Books Too Good to Miss for Younger Readers

Nancy Brashear and Carolyn Angus
Here are 20 of our favorite books for younger readers published in 2025 that did not receive Children’s Literature and Reading reviews—books we would like to see added to classroom, school, and family library collections. 

The Faerie Isle: Tales and Traditions of Ireland’s Forgotten Folklore. Síne Quinn. Illus. by Dermot Flynn. (2025). Candlewick. 
In this collection of 16 Irish myths and legends, faeries (“good people”) manifest in many forms, each introduced by its English and Gaelic name followed by a description of its origins, behaviors, and temperament; insets with related facts; and a traditional story. For example, the entry “Mermaid (Maighdean Mhara)” provides background on the aquatic creature followed by a short tale, “The Northern Lights.” Other faeries celebrated in this lavishly illustrated book include a wailing banshee, faerie dog, lucky leprechaun, seductive selkie, and headless horseman. (foreword, glossary, sources) (Gr 3 Up) 

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Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure!: The Graphic Novel. Jeff Brown. Adapted by SB Wilson. Illus. by Corey Egbert. (2025). HarperAlley. 
In this full-color graphic novel adaptation of Brown’s Flat Stanley (1964), after being accidentally flattened by a bulletin board that falls from his bedroom wall, Stanley discovers some advantages to being flat. For example, he is able to travel across the country by mail in an envelope and fly like a kite. However, bullied for being different, Stanley doesn’t want to be flat forever, and his brother comes up with an ingenious idea to restore his former round shape. (PreK Up)

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A Gift of Dust: How Saharan Plumes Feed the Planet. Martha Brockenbrough. Illus. by Juana Martinez-Neal. (2025). Knopf.
Brockenbrough’s lyrical text and Martinez-Neal’s exquisite mixed-media artwork in which scattered golden specks of dust move across the pages tell the history of a Saharan dust plume and its route from North Africa to the Amazon—a wind-blown gift of dust that sustains “what lives today / and what will be born . . . / tomorrow.” (more information about dust, resources for further study) (Gr 3 Up) 

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The House on the Canal: The Story of the House that Hid Anne Frank. Thomas Harding. Illus. by Britta Teckentrup. (2025). Candlewick Studio. 
Harding’s spare text paired with Teckentrup’s exquisite illustrations tracks almost 400 years of history for the tall, narrow building at 263 Prinsengracht, Amsterdam, in which Anne Frank and seven other Jews hid during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. The original structure, built in 1635, which Anne Frank called “the old house on the canal,” has served as a home, barn, business, warehouse, hiding place (its annex), and, currently, the Anne Frank Haus museum. (opening note, detailed timeline) (Gr 3 Up) ​

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How to Say Goodbye in Cuban. Daniel Miyares. (2025). Anne Schwartz. 
This historical fiction graphic novel (a memoir of the author’s father, Carlos Miyares) begins in 1956. Twelve-year-old Carlos and his family live in the Cuban countryside until Papi wins the lottery and they move to a city where he fulfills his dream of owning a furniture workshop. After Fidel Castro returns from exile and begins the Revolution to overthrow the government of President Batista, the Miyares family’s business is seized, and Papi ‘disappears’ for one year before returning to help his family, along with others, escape to Miami, Florida, on a fishing boat to begin a new life. (author’s note) (Gr 3 Up) 

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Interrupting Chicken Saves the Nutcracker (Interrupting Chicken #4). David Ezra Stein. (2025). Candlewick.  
Papa is taking Chicken to see The Nutcracker. Reminded not to interrupt the performance, of course, she does—three times before they are kicked out. When Papa discovers that the little red chicken has put the nutcracker in his backpack, he explains that the show can’t be finished without it. They return to the theater, and she gives the onstage narrator “What HaPPiND To The NUTCRAKER” by ChiKN to read to the audience. (game) (PreK Up) 

