Elementary

Though they are rarely recognized with merit awards,  licensed content books are hugely popular and often timely—addressing social-emotional issues and, lately, concerns related to the pandemic—and the comfort of familiar TV and movie characters has strong appeal for beginning readers.

These picture books, with their exuberant illustrations and positive prose, offer portraits of Black joy, within and beyond the African diaspora.

How to tempt those readers who have moved beyond picture books but aren't quite ready for middle grade novels? These chapter book graphic novels will do the trick. With humor and heart, these eye-catching books take on everything friendship, mystery, adventure, and even a bit of metafiction (from none other than Dav Pilkey).

Featuring vivid settings, relatable characters, and absorbing narratives, these moving titles will inspire readers to learn more about these eras—and to question whose stories still go untold.

The young people featured in these middle grade novels are intrepid, confronting racism, grief, queer identity, and more. They’re relatable teens and tweens, making mistakes and stumbling as they find themselves. Looking for more summer reading recommendations? SLJ is publishing lists all summer long—from family stories to mysteries to teen reads. 

These delightful beginning readers feature simple sentences, accessible design, and text features that strengthen emerging readers' decoding and comprehension skills. 

Aimed at infants and toddlers through elementary school students, these titles introduce topics such as intersectionality and privilege, with explanations that are age-appropriate and honest.

Using primary sources with literature can help students explore a story using a unique, real-world perspective.

Saturday morning cartoons may be a thing of the past, but the genre is living on in graphic novels. These 10 novels and series bring back that Saturday morning feeling with mad scientists, talking animals, and zany superheroes.