My favorite Christmas decorations are the picture books that sit on a top shelf most of the year, waiting for their moment to be put face out for a month (or two). If you’re interested in last year’s list of Christmas favorites, check my picks out here. And keep reading to see this year’s, from a generous dragon to angels in combat boots, I adore these books that put hope and joy front and center.

The Nativity by Julie Vivas

My edition, purchased in the early 90’s, features a cover where a very pregnant Mary smiles down at a beaming Joseph, both of them in slippers (the footwear in this book slay me), but I love this cover, too. The text is the Christmas nativity story as told in the King James version of the Bible, and the more formal language paired with the illustrations of angels with long, tattered rainbow wings and combat boots is part of the charm. Chickens wander under the table as Mary and the angel, raggedy wings spread over them both, share a cup of coffee. I love that the soft watercolors sensitively portray the realistic shape of a pregnant woman’s belly and breasts, and that baby Jesus comes into this world naked and anatomically correct. I love he’s swaddled in a striped onesie. And I love that the angels come playfully to the shepherds, some of them landing on the backs of sheep. Every year I linger over these pictures and words and am filled with delight all over again.

Olive the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh

The premise of this book rests on a misunderstanding. When a dog named Olive hears “All of the other reindeer,” she thinks it’s “Olive, the other reindeer,” and she’s off to the North Pole. The dry wit in this book cracks me up. Santa knew a lot about dogs, for instance, they can’t fly. But as it was time to go, he decided to give Olive a chance. Ahhh. Santa is such a softy! And don’t you know kids who’ve been told they’re too little and can’t do something are on team Olive?

There’s great visual humor, too, like when the text tells us that Olive is surprised it’s so easy to fly, but we see that she’s actually tied to the reindeer with a piece of ribbon and they’re the ones doing the flying. Of course Olive is the one who ends up saving the day using all her doggie gifts, from chewing and sniffing to fetching, and when they get caught in the dreaded North Pole fog (love this new lore) Santa asks Olive, “Won’t you guide my sleigh this morning?” There are lots of jokes for those who know the Rudolph song, and while some of the pages are a bit text heavy for the youngest readers, the bright, cool pictures can be enjoyed by everyone. Read beforehand if you want to condense for squirmy littles with short attention spans and they’ll love it, too.

Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

This is about a little girl named Francis who notices suffering when the rest of the world is too busy, and what she does about it. She feels compassion for an old organ grinder on the streets who’s playing music and taking tips in a tin cup while his little monkey dances for those who pass by. Her mother is busy and distracted as she gets her daughter’s angel costume ready for a Christmas pageant, and Francis is left with questions about what should be done for the man who sleeps on the street below her window. The next evening, and on the way to church, Francis breaks away from her mom and drops a coin in the man’s cup. And then she does something so simple, inviting him to church to come watch her say her one line, and “the organ grinder smiled at her. But his eyes looked sad.” Will he come?

She stands amongst the nativity on stage and can’t speak, filled with thoughts of the man’s sad eyes, but then the door opens! “Behold!” Francis shouts. “I bring you tidings of Great Joy!” Turn the page and you see the party afterwards, a room warmly lit with the man sharing a cup of tea with Francis’s mother in the midst of all the people, and he’s smiling. The illustrations are beautiful, the expressions perfect. If there were a Hallmark movie for kids, this is it, minus the romantic love but full of the kind of love we crave at any age.

Dragon’s Merry Christmas by Dav Pilkey

I love ALL the dragon books by Dav Pilkey, featuring this super loveable blue dragon who is kind but slightly ditzy. He cracks me up, and better yet, he cracks kids up, too. The books consist of short little chapters, this one has 4, each just a few pages long. Dragon finds the perfect Christmas tree, but it’s so lovely he can’t cut it down, so he leaves it outside and decorates it there (including an extension cord that runs from his house). In chapter two he makes a candy wreath, then can’t stop himself from eating it all. Pilkey perfectly captures dragon’s loss of willpower, his eyes squeezed tight as he shakes every last piece of candy off that wreath so he can eat it. I am dragon.

In chapter three he loses his mittens so he goes out and buys a pair of clip on ones and clips them to his coat and then (what a great page turn, wait for it . . .) he loses his coat. And in the final chapter he buys himself some wonderful presents, then ends up gifting them to woodland creatures on the way home from the store. When he gets home his sack is empty but he isn’t sad, and as he curls up under his quilt we see those same creatures singing outside his window (and we also see the tree from chapter one). It’s a pretty perfect package of a book, just right for Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Merry Crow by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Jon Goodell

I love the rhymes and bright illustrations as we follow a crow who is gathering things throughout a bustling town.

A broken chain

A lonely sock

a single key without its lock

some scraps of cloth

a crimson bow

a perfect sprig of mistletoe

He passes a parade of people, shoppers, carolers, people buying Christmas trees and a woman on a bench in the park with seeds for birds. Finally, at the end, we see what this busy crow has been up to, decorating a snow-covered tree, and if you look closely you can find all the things mentioned in the pages before. There’s the key and the sock, the bow and the cloth, and after one more page turn we see all the people from before gathered round the tree to sing as various birds perch on the festive branches.