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In the World of Whales. Michelle Cusolito. Illus. by Jessica Lanan. (2025). Neal Porter. 
Cusolito’s lyrical third-person text and Lanan’s blue-toned underwater scenes tell the true story of a free diver’s experience witnessing the birth of a calf while photographing a pod of sperm whales in the Azores. A double gatefold beautifully conveys this human-and-whale connection. “Man and whales dance / an underwater ballet. / They twist and twirl, / spin and spiral.” (diagram of a whale’s anatomy; information on diving without breathing apparatus, whales, and resources; author’s and illustrator’s notes) (PreK Up) 

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Island Storm. Brian Floca. Illus. by Sydney Smith. (2025). Neal Porter. 
“Now take my hand / and we’ll go see / the sea before the storm.” Two young siblings set out alone on an adventure on their island. As the storm intensifies, they repeatedly ask each other whether they have had enough, or should try for more. “You pull on me, I’ll pull on you, and we decide to go on.” And they do so until a gigantic BOOM! sends them running for home. The storm continues to rage all night, but the next day the sea is calm and they play together on the shore—as their mother watches. (PreKUp) 

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The Littlest Drop. Sascha Alper. Illus. by Jerry Pinkney & Brian Pinkney. (2025). Anne Schwartz. 
When a wildfire starts, all the animals flee to the riverbank, but a tiny hummingbird takes action to save her nest. She fills her beak with the littlest drop of water and drips it on the fire, saying, “I am doing what I can.” After an elephant says, “Then I will do what I can,” all the others join in to douse the fire—and the hummingbird adds one last drop. (author’s note, illustrator Brian Pinkey’s note) (PreK Up) 

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Making Art. Diana Ejaita. (2025). Rise. 
This child-friendly picture book on making art invites readers to join a diverse group of young artists in exploring what art is and what it means to them by looking around to find ideas for what to make and what to use. In addressing the reader directly, artist-author Ejaita’s message is clear—art is for everyone and by sharing your art with others, you share yourself. “All of your art adds beauty to this Earth.” (PreK-Gr 2) 

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Max in the Land of Lies: A Tale of World War II (Operation Kinderspion #2). Adam Gidwidtz. (2025). Dutton. (Gr 3 Up) 
Jewish 13-year-old Max Bretzfeld, who was sent to England through Operation Kindertransport in Max in the House of Spies (2024), returns to Berlin as a child spy for British Intelligence (still accompanied by two mischievous spirits: Stein, a Jewish dybbuk, and Berg, a German kobold). Trained as a specialist in radio technology, Max is tasked with uncovering Nazi propaganda but also secretly searches for his parents. (author’s note, annotated bibliography) (Gr 3 Up) 

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Mushrooms and Company: How a Marvelously Moldy Network Supports Life on Earth. Geert-Jan Roebers. Trans. by Michele Hutchinson. Illus. by Wendy Panders. (2025). Greystone Kids. 
Roebers’ conversational and information-packed narrative and Panders’ colorful artwork, drawings of fungi (identified by their common names) and humorous cartoon-style images, as well as some captioned close-up photographs of mushrooms, make this compendium of organisms in the Fungi Kingdom accessible and engaging. The book ends with a “Do It Yourself” section of activities focused on mushrooms. (translated from Dutch; glossary, index) (Gr 3 Up)   

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The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli. Karina Yan Glaser. (2025). Allida. 
Parallel stories of two 11-year-olds facing adversity during nine moon cycles are presented through alternating chapters. In 731 CE, during the Tang Dynasty, when his family contract tuberculosis and are quarantined in Chang’An, China, Han Yu sets out alone on the dangerous Silk Roads trading route to make a delivery for his father and find a cure. In 1931, during the Great Depression, Luli Lee comes up with a clever plan to save her immigrant parents’ New York City Chinatown restaurant which faces foreclosure. Cultural themes, animal connections, and a scroll painting with a poem weave the children’s lives together as they help their families overcome these disastrous obstacles. (maps, author’s note, bibliography) (Gr 3 Up)  

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Oh Dear, Look What I’ve Got! Michael Rosen. Illus. by Helen Oxenbury. (2025). Candlewick. 
Rosen’s rhyming text and Oxenbury’s signature pencil-and-watercolor illustrations tell a story about a boy who goes shopping to buy particular items and gets what he does NOT want—a parrot not a carrot, a cat instead of a hat, a goat not a coat, and so on until he asks for a cup and gets something he does want. “Oh dear! / / They gave me a pup! / A wriggly pup . . .” The story quickly becomes a guessing game, and ends with a delightful surprise. (PreS Up) 

