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Mother's Day is coming up and there is no shortage of new board and picture books to share with young readers leading up to the holiday. Across this selection, the maternal figures featured illustrate the special bond between a mother and child. Enjoy these titles to celebrate moms of all kinds on Mother's Day and throughout the year.

Genre-blending books offer readers the opportunity to comfortably expand across boundaries and try something different while still in the safety of their preferred reading choice. Here are 14 middle grade graphic novels that blend genres to perfection.

In our last round of reviews of banned classics, SLJ and NCTE cover two of Jane Austen's works, the timely Fahrenheit 451, and the heartbreaking I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

Share these two picture books, which present two different interpretations of the same tradition, with young readers who are gearing up for Passover.

From poems about planets and trees to poems about LGBTQIA+ heroes, young readers from elementary through high school will find something to enjoy here. Share these titles for National Poetry Month and all year long.

What is Easter? Where is the Easter bunny? Where are all the Easter eggs? And what should I wear? Find the answers to these questions and many more about the holiday in these 11 titles. 

Incorporating interactive features, engaging text, and delightful rhymes, these board books encourage the magic of a shared reading experience that no screen, app, or video can replicate.

Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, is expected to fall around April 9 to April 11 in 2024. These picture books, along with a board book and an early reader, can be shared with young ones while they wait for the first appearance of the crescent moon that marks the end of the long month of fasting.

Feminism receives barely a mention in most curricula. These titles for upper elementary to high school students delve deeper into the knowledge gaps and feature a diverse, international representation of women from the past and present who have made a mark on history.

When they were first published, Sydney Taylor’s books not only planted a flag for Jewish identity but also for Jewish joy, and today remind readers that Alcott's March sisters haven't cornered the market on getting by on love and little else. For Women's History Month, we remind readers of Sydney Taylor's origin story.

Illustrated titles about strong women and self-empowerment for girls from the 2024 Rise Booklist. 

Young readers will love the sense of accomplishment they feel after reading these stories about Valentine's Day on their own or with a caregiver.

In these three titles—a board book, picture book, and early reader—brother-and-sister duos celebrate Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day.

In each of the 41 titles on this year’s United States Board on Books for Young People’s (USBBY) Outstanding International Books list, the authors and ­illustrators empower readers to make sense of themselves and the world at large. Download the full list.

We need more than ever inclusive ways to socialize with family, friends, and neighbors. In this list, two dozen books about kindness offer a recalibration or supplement to manners to account for the many ways our cultures, families, and differences manifest practices of getting along with one another.

The SLJ reviews editors rounded up our reviews of the books lauded at the 2024 Youth Media Awards.

January 27 is designated as a day to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Share these stories of resilience and hope about people of various ages, races, nationalities, and more with young readers today and throughout the year.

Ring in 2024 with these skillful compositions and top-notch vocal and instrumental performances, perfect for story hours, classrooms, or family time, including an album of songs based on banned books. 

These nine works for elementary students to teenagers use visual strategies to convey inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions. 

Three Kings Day, also known as Epiphany, is on January 6 and commemorates the biblical story of the wise men who brought gifts to the newborn baby Jesus. It is mostly celebrated in Latinx communities and marks the end of the Christmas season. Share these three picture books with young readers to teach them more about the holiday.

SLJ's Best Books lists are posting over the next few days. Download the full list!

A runaway dreidel, parading yokai, and dancing ornaments make these holiday picture books that much more magical.

Hand these four books to YA readers who can't resist a sweet holiday love story.

Esteemed editors, authors, and translators discuss their work behind the scenes to bring children's books from all over the world to the U.S. market. Foremost on their minds? Young readers. Join the live program December 14.

These three titles are purrfect for beginning readers who enjoy all things feline.

These eight picture books and board books will help the youngest readers get into the holiday spirit.

This roundup features reference titles for all ages, including a volume on Norse myths for tweens and encyclopedias on hair, Supreme Court decisions, and African American firsts for high schoolers.

Mostly free and readily available, webtoons are particularly appealing to teens and young adults. Publishers have seized the opportunity to bring many to print.

Cicely Lewis recommends books for the BeyHive.

Since 1990, November has been designated National Native American Heritage Month in the U.S. Share these titles featuring Indigenous characters with young children, tweens, and teens this month and all year.

The science behind board books, a brief history of the format, and a look at the publishing market. 

Travis Jonker shares key elements of a good scary book for young students, titles he loves, and tips for successful spooky read-alouds (video included). 

In these seven manga works for grades five and up, affable characters cast gentle spells.

These two titles center young Indigenous protagonists and integrate coming-of-age tropes with fantasy and folklore.

The 2023–24 Mathical Collection Development Awards, presented by Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute in partnership with School Library Journal, will award $700 to up to 32 Title I K–12 U.S. school libraries to purchase Mathical Book Prize–winning titles for their schools.