A magic sight

All hearts aglow

Merry Christmas, merry crow!

Such a sweet, satisfying, fun story to read again and again.

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In this season of giving thanks, I’ve chosen some books you may not expect to see face out in November. If you’re looking for books about pie or pumpkins or the Macy’s Day Parade, go here. This month’s picks may not come to mind on a top ten list of “books about gratitude.” This gives me great joy! I love when a book checks many boxes, and I love thinking out of the box when it comes to finding just the right book.

When you google quotes about gratitude, you’ll find many good ones. Jason Reynolds says, “Gratitude is one of the greatest gifts we can give. And it’s not a gift we often give to children. We expect it of them, but we don’t necessarily give it back.”

Wow. What a profound difference it can make in a young life, to hear an adult say they are thankful for you, and what a great opportunity we have to share these words when we sit down with a stack of books to read together. I know it because I’ve been on the receiving end, as well as the giving. It can start when babies understand nothing but the sound of your voice, and it never has to stop. Grateful for stories, and children, and each person who reads this newsletter. Just grateful.

When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L. B. Deenihan, illustrated by Lorraine Rocha

I have to admit a personal bias going into any book about a grandma, now that I am one. The book starts with a girl on a couch wearing a party hat looking at her birthday wish list, with things like computer, robot dog, and headphones included. You were hoping for one of these, says the text, But, surprise! It’s a . . . lemon tree. What a great spread, with the girl looking disappointed and a smiling grandma handing her a potted tree. Turn the page and we get a primer on how to act when you get a gift you don’t love, including illustrations of the desired expression, and encouragement to be polite and keep smiling until Grandma leaves (or falls asleep). It goes on to say, and do not harm your lemon tree. Ha!

Children’s book authors are often told not to preach a lesson when writing for kids, but this book does it with wit and charm and imagination. Don’t: Drop it off a bridge. Tie it to your birthday balloons. It address a very real problem we’ve probably all encountered, how to be grateful when you don’t get what you want. We watch the little girl care for her lemon tree, name it Lola, love it and eventually pick the lemons and you guessed it, make lemonade with her Grandma. But that’s not where it ends! It gets even better.

The girl and her grandma make a lemonade stand and the girl heads to the store with the money she makes. It’s a megastore with computers and robot dogs. Now you can finally buy exactly what you want. Wait a second, is it really wrapping up with the girl getting what was on her original list? Of course not! She buys flowers she can share with others, including, of course, Grandma.

You’re Just What I Need by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Julia Noonan

I read this book to my kids when they were little, and it makes me so happy that it’s still in print. Here, we see what Jason Reynolds encouraged when he said adults need to give children gratitude, not just demand it. A mother sees a “strange bundle” and asks herself, What can it be? She makes guesses, Can it be a bundle of laundry? I think I don’t need any laundry. The bundle replies, No, I’m not a bundle of laundry, or carrots, or a monkey, nor Humpty Dumpty or a bird, none of which the mother needs. Two birds? teases the mom as she touches a curl that’s escaped from under the blanket. No, no, no, no, no, no, insists the bundle.

Finally, the mom asks, What can you be? Tell me! and an adorable, rosy-cheeked child (could be a boy or girl), pops out and says, It’s me! Then the mother says, You! Well, so it is! So you are. It’s you. And—you’re just what I need. They nuzzle nose to nose in an embrace, Mom in her bathrobe and the child in an undershirt, an intimate, sweet moment to savor and then read again.

More by I.C. Springman, illustrated by Brian Lies

With just 45 words paired with engaging and beautiful illustrations and an important message for everyone, this book could be read to any age. It opens with a bird who looks sad, and the word Nothing. A mouse gives a marble to the bird, who takes it to its nest, Something. Then the birds finds a lego and a penny for its nest, A few, several, and then adds keys, a necklace, glasses, more, and more, and more. It has Lots. Plenty. A bit much. Much too much. The birds weighs its nest down with toys and a toothbrush and other things it pilfered, makes even more nests when the first is full, until finally a limb breaks and one of the nests falls. Way too much.

Mouse is there, looking concerned. In a brilliant double page spread the bird picks up the penny from another nest and we read, Enough? As in, is it enough to give up one small thing? Turn the page and the mouse is shrieking Enough! Another limb breaks, another nest falls, the bird is buried in its stuff, and mice come to the rescue. They help the bird get rid of stuff, gifting it to other animals. There’s so much to look at in these illustrations as they sift through the trash that became treasure that became too much.

Finally the mouse rides on the bird’s back with just two things trailing behind, tied with ribbon, the original marble and a chess piece.

There’s an inscription at the front of this book to Rebeka from my husband and me: You have taught us what really matters-we are so glad you’re in our life! For those who have read my middle grade, Her Own Two Feet, co-authored with Rebeka, you know her story.

