December 2025: Your Favorite Picture Books Read This Year > Likes and Comments

Happy Holidays! For December, I'd love for us to share our favorite picture books of the year that weren't covered in the Picture Book Club already. I really miss the old days of GoodReads where it was easy to receive notifications and post on reviews (and actually know when someone posted on your review!) I know I have missed a lot of great picture books this year and it would be really fun to be able to get some conversation going about our favorites. Open to any picture books you've read this year, doesn't have to be a 2025 publication date :-)

K/F,
I don't know if this is accessible by time machine, but...I just read Abdul's Story by Jamila Bigelow.

Ooh I didn't mark them all. I'll have to go look in the Banned Books thread and Reading Rainbow thread. I have a few more on my nightstand TBR.

Great idea. I can guess that I'll be adding to my to-read lists!

I'll try to find some titles on my shelf. So many, I'm sure, if I can wade through them and through the adult books that I've read.

Picking a favorite picture book is akin to picking a favorite child! Probably Asiago by Adam McHeffey, My Grandma and Grandpa Rock! by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo and Is It Asleep? by Olivier Tallec. So see? I could not pick a favorite child!

Well, I will be adding not just one book. I agree with Ivonne that Asiago (which I stumbled upon on Open Library while doing research for the autumn treasure hunt) is simply lovely (not creepy at all, just sweet and really really fun) but there will certainly be more on my list.

Manybooks wrote: "Well, I will be adding not just one book. I agree with Ivonne that Asiago (which I stumbled upon on Open Library while doing research for the autumn treasure hunt) is simply lovely ..."

You do not know how grateful I am that you introduced me to this picture book. Please let there be a sequel!

Ivonne wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "Well, I will be adding not just one book. I agree with Ivonne that Asiago (which I stumbled upon on Open Library while doing research for the autumn treasure hunt)..."

A sequel would be lovely, but I have not found one.

Wedding birds


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The 1986 picture book Wedding Birds (found with much delight and totally unexpectedly on Open Library) presents Naomi Lewis' translation (or more to the point a really really lovely close adaptation) of the traditional German folksong Die Vogelhochzeit, which basically features many specifically named bird species attending the forest nuptials of a thrush (in German called die Drossel) and a blackbird (in German called Die Ansel) and with there being more than twenty verses showcasing more than twenty different birds (and with Die Vogelhochzeit not only being one of my absolute favourite childhood German language songs, but that both in Kindergarten and in grade one, Die Vogelhochzeit was repeatedly sung not only because it is a fun and jaunty ditty but also specifically to familiarise us with the many bird species inhabiting the German sky).

Sonya's Chickens


Really like Phoebe Wahl's combination of text and images and how the father (a farmer) explains to his daughter Sonya that the fox who took one of her chickens is not evil but a predator feeding its family (and that he then makes the chicken coop more secure to keep the fox out but also never blames the fox and does not let Sonya do this either).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Ode to Underwear


With their 2013 rhyming picture book Ode to Underwear (and no, I have not read the 2024 edition since it is not available on Open Library) Helaine Becker (text) and Mike Boldt (artwork) have created an irreverently humorous, rollickingly poetic both verbal and visual celebration of around twelve different types of underpants, showing that when the family is gone, their sentient and magically alive underclothes come out to play, to cavort and with each pair textually being shown by Becker as unique in their own specific ways (all gaudily and hilariously expressively depicted by Boldt with broadly smiling faces, stick limbs and each pair of underpants having and showing very distinct aesthetic personalities as well), and with young readers and/or listeners following the bouncy rhythm of Ode to Underwear as different kinds of undergarments are shown by text and images as having all kinds of fun, fun, fun around the house (well, at least until their owners return home and which occurs on pages twenty-four and twenty-five of Ode to Underwear).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

There’s No Such Thing as Vegetables


With There's No Such Thing as Vegetables (2024), Lyle Lukoff's words and Andrea Tsurumi's accompanying artwork present in a delightful marriage of engaging text and brightly descriptive images how Chester, when he is asked to gather vegetables for a salad from the community garden, encounters a hilariously cocksure and opinionated cast of anthropomorphic garden produce who categorically reject the “vegetable” label (since for example broccoli florets are flowers, potatoes are roots and tomatoes are indeed fruit). And yes indeed, Lukoff has all the anthropomorphic plants in There's No Such Thing as Vegetables call themselves and each other by their preferred terms (and not vegetables) and also live in complete and perfect harmony (which is a bit pie-in-the sky perhaps but makes me smile). But yeah, a list of books and websites on botany and on social constructs would be nice.