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Booths, celebrates the autumn harvest and the bounty that nature provides. Share these picture books with young children for the festival and any time throughout the year.

These moving middle grade novels center Puerto Rican girls navigating their relationships with their culture, their family, and themselves.

Share these books with your middle grade students during National Bullying Prevention Month in October and all year long to show them examples of tweens dealing with and standing up to bullying.

In these fun picture books, children can follow along with kids—and animals!—on their quest to obtain a new live-in best friend. These 11 stories range from the first desire for an animal companion to the responsibility of caring for another life. 

Never proven scientifically, one of the biggest draws to tarot and witchcraft practices is the romance of their ancient provenance and their ancestral, shared rituals and human wisdom.

These magical stories for preschoolers to tweens will appeal to kids swept up in the movie coming to Disney+ on September 6. 

From board books to middle grade graphic novels, these illustrated narratives celebrate Latinx children and their communities.

One of the amazing superpowers of childhood is curiosity, continuously asking “why?” and not being satisfied without finding the perfect answer. These guidebooks will help get them there.

This month’s titles allow patrons to enjoy a staycation to a variety of fantasy locales from the comfort of their own home. And, they're a great way to get kids' brains strategizing for the new school year.

The iconic Dr. Seuss’s Horton and Grumpy Monkey star in stories that reminder readers scary situations become slightly less ominous when there are good friends around to help you face your fears.

The braids of challah include love, joy, and unity, and a missing babka leads to community. If you're seeking out books about Jewish joy, we've spotlighted two picture books sure to make readers glow. Bring snacks!

Going to school for the first time, or going back to school, can be a scary experience for many children, but especially for those who are afraid they won't be accepted for being different. These four titles can help reassure children that classrooms are welcoming to all.

For many young readers (and their grown-ups), boarding an airplane is easier said than done. This list features titles to prep young travelers in advance.

July 24th is National Cousins Day. Hand any of these 11 books to kids, tweens, and teens proudly sporting their "Cousin Crew" t-shirts this summer and throughout the year.

Kids will encounter bicycle-riding elephants, words-loving dragons, and a fun day at the beach in these Spanish-language books for transitional readers.

Non-apparent disabilities are those that aren't visible from the outside, such as chronic or mental illness. These 16 titles include a diverse range of stories about young people living with non-apparent disabilities.

Part of We Are Kid Lit Collective's 2023 Summer Reading selections, this list for teens includes not just fiction, but also poetry, essays, biographies, and more for readers to dive into over the summer months.

There’s something about historical fiction that entices readers. These collected titles reach into the latter part of the 20th century covering romances, revolutions, and everyday life for today’s teens to explore.

There’s something for every middle grader in this roundup curated by the We Are Kid Lit Collective. Up-and-coming chefs, family and friendship drama, and propulsive informational texts will keep tweens engaged beyond the summer months. 

Our latest video game reviews feature a vengeful god, a speedy bipedal hedgehog, a laser-wielding space bounty hunter, and a squishy pink puffball.

ABCs. 123s. The first year of school has come to an end, and it’s graduation time. These seven titles are the perfect picks for celebrating this monumental milestone.

SLJ reviews the latest addition to the Gale suite of databases, this one aimed toward educators. 

For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we offer this list of nonfiction and fiction titles to commemorate the lives of the thousands of people of Japanese descent who were impacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, which forcibly relocated them into concentration camps.

It's just not summer if teenagers aren't pocketing S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, with its iconic gang members, dusty American landscape, and exquisitely crafted life lessons; this year, SLJ and NCTE reveal the 2023 round of “Refreshing the Canon” selections, where multimedia suggestions enrich The Outsiders and so much more.

Self-identifying mixed-race people make up the largest demographic among Americans under 18. These picture books and middle grade novels feature multiracial kids as heroes of their own stories.

With these nine books, Star Wars fans can enjoy making edible treats and meeting new characters in the universe, while new fans and casual readers can enjoy learning about and spending time in a galaxy far, far away.

This year, members of the committee recognized 12 excellent books of poetry and six novels in verse as 2023 Notable Books. Picks include a range of formats—lively nonfiction, reflective verse, and moving verse novels—written by familiar poets and debut authors.

In these works, the characters are cute, the chapters short, and suspense is kept to a minimum. While the genre exists for all ages, many titles are ideal for younger readers.

Whether the Easter Bunny is a little clumsy with deliveries or battling with a Leprechaun, young readers will delight in these books featuring the holiday's leading animal.

Middle grade readers will relish these 18 excellent books in verse, which convey worlds of feeling in a limited number of words and cover a variety of times, places, and situations, encouraging empathy and understanding.

Despite a world that tried to silence their voices, these women writers broke through to create stories that have changed hearts and challenged minds. Share these biographies with your students during Women's History Month and all year long.

These 13 recent and upcoming books combine relevant contemporary stories with simple vocabulary and streamlined sentences and dialogue. 