She left Rwanda at age 9 to live with our family for almost a year while she had surgeries to correct her club feet. She taught us so much while she was here, and we’ve learned about gratitude from many Rwandans while visiting their beautiful country. Those living without water or electricity in their home express gratitude for their family and friends and faith, and we are humbled. I’m grateful her picture book stayed here when Rebeka went back home, so I could read it now and be reminded and share it. But I’m planning to buy another copy to keep, so I can give this copy back to Rebeka next time I go to Rwanda.

Bless This Mouse by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by John Butler

Dianna Hutts Aston is a brilliant writer, she’s the author of the series An Egg is Quiet, A Shell is Cozy, and many others. In Bless This Mouse we begin with a sleepy-eyed mouse with prayers to say, a sleepy-eyed mouse, quite small and gray-Ready to dream the day away. Makes me sigh and snuggle in as I turn the page to read these prayers of gratitude. Bless Fawn, Raccoon, Skunk, and Snail. Bless stripes and rings and spots and trails. What’s so brilliant is she doesn’t just name animals, she goes further and names their attributes. The sleepy-eyed mouse blesses the owl, and his howl. And then there’s this, Bless the pokers and the peepers. Bless the fliers, and the leapers. Aston changes things up just a bit, while giving the reader such a satisfying, lilting, lullaby rhyme.

Did I mention all the creatures are soft? Like, the page is flocked so you can touch the porcupine, the mouse, the bat, the bunnies, and they’re all really soft. I am so grateful for this one.

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson

This is one of those picture books that can fall into so many “categories,” from grandparents to transportation to gratitude. It starts with examples of ingratitude as a little boy named CJ leaves church with his nana and walks in the rain to a bus stop. “How come we gotta wait for the bus in all this wet?” he asks, and she replies, “Trees get thirsty, too.” CJ wishes they had a car so the didn’t have to take the bus, and wishes he didn’t have to go wherever they’re going when his friends get to play. Each time, Nana has an encouraging answer. She also makes sure her grandson greets the other bus passengers with a smile and a “good afternoon.” She’s raised him right, and we see it when CJ gives his seat to a blind man who boards.

When two teenagers get on with a walkman and CJ wishes he had one, too, Nana asks him, “What for? You got the real live thing sitting across from you,” as a man with guitar sitting across from them begins to play. The blind man tells them he likes to listen to music with his eyes closed to feel the magic. When CJ tries, the rhythm lifted CJ out of the bus, out of the busy city. They finally get to the last stop on Market Street, and we discover where Nana and CJ are headed: to a soup kitchen in a dirty part of town where they’ll serve food. Nana points out a rainbow in the sky, and CJ wonders how his nana always found beautiful where he never even thought to look. What a great recipe for gratitude! This is a reminder that beauty surrounds us, and connecting with and serving others can fill us with thanksgiving. It’s also a beautiful book. When I see anything illustrated by Christian Robinson, I know I’ll love the color and whimsy and heart.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

I know many of you could recite this book by heart, but why this book for gratitude? It’s that last line, set on that empty last page, “and it was still hot.” For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Max, he wears a wolf suit and makes mischief until his mom sends him to bed without eating anything. That very night a forest grew, and grew, and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around.” Max gets in a boat and sails on the ocean that “tumbled by” and almost a year later gets to where the wild things are. He tames them by staring at them without blinking, and so they make him king and they have a wild rumpus until Max tells them to stop and sends them off to bed without their supper.

Aha! We’ve got that iconic circle we often see in picture books, where the narrative ends where it begins, but the story isn’t over, thank goodness, and we’ll do another loop-de-doop. Max realizes he is lonely and wants to be ““where someone loved him best of all.” And just then, he smells good things to eat. He’s made the turn, a little softer and more humble after getting exactly what he wants and realizing there’s a tradeoff. He gives up being king, and getting exactly what he wants, and says goodbye to the monsters. (Side note, the monsters in this book, with their yellow eyes and sharp teeth, scared my husband so bad when he was a little boy he hid the book.)

Max arrives home, to “his very own room, where he found his supper waiting for him,” and then there’s that lovely page turn, that blank page, and the words, “and it was still hot.” It was even better than better, grace upon grace. Not only did his mother leave it for him, she kept it warm. We never see Mom, but I like to imagine that after Max eats his hot dinner he crawls up into her lap for a snuggle.

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While doing an author visit recently, sharing my middle grade book Her Own Two Feet with middle school and elementary kids (coauthored with Rebeka Uwitonze), I asked the kids what kind of books they liked, and a lot of them said, “scary.” This was confirmed by the librarians, and the size of the “scary books” section on the library shelves. As a storyteller, reading “scary” stories to kids always got such a delicious edge-of-the-seat reaction. They couldn’t wait to see what happened on the next page! I’ve picked a few picture book titles to get little hearts pumping, but don’t worry, only for a page or two.