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These are some of my favorite picture books that I read this year for the Mock Caldecott group, These were all published in 2025 and might be contenders for the 2026 Caldecott Award.

Good Golden Sun
Wenzel's beautiful illustrations are rendered in cut paper, watercolor, acrylic, colored pencil, crayon and computer. The lyrical text takes the reader through a day watching various animals at work and play. Many of the spreads feature bright yellows and golden yellows.

Let's Be Bees
I loved this book, but only wrote a very brief review:
Rousing tale of father and child engaging in imaginative play. And yes, I loved the breezy cartoon illustrations.

Don't Trust Fish
I agree that this is a laugh out loud book, and I do think young readers will find it quite funny.
It starts out looking like a primer on different classes of animals, begining with mammal, reptile, and bird, These illustrations look stiff and formal as in a textbook. But then the fish is all signature Santat. Most of the book goes on to tell the reader why they should not trust fish, for all the vile and malicious things they do, including plans to take over the world. Then suddenly the reader is back to the primer with amphibian. The final double-page spread reveals the author of all the anti-fish rhetoric. The contrast between the textbook-style illustrations and Santat's wild and quirky cartoons is funny. I would vote for this book for a Caldecott--the world needs more humorous Caldecott winners!

Where the Deer Slip Through
This is a gorgeous book. On the verso of the title page, the illustrations are described: "The artist drew black-and-white images on scratchboard, transferred the pictures onto paper, and added watercolor to create the illustrations for this book." And they are beautiful! And the illustrations are perfect at mirroring and expanding on the cumulative, lyrical text.

Pop! Goes the Nursery Rhyme
This book will work especially well with youmg children already thoroughly aquainted with these very well-known nursery rhymes. I expect that the interrupting weasel and the aggravated secretary bird will hit the funny bones of most children. Wonderful cartoon illustrations make the most of each of these rhymes, the secretary bird, and the weasel.

Meet the Mini-Mammals: A Night at the Natural History Museum
The illustrations by Brian Lies are absolutely gorgeous, rendered in acrylic paint and colored pencil. The animals depicted are very realistic looking. On each double-page spread, the host, a ferret, introduces one mini-mammal, from the Japanese dwarf flying squirrel to the Kitti's hog-nosed bat (or bumblebee bat). The author provides a paragraph of info about each animal, with more info in the back matter. A short bibliography is also included. A great piece of picturebook non-fiction for little ones.

Where Are You, Brontë?
DePaola, in his final book, tells a touching story of his life with his terrier, Bronte, for more than 12 years. McClintock's illustrations are fabulous. In spreads and panels, she lovingly depicts Tomie and Bronte in an art style that closely mimics DePaola's own art style.

Cranky, Crabby Crow
Tabor has done it again with a quirky adventure story accompanied by appealing cartoon illustrations.
I loved that in Crow's rocket ship, he not only has buttons for missiles and lasers, but also for bubbles and cupcakes!

Dear Acorn (Love, Oak): Letter Poems to Friends
Interesting poems, written as letters between acorn and oak; cloud and water droplets; bubbles and sky; button and coat; and more. Melissa Sweet's collage, watercolor, and mixed media illustrations are colorful and busy, and add details not mentioned in the poems. A very nice addition to Sidman's poetry books. A possible Caldecott contender.

Whose Footprints Are These?


With lots of visual clues to pore over, with floral and faunal details to discover and also if need be to discuss, Whose Footprints Are These? and Muller's pictures are absolutely aesthetically magical, are fun, engaging and also educational, and that for me Whose Footprints Are These? rates with a solid and shining five stars (and yes, five star ratings from me is very rare and that it is indeed even rarer for me to consider a wordless picture book with a five star rating, but that Whose Footprints Are These? in my humble opinion totally and hugely merits and deserves this in every way).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Animals at Play in Mi'kma'ki


Artist Mel Beaulieu resides in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, is a member of Metepenagiag First Nation and is known for their combination of traditional Mi'kma'ki beading and augmented reality. And ALL of the eleven animals encountered in Beaulieu's artwork for the 2024 board book Animals at Play in Mi'kma'ki gloriously, sillily and humorously demonstrates this, with a fox depicted by beads as playing soccer, a black bear donning a camera, a moose bedecked with colourful Christmas lights, a beaver wielding an axe, a crow wearing and waving sparkling jewellery, a heron wading around in wellingtons, a salmon using a snorkel, an eel armed with a fishing net, an otter using a floatation device and finally a bald eagle reading aloud to their chick.

