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First established in 1919 by librarian Franklin K. Matthiews, Children’s Book Week is dedicated to celebrating and encouraging children’s literacy. When it comes to kids, reading is more than just a hobby or a fun activity; it’s an essential life skill. Literacy gives us the ability to communicate our feelings and ideas, to share experiences and strengthen connections with other people. When we introduce reading at an early age, it gives children the chance to learn this fundamental skill and sets them on a path for success.
For this year’s theme, Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council have chosen the slogan “How Do You Book?” In the official 2022 Children’s Book Week poster, award-winning illustrator Raúl the Third highlights possible answers: “Under a tree? On the computer? At the beach? In bed?” To honor this question, we’ve put together our own list of kid lit that covers the full scope of the theme. From beachy reads to bedtime reads, in the sunlight or on a blue light monitor, we’ve selected one picture book and one middle-grade novel for each category. Peruse our list and see if you find any new reads for Children’s Book Week — and ask yourself, how do you book?
UNDER A TREE
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My Tree
by Hope Lim, illustrated by Il Sung Na (Neal Porter Books)
There’s no better way to start off the list than to honor this heartwarming tale of a boy and his beloved tree. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, My Tree tenderly depicts the struggles of homesickness and childhood immigration. When a young boy moves from South Korea to America, he’s thrilled to find a plum tree standing tall in their new backyard. With its new name of “Plumee,” the tree brings comfort our protagonist and reminds him of a beloved old tree back in Korea. But after a year of helping to quell the boy’s homesickness, Plumee falls during a powerful storm. Our young protagonist and his friends play amongst the fallen branches, imagining the old tree to be a dragon or a pirate ship. But soon, the remains of the tree must be cleaned up and taken away. A new plum tree is planted in its place, and with time, a new friendship is formed. This gentle read recognizes the hardship of leaving behind your home and assures young readers that with change comes the opportunity for new friends.
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Forest World
by Margarita Engle (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
In times of personal upheaval, nature can be a great comfort. That’s certainly true for Edver, the main character of Forest World by Young People’s Poet Laureate and award-winning author Margarita Engle. Edver was already apprehensive about going to Cuba to be reunited with his father and the rest of his family — all people he barely knows. But now he also has to grapple with the fact that this entire time, he’s had a sister who he didn’t even know existed. Luza isn’t too happy either — she’d been looking forward to reuniting with her family, but after years of separation and growing up in two different cultures, Edver isn’t at all the little brother that Luza expected. The two feel as though they have nothing in common, save for their mutual love of the lush Cuban forest that their father works to protect. So when a poacher descends on the endangered lands, Edver and Luza join forces to save their beloved forest from harm. Told in verse, Forest World weaves complex discussions of family, identity and the delicate beauty of nature into a sweeping, enchanting read.
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ON THE COMPUTER
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How to Code a Rollercoaster
by Josh Funk, illustrated by Sara Palacios (Viking Books for Young Readers)
Children are being introduced to technology at an earlier age than ever — so why not set them up for success and help them understand what they’re dealing with? A member of the Girls Who Code booklist, How to Code a Rollercoaster highlights the fun to be found in computer science and how math can be applied to everyday activities. When our protagonist Pearl and her robot-best-friend Pascal arrive at the amusement park, they’re eager to make the most out of their day. That means calculating how many ride tokens they use throughout the day and finding the opportune time to ride the Python Coaster in the hopes to beat the long wait! Sara Palacios’ whimsical drawings depict the duo’s antics as they enjoy everything the park has to offer, as well as illustrating how the two use code throughout the day. Real-life software engineer Josh Funk lays out his expertise of the field in a way young readers — and tech-challenged parents! — can easily understand, providing a fun and informative read for everyone.
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Click’d
by Tamara Ireland Stone (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Code gets a bad rep for being hard to understand, but it can be a piece of cake compared to another challenge that kids have to deal with: middle school. As social dynamics become more complex and adolescence hits, kids are looking for reassurance that they’re not the only ones having trouble adjusting. In her remarkable middle-grade debut, author Tamara Ireland Stone teaches young readers how to unscramble code, squash old beef and find the courage to do the right thing, even when it’s hard.