Big Bad Bubble by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

The title and cover say it all, this is a not-so-scary scary book for young kids. It opens with such a great line, “You may not know this, but when a bubble pops, it doesn’t just disappear. It reappears in La La Land . . . where the monsters live.” This book may not scare readers, unless they’re afraid of adorable monsters, but it certainly captures the feeling of being scared. The monsters in this book are afraid of bubbles. Kids get to participate with the narrator in trying to talk Yerbert, Froofle, Wumpus and Mogo (those names!) down from their hysterics and reason with them. It’s brilliant, pairing something kids really might be afraid of (monsters) with something so harmless (bubbles) and then giving them the language to reassure that things aren’t so bad. It’s interactive. It’s adorable. I love it.

Snip Snap! What’s That? by Mara Bergman, illustrated by Nick Maland

The suspense starts on the title page, when we see the cover of a manhole removed, and the dedication spread, where we see a man running down a sidewalk. Turn the page, still no words, but we see a front desk man reading the paper and the tip of a tail going up the stairs. Turn the page and read, “When the alligator came creeping . . . creeping . . . creeping up the stairs . . . were the children scared? I LOVE waiting for the next page turn, two children and their mother looking at an alligator’s shadow on the wall. Finally, turn the page to read, “YOU BET THEY WERE!”

It’s so great that in this story it’s okay to be scared. Some things, like alligators in your apartment, are scary! The alligator is described slowly, it’s long teeth and wide jaws, and the two kids and mother run and hide, but eventually, they’ve had enough. “They plucked up their courage and gave a great shout: ‘Alligator, you get out!’ And was the alligator scared? YOU BET IT WAS!” So, so satisfying to see their journey from scared to brave, and to see that alligator slither back into it’s manhole. With short text it’s a great book for young kids, with a message that would encourage anyone encountering something scary.

Miss Nelson is Missing! by James Marshall

This is an oldie but a goodie about a class full of misbehaving kids, their sweet teacher Miss Nelson who doesn’t show up at school one day, and a mysterious substitute teacher named Miss Viola Swamp. Miss Swamp wears a black dress and striped stockings and has sharp black nails. In fact, she looks an awful lot like a witch as she raps on a desk with a ruler and tells the kids to get out their arithmetic books, then loads them down with homework. There’s no story hour and the kids must sit perfectly still with their mouths shut or, “you’ll be sorry,” says Miss Swamp.

The class misses sweet Miss Nelson and decide to try and find her. A detective is no help, and when they go to her house they narrowly escape being seen by Miss Swamp as she comes round the corner with a grocery bag. The kids become resigned to the fact that Miss Swamp may be their teacher forever, but then one morning, Miss Nelson is back! They are overjoyed, and finally obedient, but when Miss Nelson asks them what brought about the change, they say it’s their little secret. Little do they know, Miss Nelson has a secret of her own. She doesn’t say it, but later that night as she’s going to bed we see, in the shadows, a little black dress hanging in her closet and a box labeled “wig.”

Kids love figuring out the mystery, and knowing something the kids in Miss Nelson’s class don’t. And I imagine teachers love reading this book to their class when they get a bit rowdy. James Marshall was a genius.

Where’s My Teddy by Jez Alborough

Oh my gosh my kids loved this book, my copy is falling apart! It’s written in catchy rhyme that sticks with you, so sticky I can still recite it all these years later. The suspense starts right away as we see a kid who’s lost his teddy, “He lost him in the woods somewhere. It’s dark and horrible in there. ‘Help!’ said Eddie. ‘I’m scared already! I want my bed! I want my teddy!’”

He walks in the woods with these great tall, thin trees and he sees something really weird and scary . . . . page turn, it’s a giant teddy bear! Eddie wonder if it’s his teddy, but how did it get so big? Then he hears a voice sobbing and out pops a gigantic bear holding a tiny teddy. The boy and the bear got each other’s teddies, and they’re both terrified of each other. As soon as they get their own lovies they go running off into the woods, back to their homes, “all the way back to their snuggly beds, where they huddled and cuddled their own little teds.” See what I mean about that perfect rhyme? And the illustrations are darling. It’s a perfect read aloud and you can really ham up the suspense.

That’s Good! That’s Bad! by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by David Catrow

I’m a big fan of David Catrow’s illustrations, they’re wacky and bright and silly, the perfect pair with Margery Cuyler’s crazy story about a boy who gets a balloon at the zoo that’s so big it lifts him up into the sky. “Oh, that’s good. No, that’s bad.” We turn the page to see why it’s bad. It drifts for miles and pops on a prickly tree, and we read, “Oh, that’s bad. No, that’s good!” Turn the page to see why. The boy falls into a swamp and a hippo gives him a ride out, which seems good, but it’s bad because . . . and the story continues, alternating between good and bad.

I love how this story models the concept that life is full of good and bad, it’s a cycle, so if it’s bad just wait a while, wait for the good. I love how each page turn is a suspenseful moment. There’s a terrifying picture in the middle of a snake with mouth wide open and fangs bared, its head as big as the boy (who thought it was a vine), which is another reason it belongs in this “scare” category. My boys loved this page. I always wanted to turn the page fast, and they always wanted to linger for a delicious scare before finding out this horrifying picture is good. How can it be good? The boy was so scared he lost his grip and landed on the back of a giraffe, which we think is good, but is actually bad because . . . don’t worry, the boy makes it back to his parents in the end. “Oh, that’s good. No, that’s great!” is the satisfying last line.