Now with regard to what is verbally being provided in Animals at Play in Mi'kma'ki, this indeed is simplicity itself, with basically just the English animal word being featured and then followed by the corresponding word in Mi'kma'ki (as well as a very much appreciated and user-friendly pronunciation guide and right in the text proper of Animals at Play in Mi'kma'ki and as such not relegated to the back of the book as is unfortunately often the case). Five stars!!

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The Bremen Town Musicians


Yes and with me not in any way exaggerating here either, Anthea Bell's translation of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm's Märchen Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten (which first appeared in the 1819 second edition of their Kinder- und Hausmärchen) for the 1992 picture book The Bremen Town Musicians is totally spectacular, with Bell faithfully rendering Die Bremer Stadmusikanten from German to English with regard to themes, contents and general narrative flow. Now with regard to Bernadette Watts' accompanying artwork for The Bremen Town Musicians, her pictures are aesthetically gorgeous, are nicely visually realistic but at the same time also imaginative and nicely do reflect Anthea Bell's text and vice versa. Four stars and only not five stars, as information on the Brothers Grimm and on Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten as a folktale should in my opinion be included.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Depth of the Lake and the Height of the Sky


South Korean graphic designer and illustrator Kim Jihyun's 2017 The Depth of the Lake and the Height of the Sky (2017) is basically and delightfully a visually stunning and aesthetically engaging wordless picture book about an urban child visiting and enjoying the countryside (five stars from me, and that is totally rare for wordless picture books). And, Kim Jihyun's artwork for The Depth of the Lake and the Height of the Sky is of course thus absolutely and totally visually lovely, is both all-encompassingly expansive and at the same time full of detail, with my eyes aesthetically adoring both the majesty and beauty of nature and equally so the many small details Jihyun's pictures are showing in The Depth of the Lake and the Height of the Sky.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Varenka


Textually and visually delightful is Varenka (and I also do really appreciate how Varenka shows war as something horrid and threatening but with Watts making use of neither violent images nor violent text). And yes, with Bernadette Watts' colourful (using soft pastels) and nicely naïve illustrations (and with a style that resembles Eastern Orthodox icons) totally and completely capturing the spirit of her text and with her words also totally capturing the spirit of the artwork as well, yes indeed, Varenka is absolutely a wonderful and most highly recommended picture book.

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The Alphabet Tree


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With his 1968 picture book The Alphabet Tree Leo Lionni presents a charming story and for me equally promotes an always relevant and necessary message highlighting and showcasing the power of letters and words (as well as world peace, that peace trumps everything, something as relevant today as it was in 1968 during the Cold War and of course even more specifically so during the Vietnam War which was pretty much raging in 1968).

Highly recommended (but if I were reading this with or too young children today, I would change the goodwill to all men in the message of peace to goodwill to all people or goodwill to everyone, I would leave out gender).

The Wordy Book


The Wordy Book (2021) is devoted to the tricks and to the beauty of the English language, with author/illustrator Julie Paschkis' playful and engaging word-themed paintings and text combinations encouraging her readers (or her listeners) to do likewise, to also play with words, and that in the process, Paschkis absolutely and totally delightfully explores the elasticity and seemingly endless possibilities of English but actually of languages in general. And just to say that although The Wordy Book is a picture book, what is verbally and illustratively being featured by Julie Paschkis is in my opinion something for word buffs both young and old, but furthermore, that I personally would probably not be using The Wordy Book with and for children younger than eight or so as the sheer amount of featured nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, participles etc. could become a trifle overwhelming (although if parents, teachers, librarians etc. would consider not reading The Wordy Book with intended young audiences from cover to cover but instead using short and manageable bits and pieces, well, I do think that The Wordy Book could also and easily something for younger children, for six and seven year olds as well). Delightful and in my opinion also a superb springboard for creative writing activities for classroom and library programs, for me, The Wordy Book is solidly five stars and totally makes me smile.

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Pride Puppy!


So even though Pride Puppy!'s alphabet book format is rather standard in set-up and as such a pretty traditional abecedarian in many ways, Robin Stevenson's words and Julie McLaughlin's art do delightfully and wonderfully present a rich narrational and illustrative portrait of absolute diversity and total inclusion (and delightfully focused around a curious and energetic dog who just wants to experience everything and thus slips off their leash). Pride Puppy! totally makes me smile, although the fact that author Robin Stevenson has been receiving death threats is of course NOT funny but infuriating.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Wolfie's Secret

A delightful (both verbal and illustrative) picture book of a wolf who enjoys baking and does not want to be big and bad (and as such also wants to eat the cakes etc. he bakes and not gobble up little girls, grandmas and piglets). Love the combination of text and images and that Nicola Senior (author and illustrator) both celebrates baking (and also provides a recipe for scones) and also turns the big bad wolf of folklore into a gentle and talented baker.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Wolf-Birds


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With The Wolf Birds (2015), author and illustrator Willow Dawson textually and visually evocatively (but also enlighteningly and without any kind of didacticism) portrays and describes the deliberately symbiotic relationship between wolves and ravens, with Dawson's poetic and flowingly rendered words and accompanying illustrations gracefully as well as to a point rather bluntly showing how ravens often lead wolves to prey animals that both of them can then consume (with the wolves doing the hunting, the killing and the ravens later eating what the wolves have left behind) and that this of course helps both the wolves and the ravens to survive and to thrive (and in particular during the winter months and during which season Willow Dawson has The Wolf Birds be taking place).

The Wolf Who Cried Boy!


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Both words and images for The Wolf Who Cried Boy!, in my opinion, they do work really nicely together, and yes, with very much verbal and illustrative humour manage to show both sides and equally so showcasing the many similarities between the young boy and the wolf cub, with James O'Neill's chattily funny style (and which his text often also being specifically directed right towards the reader or listener) brilliantly matched and mirrored by Russell Ayto's sharp, straight lined and laughter filled illustrations. Lots of fun, warmly recommended and with The Wolf Who Cried Boy! presenting a totally lovely and smiles inducing combination of words and pictures which both totally inverts The Boy Who Cried Wolf and as such also makes both boy and wolf not into enemies but shows their budding and emerging friendship (even if the villagers and the wolf pack do not agree or at least do not yet agree regarding the latter).

Brave Volodymyr: The Story of Volodymyr Zelensky and the Fight for Ukraine


Basic and totally (as well as generally uncritically) pro Ukraine, anti Vladimir Putin and making Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky into a paragon of bravery and an absolute hero, but for me (since I totally admire Zelensky and absolutely despise Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin clone and dicktator, Vladimir Putin and with my spelling variation of dictator being totally deliberate), for me Linda Elovitz Marshall's text and Grasya Olyiko's artwork are spectacular and that Brave Volodymyr: The Story of Volodymyr Zelensky and the Fight for Ukraine thus also rates solidly five stars for me (and I also really like the author pointing out that Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish, which further discredits Putin's lies and propaganda regarding the Ukraine and especially President Zelensky somehow being Nazi).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Bone Button Borscht


Text and images are lovely and engaging, a delightful Ukrainian Jewish variant of Stone Soup, where instead of stones the community building ingredients are bone buttons and the soup is a bright red traditional borscht. A five star book for me although lowered to four stars since especially for Stone Soup variants, and author's note should be a given.

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I liked The Spider's Gift: A Ukrainian Christmas Story a bit better than Shirley Climo's set in Germany The Cobweb Christmas (although the stories are rather similar with the spiders helping with the Christmas tree) and mostly because I find the illustrations for The Spider's Gift: A Ukrainian Christmas Story much more to my tastes (but both stories are lovely and nicely arachnid friendly).

The Spider's Gift: A Ukrainian Christmas Story


A lovely story of kindness, of sharing, of not really needing money to make a happy Christmas and also showing the importance of being kind to spiders (of appreciating arachnids) is The Spider’s Gift A Ukrainian Christmas Story and with Eric A. Kimmel's engagingly emotional but also never exaggerated or artificial feeling penmanship and Katya Krenina's warm acrylic illustrations providing a delightfully wonderful combination of words and artwork and totally making me smile (a story that feels both folkloric and also realistic and where text and images really nicely manage to reflect and mirror one an other, and yes indeed, Kimmel incorporating Ukrainian words and many specifically Ukrainian Christmas details into his story, this for me ups my rating for The Spider’s Gift A Ukrainian Christmas Story from four to solidly five stars).


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Monarch Butterflies: Explore the Life Journey of One of the Winged Wonders of the World


Excellent combination of informative text and similarly informative and lushly descriptive images, all about monarch butterflies, their life cycle and their mass migrations from Canada and the USA to central Mexico (and also showing threats to monarchs and how to help protect them, to help with conservation), highly recommended although I do wish Ann Hobbie would provide not just online resources but also book titles and that I do not consider it environmentally sound and acceptable to promote and encourage children taking monarch caterpillars from the wild to raise at home,

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Kathryn wrote: "Happy Holidays! For December, I'd love for us to share our favorite picture books of the year that weren't covered in the Picture Book Club already. I really miss the old days of GoodReads where it..."

I have just noticed that pretty much ALL of my favourites from 2025 I have previously mentioned in the group. I hope it is alright showcasing them again, but if not, I apologise (and if need be I could also delete them).

Take Away the A


Michaël Escoffier's alphabet book (and I now also want the French version) appeals both to my inner child but also to me as a language instructor with its cleaver set up of taking away the letter of the alphabet being featured to make an entirely different word (so that for a beast becomes best, for b bride becomes ride, for c chair becomes hair and so on and so on until the letter z). I adore both text (the concept) and also Kris di Giacomo's accompanying artwork which is expressive, funny and reminds me nostalgically of Maurice Sendak. And the only reason why my rating is four and not five stars is that I do wish the at the back of Take Away the A the A Escoffier would list more examples for each letter (and indeed in a classroom setting, like for example for ESL students, I would either provide additional examples or have students work in groups to come up with additional examples).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read a number of picture books I rated 5 stars. Today I reread which is just so darn cute it makes me smile!

The top contenders include:

Just What to Do A very sweet primer on helping someone through grief. It's funny and heartwarming. I appreciate how the story covers loss of a plant, pets, and finally, a human family member. The child is agender so the reader can put themselves in the narrator's place if they choose.

The Mother of a Movement: Jeanne Manford -- Ally, Activist, and Co-Founder of PFLAG
For older children and adults, this is a biography of an amazing woman who stood up for her son and others like him and moved the needle towards acceptance.

Me and My Dysphoria Monster: An Empowering Story to Help Children Cope with Gender Dysphoria
This is very good because it focuses on how the child feels and how those feelings grow. It's sadly easy to see how children feel compelled to take their own lives when the monster grows too big. Fortunately this child has parents who are clueless at first but finally figure it out and how to help.

Equality's Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America
Excellent and very necessary "A right isn't a right until it's granted to all."

Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights
Also very necessary to teach readers how to fight for equal rights.

Zahra's Blessing: A Ramadan Story
This story is very sweet and heartwarming for any reader.

I rated Chooch Helped with five stars and absolutely love the OwnVoices combination of text and images, how Andrea L. Rogers' text shows both a sweet and poignant general family story (with me loving the dynamic between Chooch and Sissy and that the parents actually apologised to Sissy for yelling) and equally so Cherokee culture and that Rebecca Lee Kunz's artwork both mirrors and expands on Rogers' text (and depicts many Cherokee symbols but also shows that the Cherokee are not exaggeratedly exotic but first and foremost people with families, jobs, hobbies etc.).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

King for a Day


In King for a Day (2013) Rukhsana Khan's words and Christiane Krömer's accompanying artwork textually and illustratively present how in the city of Lahore, Pakistan, the spring festival of Basant with its kite flying competitions and evening fireworks has arrived, how young protagonist and first person narrator Malik has for this year's festival only made one kite to use in the kite battles over the city, but is still sure that "Falcon" will definitely be fast enough to reign supreme, to avoid having its strings cut, and that with his specially constructed for speed, agility etc. kite, Malik will also be able to capture the most kites and to thus be considered "King for a Day" (hence of course the book title). And with King for a Day Khan vividly features a unique spring festival (and that King for a Day of course also tells of Malik's ingenious, competition winning kite construction and kite flying know-how and equally so showing him successfully standing up to and repeatedly defeating a despicable local bully) and with Krömer's illustrations (using a mix of drawings, paper and Pakistani-themed textiles) not only reflecting what Rukhsana Khan's is telling, what she is verbally describing in King for a Day but also nicely visually expanding on the presented text, with Christiane Krömer's collages capturing the crispness and the variety of the many different types of kites in the sky above Lahore for Basant and with Krömer's artwork also depicting that Malik sits in a wheelchair. So yes, and indeed really wonderfully I must say, in King for a Day, that Malik has physical challenges and is in a wheelchair is only shown through and with Christiane Krömer's pictures and is not ever mentioned in and by Rukhsana Khan's text, and that this in my opinion demonstrates how Malik is simply and first and foremost a young Pakistani boy from Lahore who enjoys Basant and is an expert kite maker and flyer and that this also adds power to the idea that Basant is a holiday for everyone and that all abilities and all ages can and do participate (and successfully so).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My Olive Tree

I really like how Palestinian American author and illustrator Hazar Elbayya first and foremost with her 2024 picture book My Olive Tree both verbally and illustratively demonstrates and describes delightfully as well as hopefully (through main protagonist and first person narrator Salam's grandfather, though her beloved Sido) the many ways in which olive trees and their fruit connect people, from olive farmers to consumers (who eat olives, who cook and bake with olives and their oil, who use olive oil to make soap etc., that olives are life and essential for friendship, love etc.), although I do kind of wish that Elbayya would after her author's note for My Olive Tree (which indeed is simply lovely) then also be including some olive oil themed baking recipes. Because while using olive oil for cooking, for salad dressings and whole olives for eating and equally so in pasta sauces, stews etc. is now pretty common and also as such accepted throughout North America, Western Europe (and indeed even rather globally), using olive oil to bake bread, cookies, cake and the like is still pretty rare and sometimes even considered a bit strange (and which I for one do want to see change, since using olive oil instead of butter, margarine or shortening for baking works really well, is nicely vegan and is in my opinion also much healthier and more environmentally friendly than for example palm or coconut oil are).

And yes, My Olive Tree is pretty textually basic and the artwork is a rather cartoon like, but I really really love the combination of text and images and how Hazar Elbayya shows that both olive trees and Palestinians have deep roots and are resilient.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Asiago


I really like how both verbally and illustratively, both vampire boy Asiago and great uncle Gouda are never scary acting or even scary looking (although they do look like vampires, but just not frightening ones), with the combination of Adam McHeffey's text and his images for Asiago being delightful, being both sweet and also gently humorous, and that for both my inner child and equally so for adult me Asiago rates as solidly five stars and is also warmly recommended, that when Asiago is pretty miserable at the beach because of sunlight, wood and shrimp cooked with garlic (all things not good for vampires), his friends Wendy, Sam and Tom (who are not vampires) instead have fun with Asiago at the beach at night (when there is no sunlight to threaten Asiago's vampire skin).

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Mousekin's Golden House


Love the illustrations, decently like the story (but it is a bit simple, sometimes a trifle jumpy, and yes, Edna Miller's pictures do visually outshine her words). Like how the pictures are realistic and also imaginative and that the premise of a white footed mouse using a discarded Halloween Jack O'Lantern for a house, for a nest and for protection comes from Miller watching a white footed mouse making a home in an abandoned Jack O'Lantern in her backyard. Four stars, recommended, and that I do now want to read the rest of Edna Miller's Mousekin picture books.

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How Many Donkeys?: An Arabic Counting Tale


Whether children know a little bit of Arabic or none at all, the extremely repetitive (but also in my opinion totally fun and engaging) nature of How Many Donkeys?: An Arabic Counting Tale should likely have readers and/or listeners be able to count from one to ten in Arabic by the end of the book.

So both textually and equally so visually (as Carol Liddiment's colourful and descriptive artwork for How Many Donkeys?: An Arabic Counting Tale completely and wonderfully mirrors Margaret Read MacDonald and Nadia Jameel Taibah's featured text and vice versa) children should definitely enjoy figuring out why main protagonist Jouha just cannot seem to figure out how many donkeys he has in his caravan. Five stars (as I have hugely enjoyed the text and absolutely adore the added bonus of the educational author's note), but DO NOT if interested try the Kindle edition as it is absolute trash.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So with regard to Bernadette Watts' picture books of the Brothers Grimm folktales, she (and sometimes Anthea Bell)) usually do a very nice job faithfully reflecting Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm's stories thematics and contents wise (and the illustrations also tend to visually reflect the tales and vice versa). But I do not like that there are no author's notes and that the information on the Grimms on the dust jacket is rather vague and misleading (and that even recent editions claim that Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm collected their stories from peasants and villagers when in fact many if not most of their tales were gleaned from educated local friends and acquaintances).

Thus far, my favourite has been The Star Child (which is a four star book and that the original tale titled Die Sterntaler was one of my favourite Brothers Grimm stories when I was a kid). And I really love the illustrations, but I have already noticed some rants against the book since in the story, the girl gives all of her clothing away until she is naked (and that is also depicted).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Wildwood Elves


Nice text (originally in French but Polly Lawson's translation reads sweetly and sounds similar in cadence and style to other books by Anne-Marie Capouton I have read in French, but no, I have not read the actual Les Turlutins vont à la mer) and reading how the Wildwood Elves travel to the seaside to experience the ocean and then return back to their village makes me smile, and yes, Gerda Muller's artwork is delightful and ups The Wildwood Elves from four to five stars for me.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Ok, here's a list of 5* picture books read in 2025. Some rereads, some classics, some noted by you-all above! I do try to reserve my five-star rating for books I think everyone should read, but sometimes I award that rating if I just adore the book too much. I surely have many 4* books worth mentioning here, but my list is going to be too long as is.

First up is Herizon by Daniel W. Vandever. "OwnVoice Navajo about traditions, the future, and female empowerment.

.The Lady and the Spider
Grace Goes to Washington
Celebrating All Abilities
Grandmother Fish
Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems
Just What to Do
One Gorilla
A Kids Book About Gay Parents
Beatrice Likes the Dark
Sugar in Milk
Serena Katz
Hedgehog and the Log
The Book That Almost Rhymed
I'll Be You and You Be Me
The Little Book of Joy
Desert Jungle

My Daddy Is a Cowboy
The Reluctant Dragon
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea
Sitti's Secrets
Grasshopper on the Road
Mr. Putter & Tabby Pour the Tea
The Little Red Fort
Grandfather's Journey
Are You a Friend of Dorothy?: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped

I notice two by Krauss and two by Lukoff. That sounds right! :)

Manybooks wrote: "I have just noticed that pretty much ALL of my favourites from 2025 I have previously mentioned in the group. I hope it is alright showcasing them again, but if not, I apologise (and if need be I could also delete them)..."

Thank you for asking but no worries and no need to delete. While my initial idea was to spotlight books that we loved individually but hadn't read in the group, it's always great to share favorites and I am glad that our club reads led you to so many favorites :-)

Cheryl wrote: "Ok, here's a list of 5* picture books read in 2025. Some rereads, some classics, some noted by you-all above! I do try to reserve my five-star rating for books I think everyone should read, but som..."

YAY! So much fun to see these lists. I am going to work on mine over the weekend and hope to post Monday :-)

QNPoohBear wrote: "I read a number of picture books I rated 5 stars. Today I reread which is just so darn cute it makes me smile!."

Me, too :-) I just saw there's a Christmas version and I'm on the holds list. Fingers crossed it comes in this month! Holly Jolly Kitty-Corn

Beverly wrote: "These are some of my favorite picture books that I read this year for the Mock Caldecott group, These were all published in 2025 and might be contenders for the 2026 Caldecott Award.."

Ooo, thank you! I haven't read most of those and I guess I need to get in gear if they might be Caldecott contenders!

Ivonne wrote: "Picking a favorite picture book is akin to picking a favorite child! Probably Asiago by Adam McHeffey, My Grandma and Grandpa Rock! by [author:Pat ..."

It really is so hard to choose! I allow multiple favorites ;-)

Serena wrote: "K/F,
I don't know if this is accessible by time machine, but...I just read Abdul's Story by Jamila Bigelow."

Yes, October 2020 -- see you there! ;-) I loooved that book!!!!

Kathryn wrote: "Me, too :-) I just saw there's a Christmas version and I'm on the holds list. Fingers crossed it comes in this month! Holly Jolly Kitty-Corn"

Oh fun! I'm not a cat person but Kitty-Corn is so darn cute and lovable. I'll have to look for the new book. I didn't see it in the bookstore yet and the other indie store I popped in didn't have children's books. They used to. It's mostly college students shopping there now I guess.