To Allie Nevarro, the upcoming youth coding competition is everything. She’s spent all summer at CodeGirls camp perfecting her submission — an app called CLICK’D that matches users by their shared interests and fosters new friendships. The app is soon a hit throughout school, and Allie hopes the success will help her eke out a win against her coding nemesis, Nick. But when a glitch in the code threatens to leak everyone’s private info, Allie may just find herself making an unlikely alliance in the hope of saving everyone’s secrets. This award-winning book perfectly captures the complicated, messy and transformative experience that is middle school.
Interested in more middle-grade reads featuring STEM? Check out a full list of our favorites here.
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AT THE BEACH
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The Sandcastle That Lola Built
by Megan Maynor, illustrated by Kate Berube (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
A remix of the classic The House That Jack Built (no, not the horror film!), The Sandcastle That Lola Built encapsulates all the summery fun of a beach day. As soon as her feet hit the sand, our young protagonist Lola has a plan for building the sandcastle of her dreams. She’s aiming for a structure with high towers and sea glass details — but when other beachgoers keep messing up her vision, it’s clear construction isn’t going to plan. Rather than give up, Lola learns to roll with the alterations and even recruits other children onto the workforce. On one page, a toddler with a toy bulldozer nearly takes out a tower, but Lola is able to redirect him into digging the moat. Thanks to her impeccable leadership skills, more and more children join Lola’s team, and the sandcastle grows bigger and bigger — outshining what Lola would have been capable of by herself. With playful illustrations and a whole lot of humor, The Sandcastle That Lola Built shows children that when they work together, they have the power to create something even better than what they may have originally imagined.
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Beyond the Bright Sea
by Lauren Wolk (Puffin Books)
Recognized as a ‘Best Book of the Year’ by NPR, Kirkus and the School Library Journal, it’s no secret that Beyond the Bright Sea is an extraordinary read. Readers young and old will be on the edges of their seats as they follow the story of Crow, a twelve-year-old girl living on one of the Elizabeth Islands off the Massachusetts coast in the 1920s. Abandoned and sent adrift as a baby, she was rescued by an islander named Osh, and he and their neighbor Miss Maggie are now the only family that Crow knows. Although the island’s other inhabitants see her as an outsider, Crow has always been happy living alongside Osh and Miss Maggie and loves her island home. But when she spots a strange fire burning across the bay, Crow finds the question of her identity igniting inside her. What kind of past does she have on those coasts?
A master of middle-grade historical fiction, Lauren Wolk’s emotional prose roll off the page like waves in a stormy sea. Readers will find themselves swept up in the haunting atmosphere of Beyond the Bright Sea and will feel as though they’re adventuring right alongside the protagonist.
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IN BED
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Grab Your Pillow, Armadillo
by Haily and Kevin Meyers (Gibbs Smith)
For many kids, a bedtime story is an essential part of their sleep routine. It doesn’t hurt that the activity has been proven to strengthen children’s cognitive abilities — and help them feel safe and loved. So what’s better than a bedtime read that highlights just how much you cherish your little one?
Brought to you by the husband-and-wife team behind the all-things-baby brand Lucy Darling, Haily and Kevin Meyers, this is the perfect read-aloud for bedtime. Grab Your Pillow, Armadillo reminds us that no matter who we are, whether we’re feathered or fluffy, we all want to wish our kids a good night. Wordplay and whimsical illustrations combine, featuring a myriad of animals all wishing goodnight to their children. With lines like “time’s a tickin’, little chicken,” to “rest snug, lady bug” — and with flaps that are “perfectly sized for little hands and fingers” — Grab Your Pillow, Armadillo is the perfect way to tuck your toddler in for the night.
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The Nightmare Thief
by Nicole Lesperance (Sourcebooks Young Readers)
Where there’s sleep, there are dreams — and where there are dreams, there are nightmares. It’s something Maren Partridge knows better than anyone, since she comes from a family of professional dream-crafters. At the Partridge Dream Shop, customers can have their wildest dreams crafted from scratch. There’s only one rule: a dream cannot be given without the dreamer’s permission. Maren has never questioned this rule before, but when her sister Hallie falls into a coma, Maren’s willing to do whatever it takes to heal her — even if it means going against her family’s wishes. But there are consequences for breaking the strict code of dream-crafting, and the repercussions will affect not just the Partridge family but the entire town of Rockpool Bay. Maren soon faces an impossible decision: continue to break the rules and save Hallie, or save the town from her own hand-crafted nightmares. This fantastical middle-grade read combines magic and horror to create a darkly beautiful story of family, fear and what happens when dreams turn dark.
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