The Monster Bed by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Susan Varley

Enter the Withering Wood if you dare, but “the creatures who live there are up to no good.” There are nasty gnomes and hairy trolls (though we don’t see them). What we see is a “dank, gloomy cave” (but there’s a lovey and chalk with hopscotch on the floor so what you read isn’t necessarily what you see). We also meet a monster named Dennis who lives with his mother in said cave. Dennis, who is the most adorable monster ever, is afraid to go to bed because the humans will get him. We see this great picture of him imagining a bunch of kids crouching under his bed, criss-cross applesauce or hugging their knees, peering out.

His mother reassures him humans are only in stories, they aren’t real (kids eat this up). There’s this great line where mom monster bends down to kiss Dennis goodnight and “he chose to fasten his fangs round her warty old nose. He tied up his toes in a knot round her knees, ‘Led go of be, Deddis, you’re hurtig be, please!’” his mom says. Cracks me up. I love the clever rhyme and the sweet, silly story. Dennis eventually does meet a little boy who’s crept into his cave, looking for a place to rest, and they both scare the dickens out of each other. It ends with a reader beware, don’t go to Dennis’s cave, where, “You might meet his mother, just think how you’d feel, if she were to tell you that you are not real.”

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We recently took a trip to Colorado and while heading to the rental lot to drop off our car, we encountered a scene straight out of Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings.

Mama duck was leading her babies down a busy street to a busier intersection and it was both adorable and terrifying (don’t worry, they made it!). The world is pretty much in love with baby animals (just check out social media) so I thought I’d pick some books about them this month, starting with:

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

To be honest, bats kind of creep me out with their leathery wings and furry bodies, but Janell Cannon is able to make even a baby bat cute (and does the same for a python and a cockroach in her books Verdi and Crickwing). Stellaluna opens like a fairy tale, “In a warm and sultry forest far, far away, there once lived a mother fruit bat and her new baby.” And then, for the cute factor, “Oh, how Mother Bat loved her soft tiny baby. ‘I’ll name you Stellaluna,’ she crooned.” Soft and tiny? So cute.

There’s drama as an owl swoops down and Mama Bat loses her hold on her baby. Stellaluna falls and ends up in a bird’s nest. She’s so hungry she eventually eats a grasshopper (even though she’s a fruit bat who doesn’t like insects). The art is just incredible.

As time goes on she tries to be like the other baby birds and learns to fly with them, but one day when night comes, she doesn’t return. She’s found by some other bats, including one who sniffs her fur and whispers, “You are Stellaluna. You are my baby.”

But wait, it’s not over yet! Stellaluna goes back to see the baby birds, who try to do the things she can do (like fly at night) but fail and they all realize they’re different, “But we’re friends. And that’s a fact.” So many “aaaaaah’s” over this book, and at the end there’s lots of interesting bat facts. Did you know of the nearly 4,000 species of mammals on Earth, almost one quarter are bats?? Great story (it’s a little long, good for older kids and longer attention spans), interesting facts, and the cutest little bat you ever did see.

If You Were Born a Kitten by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by JoEllen McAllister Stammen

In this gorgeous book you learn a little something about each baby animal with each turn of the page. The language is so beautiful and specific it’s hard to describe it. Better to just share.

If you were born a kitten,

you’d slip into the world in a silvery sac,

and your mother would lick, lick, lick you free.

A mother cat is pictured with her teeny kittens, their eyes not even open, painted with pastels. Turn the page and read about baby seahorses, porcupettes, bear cubs and more. It appeals to young children and adults with its sparse, informative text and big, pretty pictures. And at the end, we see a human baby.

Naked as a bear cub.

Soft as a porcupette.

Wrinkled as a deer mouse.

Free as a kitten. You.

Sigh.

Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein

So this book could fall into several categories. It’s great for birthdays (we gave it away at my daughter’s second birthday party for party favors) and it’s about extended family and unconditional love, but I’m putting it with baby animals because it works here, too. It’s a wonderful read aloud with simple text and big, bright pictures and a crowd favorite.

Everyone loves baby gorilla, from his parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, to green parrot and big boa constrictor. There’s this great moment, this awesome page turn when everything changes.

Just about everybody in the great green forest loved Little Gorilla! Then one day something happened . . .

Little Gorilla grows and grows and three pages later, Little Gorilla is BIG! He’s got this melancholy expression, no longer a baby, but then “everybody came, and everybody sang, Happy Birthday Little Gorilla!” and then the last page and such a poignant line, “And everybody still loved him.” It now comes in board book, perfect for the littles in your life and everyone else. Still makes me tear up.

Come Along, Daisy by Jane Simmons

This book was a favorite read-aloud when my kids were little. The bright, rich colors, interesting perspectives, short text and real tension kept kids engaged to the very last page. Daisy’s mama tells her to stay close and Daisy tells her mama she’ll try but . . . she doesn’t. Her mom tells her to come along, but Daisy is exploring. She watches the fish, chases dragonflies, and bounces on lily pads.

