the book’s conceit, the well-intentioned hopes behind the counsel come through. A final exposition on “when it rains it pours” yields an emblematic send-off grounded in a mother’s love. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

In a touching picture book, Ghani and Alam craft an exuberant ode to a working father’s love. Young Aizah loves riding in Baba’s “zingy yellow” cab, which makes the child feel like a movie star—“Baba in the driver’s seat, me in the back.” But the job’s long hours mean that Aizah’s father, who wears hearing aids and communicates via Pakistan Sign Language, often misses family dinner and school plays. And the protagonist notices that “sometimes Baba’s taxi makes him feel sticky with shame.” When Aizah realizes that Baba will have to work through a school daddy-daughter dance, the youth plans a spectacular “Babapalooza” celebration, including a special performance and an appreciative display of “all the cool things we’ve gotten to do because of his hard work.” Bright, thin-lined illustrations incorporate the taxi’s signature hue and images of the car on a proscenium stage in this powerfully affectionate portrait of care that goes two ways. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

A child discovers their expanding capacity for familial love in McDaniel and Durr’s compassionate, realistic account about welcoming a baby to the family. The young narrator commences with their own birth (“Auntie says I’m the most perfect nephew to ever be born... a brown-skinned doll baby with wise eyes and a deep laugh”) and moves swiftly through their toddlerhood, centering on the deep love provided by the child’s aunt: “But for now and for always, I am still Auntie’s baby.” After the beloved relative returns from the hospital with a newborn, surprising the child, the speaker struggles with the new arrival taking over “my spot” and using “my blankie.” Bedazzled with diamond-shaped stars, unlined digital cartoons expressively highlight the wide-eyed protagonist’s emotional highs and lows. Eventually, the speaker connects with the newcomer’s own “wise eyes,” achieving a satisfying realization about the infinitude of love: “I’m still Auntie’s baby. And my heart is big enough to carry us all.” Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Cooper spins the many definitions of fine into a sensitive story about a strengthening mother-child bond. “All my life, my mama has said two words to me. ‘You’re fine.’ It’s just two little words, but those two words can mean a lot,” heartfelt first-person narration begins. Subsequent pages spotlight variable meanings of the phrase: “I have to be tough,” “I should be proud,” “I’m the most beautiful little girl,” and “we don’t have enough, but we’ll get through.” As the examples unfurl, the narrator conveys the resultant confidence the reassuring sentence inspires before pivoting to the way the phrase can be mirrored back to Mama, who is “doing this all on her own” and “isn’t always fine.” Incorporating botanical motifs, limited-palette digital renderings have colored pencil–like outlining; tucked throughout spreads are reminders of the comforting titular sentiment (“I’m fine and I’m kind” says a school poster; “You’re fine” spells lettering atop cupcakes), further driving home the text’s grounding message. Creators’ notes conclude. Ages 4–8. (May)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

A quartet of gray kitties endeavor to find “something beautiful to celebrate beautiful Mama” in this lively process-oriented story. After an initial round of brainstorming led by young feline Oleander, the kittens decide to make flowers, and Freedman’s mixed-media artwork creatively showcases the cats’ unique, personality-driven approaches. One feline, splattered in pink paint, draws and stamps blooms. Another, depicted surrounded by tangles of string, uses “saved-up bits and scraps” to create an explosion of yellow flora. From a third, pictured with a pencil in paw, “melody, rhythm, and words emerged and bloomed as a song.” Meanwhile, Oleander carefully fills a can with soil, water, and seeds, anxiously awaiting the organic result. When Mama’s special day arrives and the tin remains flowerless, maternal comforting helps ensure a special celebration. Multidimensional art expansively showcases myriad ways to say “I love you.” Ages 3–7. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Dedicated to “caregivers who give what they never got,” Robinson’s animal-centric ode to fathers moves with a realistically nuanced portrayal of parents as people. Narration unfolds through opposition: “Dad is here now” reads text accompanying a frog escorting tadpoles upon its back; “Dad had to go away” follows as two wide-eyed owlets gaze at an adult in flight. While a seahorse models a tender father-child moment (“Dad holds on tight”), a shark (“Dad needs lots of space”) and other animals touch on the way a dad sometimes “lets you down,/ and makes mistakes.” When concluding pages pivot to human relationships, the depth-filled and textured paint and collage artwork captures fatherhood with tenderness and honesty: one dad wipes away a child’s tears, and another “sheds a few of his own.” Even amid the examples’ push-and-pull, an underlying message of steadying care reassures, “Dad is with you,/ even when he’s not.” Human characters are depicted with varied abilities and skin tones. Ages 3–6. (May)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Xiao aptly captures the transformation wrought by fatherhood in this lighthearted picture book exploration. Building from “You made me...,” each spread fills in the blank with a different attribute, while artwork offers a frequently humorous or ironic twist. “You made me brave,” for example, attends an image of the father figure covering their own eyes while a baby receives a shot. Conveying “productive,” a baby lays atop Dad, who says, “Let’s do nothing together!” Crisply minimalist b&w cartoons pick up the sunshine hue of facing text pages to color the baby’s onesie. Closing scenes affectionately underscore the connection forged between Dad and baby with speech bubble text summarizing a life-changing relationship for the parent: “I am your best friend forever, OK?” Character skin tones reflect the white of the page. Ages 2–4. (May)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

A 17-year-old’s attempt to impress his crush kicks off a series of events that culminate in his inauguration as president of the United States in this exhilarating YA debut from Chainani (the School for Good and Evil series). As the U.S. presidential election approaches, high schooler Benton posts a video online, in which he encourages young people to “throw a wrench into old Red and Blue” by electing Benton for president via write-in ballot. To his shock, the video goes viral, and not only is Benton voted into the White House, but several other nations subsequently elect teenagers as their country’s leaders. Despite Benton’s apparent instinct for politics—and the hilariously acerbic yet sound advice of his two best friends, whom he taps for his cabinet—his early attempts to spearhead government are undermined by partisan elders conspiring to maintain business-as-usual on Capitol Hill. Characters sling profane humor, jockey for power by leveraging popular-kid or mean-girl energy, and—in a cloak-and-dagger second act that turns this campy thought experiment into a pell-mell thriller—engage in imperial expansion, cleverly mirroring and critiquing contemporary politics. A pastiche of multimedia inserts including invented memes, sidewalk graffiti, and trend charts punctuate a searing and uncanny reflection on political reach, restriction, and corruption, and the friction that emerges when a wide-eyed idealist collides with the unyielding guardians of the status quo. Benton’s father is Black and his mother cues as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Pete Knapp, Park & Fine Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink