SLJ

This month, a poetry collection by Margarita Engle, a new middle grade novel from Dan Gemeinhart, and a nonfiction title about the Erie Canal stand out, along with other great books.

Finding Spanish-language books for older readers continues to be a challenge, but we’ve curated this list that includes translations of Jason Reynolds and Raina Telgemeier’s popular titles and a Spanish-original YA about an undocumented teen.

Readers clap back on censorship and more.

These eight forthcoming board books and picture books will be available long before December. Turn on some Christmas tunes, grab a Santa hat, and peruse these holly, jolly offerings.

This funding can help with everything from collection development and programming to disaster recovery and more.

Lavonnia Moore lost her job after including the Kyle Lukoff book in a summer reading display at the request of a young patron; new law gives school boards in Texas authority over collection development; Ohio governor vetoed bill that would have restricted public library access to titles "related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression."

These six titles show that good things come in small sturdy packages. Board books, for the pre-literate and newest readers, continue to surprise and delight in equal measure, and fly off the shelves for story hours.

From Pakistan to Spain to ordinary neighborhoods, the power of books has never been more visible than in these 65 gems plucked from the mines of picture books published in the first half of 2025. 

New readers will feel proud of their ability to read these fun, outstanding stories on their own.