Then we come to the moment of great tension. Daisy is far from her mama, and “Something big stirred underneath her. Daisy shivered.” We see a giant fish with yellow eyes crouched in the grasses beneath the lily pads. Page turn and an eagle screeches from above, page turn and Daisy hides. Keep turning the pages to see Daisy peeking around tall grass as something rustles, coming closer, and closer, and . . . phew. It’s Mama, who tells Daisy to come along, and this time, she does!

Any child who’s tried hard to obey but failed, or been lost, and scared, will identify with Daisy. It’s pretty brilliant the way it’s scary for little kids, but not too scary. Like all great picture books, it can fit many themes, including one of the cutest baby animals you ever did see: sweet duckling Daisy.

Full Moon Pups by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Chuck Groenink

Lis Garton Scanlon is such a genius with rhyme, like this stanza:

These first few days, they’re nursing

They sleep and scootch and cry,

with the wolf pack watching over

like the moon does from the sky.

Each page turn is a new stanza as we follow a litter of wolf pups born on a full moon for a month, until the moon is full again. There’s danger, but the wolf pack protects them. The pups open their eyes to a wonderful world to explore as they “tumble, tussle and hide,” and there’s this brilliant phrase, “this pack of waxing wolf pups,” that ties the growing pups to the changing moon.

At the end there’s more information about baby wolves and how the species almost became extinct, and about phases of the moon. This truly is a perfect book for a storytime about baby animals and could also be used as part of a more robust science lesson.

Hug by Jez Alborough

I debated whether I included two cute picture books featuring baby apes (this time it’s a chimp instead of a gorilla) and also lots of other jungle animals, but I couldn’t resist. I will use way more words to talk about this book, which has a total of three distinct words in it: hug, mommy, and Bobo. Even the words are cute!

The story is as simple as the text. A baby chimp sees a mommy and baby elephant hugging and says, “hug.” The chimp sees parent and baby lizards and snakes hugging (“hug” and “hug”), and gets sad. The mommy elephant lifts the chimp onto her head and they set off, seeing lots more hugging, and baby just can’t take it. It’s big this time, the sob and the word, ‘”HUG” as all the concerned animals look on. He falls apart, whimpering “hug” as he cries.

And then, the most amazing page turn and we see a grown chimp running out of the forest yelling “BOBO” and on the next page, baby chimp runs into her arms saying “MOMMY” and then turn the page to see all the animals saying “hug” as mommy and baby embrace. But it isn’t over, which I love. Bobo thanks the mommy elephant, embracing her trunk and saying “hug,” and it ends with mommy and baby chimp hand in hand and the words repeated, “mommy” and “Bobo.” I love the name Bobo, all the hugs, the expressions, the storyline. I love this story so much. I want to hug it.

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When I was young, I’d spend the day at the pool and then come home to Tang and cheese popcorn. Or me and my friend would pretend we were horses. Or I’d read until my mom told me to go play outside, so I’d go read outside. There were birthday parties where you tied a balloon around your ankle with a piece of string and then ran around trying to pop everyone else’s balloon while protecting your own. There were trees to climb and frogs to catch and the days were full of play. May the last few weeks of summer break find the kids in your life playing games and imagining and reading and noshing on cheese popcorn, washed down with a swig of Tang.

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

Can you play with a flamingo? Absolutely! In this wordless book a darling girl decked out in a pink swimsuit, big black flippers and a yellow swim cap mimics a flamingo who is at first aloof, and then laughs when she tumbles over, but then feels bad and helps the girl back up. Together they dance, finally leaping and cannon-balling into the water. The expressions are classic, from shyness to hurt feelings to utter joy. This book makes me smile.

I’m Bored by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

In an odd twist of fate, this book has a flamingo in it, too! But that’s where the similarities end, because it also has a bored potato (who’s pretty much not going to be happy unless he’s with a flamingo) and a scruffy little girl wearing yellow barrettes who was also bored, until she came across the insolent potato who refuses to be entertained, no matter what she does. Escalating from cartwheels to grand feats of imagination, the potato remains bored but the girl doesn’t. Finally, she says:

And then she storms off just as a flamingo comes on the scene. The potato says now they can finally have some fun, but the flamingo says, wait for it . . . I’m bored. I love a funny picture book, and these illustrations are just as funny as the text, capturing expressions perfectly.

The Field by Baptiste Paul, illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara

Set on a lush Carribean island, this picture book about the local kids gathering for a soccer game is told with spare text interspersed with Creole words. There are things that are the same the world over, like making a goal, but also different. Here they heft some bamboo strung together for a goal as they shoo sheep and cows off the field. Wherever they are, kids pass and shoot and race to get that ball. A rainstorm comes, but they play on, score goals, and there are:

High fives.

Fist bumps.

Happy tackles.

And all the world over, mamas call their kids in from play to take a bath before bed. “Bonswè. Good night.” The illustrations capture motion using colors as saturated as the green, green forest and fields and the bright painted houses. Don’t skip the author’s note in this one! Paul Baptiste, who was raised on St. Lucia, has a lot of good things to say about play. “The way we keep playing through challenges makes us who we are today,” and “I love the concept of play: everyone cheering together, forgetting about whatever challenges life can bring.”