From a collection of short stories for children to a novel about a high school senior facing Islamophobia in a big city, these six titles center Ramadan and Eid for young readers.

March is dedicated to celebrating women's contributions to history, culture, and society in the U.S. These 10 collective biographies of hardworking, determined, fierce women will teach and inspire young readers.

What do Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, and Amy Cheney Beach have in common? They’re all groundbreaking women who made a mark on music history. Share these picture book biographies to inspire the next generation of talented performers.

Zines spotlight voices, opinions, and histories often missing from mainstream publishing. Here's what you need to know about curating, collecting, and creating these works at your library.

From Stolen Sharpie Revolution to Moxie, these novels and how-to books will get students fired up about zines and inspired to make them.

For new and emerging readers, two books have just hit the shelves: A Mohawk tale reminiscent of ­Aesop’s famous race, this time featuring a bear and a turtle; and another bear and turtle, plus a red-tailed hawk, who help stir a sleeping sun in a story from the Santa Ynez Chumash reservation.

For the first time ever, SLJ is offering reviews of video games. Here, we review Pokémon Scarlet, Pokémon Violet, Pokémon TCG Live, and Marvel Snap.

The United States Board of Books for Young People has selected 40 excellent titles that invite readers to explore the world around them for their 2023 Outstanding International Books List. Download the full list.

Readers will fall in love with these short middle grade and YA books (around 250 pages or less) that are just perfect for Valentine's Day.

The SLJ reviews editors rounded up our reviews of the books lauded at the 2023 Youth Media Awards.

The grant program will award $700 to up to 32 Title I U.S. school libraries to purchase Mathical Book Prize-winning titles for their schools.

February 14th isn't just about romantic love. These nine titles show young readers that Valentine's Day is for celebrating all kinds of love.

These eight titles center anthropomorphic animals, from snails to cats, and many more, celebrating special days like Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Purim.

These bold Caldecott titles broke new ground in many different ways. 

In SLJ's inaugural Stars Issue, we assembled all starred titles for the first half of the year in a handy edition available to subscribers. 

National Twin Day is December 18, and these 10 books featuring twins—from princesses to mediums to teens and tweens coming-of-age in contemporary and historical settings—are perfect to hand to readers.

From adaptations of award-winning picture books to meaty videos about gender expression and social activism, these DVDs offer viewers a range of subjects and topics that will pique their interest and would be useful in library collections.

Multiracial Americans are the fastest-growing demographic in the United States, and publishing is thankfully reflecting more multiracial representation: here are 20 audiobooks, all published in 2022, culled from a list more than double the size. Listen in.

Gathered from northernmost Canada to the Mayan of Central America, the following compilations, fiction and nonfiction, offer middle schoolers an inside look into some Indigenous peoples and their rich and varied cultures.

The awkward question will likely come up from a little one sooner or later. Might as well be prepared. These 6 titles explain the topic from sexual intercourse to childbirth in a way that is easy for young minds to understand.

These 27 titles about haunted houses, supernatural beings, trick or treating, and more range from sweet to scary and from frightful to delightful. 

Celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and its traditions with these six titles perfect for reading and sharing with young readers.

In back-to-school season, educators can use these books to convey the message that perfection isn’t required, good enough is good enough, and every child—and every child’s creation—has inherent value.

In the past year, school librarians have faced coordinated, hate-filled censorship campaigns that impact available books and collection development decisions. Here, they share their stories.

Harvest festivals, Christmas traditions, and various other holidays from different cultures take center stage in these three picture books. Travel all around the globe while celebrating various holidays all year long.

It’s been five years since Hurricane María tore through the Caribbean and made landfall in Puerto Rico in late September 2017. The following titles for young people shed light on the experiences had by the islanders during and after the hurricane and highlight their resilience and will to rebuild.

Manga creators have drawn on Japan's rich and varied history to create some of the greatest works in the medium. This short guide to the historical periods teens are most likely to encounter in manga is accompanied by a list of 9 titles that draw on ages past.

Educators may naturally seek to help those who are struggling at school, but some high performers can need a different kind of support—to know that imperfect is OK.

These 10 Spanish-language and bilingual early readers are perfect for early elementary kids starting to read independently.

School Library Journal has proudly partnered with We Are Kid Lit Collective to share and promote the group's annual summer reading recommendations. Check out their 28 picture book selections. A PDF of the full list is also available for download.

School Library Journal has proudly partnered with We Are Kid Lit Collective to share and promote the group's annual summer reading recommendations. These 18 beginning readers and chapter books are just right for kids starting to read on their own. A PDF of the full list is also available for download.

Bullies. We've gathered new books and old, in an attempt to equip children for a perennial troublemaker who, adults know, shows up outside of childhood as well. 

From Eric Herman and the Puppy Dogs's Magic Beans to Steve Elci and Friends's Nutmegger, here are ten children's music CD titles to have on your radar.