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A Place Just for Me. Loredana Baldinucci. Trans. by Monica Meneghetti. Illus. by Melinda Berti. (2025). Greystone Kids. 
Silver, the smallest member of the large Mouse family (parents, five siblings, and grandparents), spends the day visiting the homes of neighborhood friends in hope of finding a place that is “quiet enough for him to do nothing at all.” None feel just right, so he heads for home and finds that Mom has a surprise for him, a cozy spot with a “Silver’s Quiet Space” sign in their home under an old elm tree. (translated from Italian). (PreK Up) 

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A Pond, a Poet, and Three Pests. Caroline Adderson. Illus. by Lauren Tamaki. (2025). Groundwood. 
In this beautifully-crafted picture book inspired by Matsuo Bashō’s “The Old Pond,” as the poet meditates at a pond, a carp, a lily, and a mosquito in turn try to attract his attention. However, it is a frog whose decision not to let the “three pests” and the pensive poet stop his midnight swim leads to his being immortalized in a poem. “Old pond— / Frog Jumps in. / Splash!” (author’s note) (PreK Up) 

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Real-Life Disasters (The Danger Files #1). Anna Crowley Redding. Illus. by Robbie Cathro. (2025). Candlewick. 
Redding invites readers to play disaster detective by giving access to the Danger Files of five disasters: the Great Chicago Fire (October 8-10, 1871), the sinking of the Titanic (April 15, 1912), the Spanish Flu pandemic (1918-1920), the Boston Molasses Flood (January 15, 1919), and the Hindenburg disaster (May 6, 1937). The narrative text with “Fact Files,” “Danger Clues,” and “Impact!” insets and Cathro’s cartoon-like illustrations are engaging. (author’s note, source notes, bibliography, index) (Gr 3-5) 

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This Is Orange: A Field Trip Through Color. Rachel Poliquin. Illus. by Julie Morstad. (2025). Candlewick. 
“We must begin with the orange. / So very orange. / So deliciously round and sweet.” Poliquin’s lyrical text, filled with facts and stories about the color orange, including the etymology of the word orange and its cultural and historical significance, is paired with Morstad’s mixed-media artwork created in a variety of orange hues. This intriguing “field trip through color” ends with a challenge to readers to find orange in their world. (PreK Up) 

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Where Are You, Brontë? Tomie dePaola. Illus. by Barbara McClintock. (2025). Simon & Schuster. 
Tomie dePaola’s picture book, published posthumously, is a moving ode to his dog, Brontë. Headings of ‘Where Are You, Brontë? complement vignettes in which his simple first-person text and McLintock’s illustrations (which reflect dePaola’s style) in paneled, full-page, and double-page spreads celebrate their twelve and a half years together—from Brontë’s arrival at the Chicago airport to as a puppy, to shared joyful days, to his maneuvering the world after going blind, to his death—a well as dePaola’s period of mourning, missing his beloved companion with his heart forever filled with special memories. (illustrator’s note) (PreK-Gr 2) 

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Xolo: How One Good Dog Saved Humankind. Dona Barba Higuera. Illus. by Mariana Ruiz Johnson. (2025). Levine Querido. 
In Higuera’s reimagining of the Aztec myth in which the feathered serpent god of wind Quetzalcoatl is credited with bringing humans back to Earth from the underworld, his twin brother Xolotl, the dog-headed god of lightning, death, and misfortune, tells his version of what really happened. “I had not only created man’s best friend. I was man’s best friend.” Johnson’s vibrant stylized artwork, inspired by the pre-Columbian Mexican Codex Borgia, for this captivating graphic novel is magnificent. (author’s note, illustrator’s note) (Gr 3 Up) 

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Nancy Brashear is Professor Emeritus of English at Azusa Pacific University, in Azusa, California. Carolyn Angus is former Director of the George G. Stone Center for Children’s Books, Claremont Graduate University, in Claremont, California.