Clap Hands by Helen Oxenbury

My grandson is sixteen months old, and he loves this book, and the other three Oxenbury board books in this series (All Fall Down, Tickle, Tickle and Say Goodnight). With only four double page spreads it can be quickly read, turned over, and read again (which we do, again and again and again). In Clap Hands, babies of different ethnicities clap and dance and spin, blow a paper towel roll trumpet and wave to their parents. We act it out, playing while we read, fun for both of us. I love, love, love these illustrations where all the world is happy babies, four of them, with round heads and plump arms and legs. My mark of a good board book is one that baby loves and readers don’t mind returning to again and again. It’s usually one with spare text and simple illustrations. This is it.

The Brave Cowboy by Joan Walsh Anglund

This one is a classic. My kids loved it when they were young, and it still sits on my shelf, waiting for my grandson River to get old enough to love it, too. It opens with a great line, Once there was a cowboy, and we see a small boy in a cowboy hat. The text goes on to tell us that he was strong and brave, not afraid of coyotes or mountain lions or ornery rustlers. In the illustration, the boy and his “real” world is drawn with black, and what he imagines throughout is drawn in red.

Each day he does ordinary things, like brushing his teeth and feeding his cat, and we turn several pages of black ink drawings, until we enter his world of make believe where all sorts of exciting scenes play out. The stick he carries has a captured angry mountain lion hanging from it, and though he’s actually perching on a stool, we see in his imagination it’s a galloping horse. Any book that encourages imaginative play is a win, and I love how this blends the real and imaginary worlds together.

If you’d like a cumulative list of the picture books I’ve recommended, you can find it at my Picture Book shop on Bookshop.org, where every purchase supports independent bookstores. I receive a small commission if books are purchased through my link. Honestly, in a very small way it gives me a chance to be a bookseller again, my most favorite job ever.

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I celebrated my 30th anniversary with my husband in Kauai, where we spent a lot of time in the ocean, whether snorkeling or wading or tide-pooling or riding boats up and down the Napali coast. We saw a whale breach . . .

. . . and dolphins racing our boat, a white and black eel slithering out of a hole and turtles hanging suspended in turquoise waves.

It was amazing. The ocean is amazing. I’ve lived in Texas my whole life, and made a few trips to the gulf where the ocean is warmer, and browner, but there are still shells to find and waves to send your boogie board sailing and who knows what incredible things swimming out there between you and that far line of the horizon. I hope these books give you a salty taste, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see an ocean soon, too.

Granny and Bean by Karen Hesse, illustrated by Charlotte Voake

Granny and Bean go to the beach, a simple love story. It’s a cold beach, they’re wearing coats and hats and their cheeks chafe red, but they don’t care. They let the waves crash over their boots, sing, greet dogs, leap over logs, and share “tea.” Bean eats a banana and Grandma has a cupcake, and then they sort their best shells and a stone before going home.

I love so many things about this book. I love that Grandma is the one eating a cupcake, and she’s the kind of Grandma who doesn’t mind the cold or the wet as long as she’s with her sweet Bean. Bean never grumbles, content with his Grandma, “their hats blowing free, their hair in a tumble.” Ah, the words. The world. Yes, I’m a Grandma with my own sweet little bean, and while I don’t live near the beach, we find our own places to roam and with my bean by my side, the world is sweet.

Fetch by Jorey Hurley

With one word per page we follow the story of a dog chasing his ball on the beach and into the ocean. Perfect for the very young, it has pictures that beg the reader to tell “more of the story” as the child is ready for it. It also introduces us to the waters off the coast of California (we learn in the author’s note) as we see what’s underneath the dog while he swims after his ball. Rock fish, a kelp forest, and even a shark are on spreads that require the book to be turned on its side to appreciate the long, vertical pictures that show the world deep below the water.

Anyone that’s watched a dog retrieve a ball over and over again will recognize the lengths this dog is willing to go to get the ball back, and appreciate the last spread. The dog sets his ball down and cocks his head as we read the simple word, “again?” I have a dog that is (sometimes) ball crazy and I love a good beach story. I also love finding books that use spare text to tell a good story that resonates whether you’re a child or an adult. And this artist, her simple pictures are so nice (go check out her website and instagram-delightful).

Blue on Blue by Dianne White, illustrated by Beth Krommes

The short, simple rhymes in this book paint a picture even without the beautiful illustrations. And though the text never talks about the ocean, the pictures show a darling white house on a high cliff overlooking the sea. What’s it about, you ask? It’s layered, like the words.

Cotton clouds.

Morning light.

Blue on blue.

White on white.

There are so many layers, more and more the longer you look. We see a picture of blue sky over blue waters (blue on blue) and white clouds floating over the white house (white on white). It’s about being outside on a sunny day when the weather changes,

Gray on gray.

Dark and glooming.

Black on black.

Storm is looming.

While it rains we see a child hiding under the covers when it thunders, a baby crying, the same child at the table with head in hands, pigs in a sty and horses in a stable . . . and then the sun comes back out and there is glorious mud to play in. The child makes “mud angels” instead of snow angels and the day ends with a good bath and bedtime as a whale leaps in the sea. It’s about how the world is big and beautiful and sunny and stormy, but after storms, goodness waits. Brilliantly, the pace slows as fewer words appear on a page, causing us to slow down, pausing to look at the pictures. It inspires me to slow down and look at the world around me, too, just like the ocean.

If You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin E. Stead

I pretty much love any book by this pair (see April’s pick, And Then It’s Spring). The style, the tone, the wry humor and deeper layers, quirky and simple . . . they’re pretty much brilliant. We’re told if we want to see a whale, we’ll need a window, and an ocean, and, most importantly, “time for waiting, and time for looking, and time for wondering ‘is that a whale?’” A child sits on a long-legged stool, his long-eared dog on the floor beside him, and they wait and watch together.

The book becomes more fantastical as the boy’s chair floats out to sea (but not a chair that’s too comfy, because, “sleeping eyes can’t watch for whales and whales won’t wait for watching.”) I should just type up the whole book because half the joy is reading how Fogliano stitches her words together. The other half is the illustrations . . . get your hands on this book!

We wait, and wait, not paying attention to roses or boats that could have pirates in them or pelicans or “something inching, small and green across the leaf.” After all that waiting, the next to last spread shows the boy in his little rowboat with his dog, out to sea, and a giant humpback beneath them, and then the satisfying last spread shows the tip of the whale’s nose popping up, right in front of the boat. So much to talk about, like what is there that we aren’t seeing, and is waiting worth it? It is when it’s a whale!

Over and Under the Waves by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

A girl paddles with her mom, sharing a boat as they follow her dad out into the ocean and readers are introduced to over 20 ocean animals and plants, some under the water and some over. There is the watery world beneath their boat, where kelp bass hunt and “anchovies play follow-the-leader in a shimmering silver school,” and there’s the world above where sea lions bark and shorebirds “swoop and soar.” I love the changes of perspective, sometimes looking down on the kayak from the sky, or seeing it slip across the top of the page as pale moon jellies float below.

Messner nails the experience of being in a kayak on the ocean, the excitement of seeing a spray of mist and paddling out to see if you can catch sight of the whale, waiting, it’s time to go, and then WHOOSH! The whale breaches, such a thrill. Then it’s back to shore, as an octopus glides beneath them, changing colors to blend in with the rocks, and striped sea perch circle the pilings of a wharf. When what we can see may seem to be unchanging (water, water, and more water), it’s wonderful to imagine all the things going on that we can’t see. And the book ends with my idea of a perfect day, the sun setting, complete with “wave-wobbly legs and paddle-sore arms.” If you like this one, Messner has a whole series of Over and Under books (the snow, the pond, the rainforest, the canyon, and the dirt).

Wave by Suzy Lee

The orientation of this book is long and thin . . . like a wave rolling in, stretching across the sand. It’s a beautiful wordless book where a girl and some gulls watch the waves, run from them, roar at them, and splash exuberantly into them. Eventually they get chased and knocked down in a long, double page blue splashy spread, and then get to work in the wet sand, gathering treasure the wave deposited. Can you make friends with the ocean? Absolutely.

If you’d like a cumulative list of the picture books I’ve recommended, you can find it at my Picture Book shop on Bookshop.org, where every purchase supports independent bookstores. I do received a small commission if books are purchased through my link.

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Desert Girl, Monsoon Boy by Tara Dairman, illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan

The simplicity of this book, only a few rhyming words per page, makes it a really great readaloud.

Patterned veil

Covered hair

Desert here

Monsoon there

The format, showing the desert and monsoon terrains separately for most of the book, is a great way to follow two narratives. We’re introduced to cultures that are very different in some ways (the boy goes to school but the girl stays home) but also the same (they sit on the ground to eat and both are victims of their climate.) Both families have to pick up and leave when sand storms (desert) and flood waters (monsoon) invade their homes, and it’s so satisfying when we see them both arrive in a better place. Their worlds come together in a shared spread at a high hill where they share a campfire and songs and cultures. For readers who want more, there’s an author and illustrator’s note that unpack each represented culture.

How to Make an Apple Pie and see the world by Marjorie Priceman

I love the wry voice in this book that sends a girl around the globe, looking for ingredients for her pie. What starts as an easy task, making an apple pie (get ingredients, mix them well, bake and serve) becomes more complicated when the market is closed. “In that case, go home and pack a suitcase,” we read, and then we’re instructed to bring our shopping list and walking shoes and spend the six days we’ll be on the steamship bound for Europe to brush up on our Italian.

From the farm where you gather “superb semolina wheat” you’ll travel to France for a French chicken’s elegant egg, and the chicken which travels with you so the egg doesn’t break. You’ll go to Sri Lanka for cinammon, England for the cow who joins your travels along with the chicken so your milk will be fresh, and so on. Jamaica, salt from the ocean on the way, and finally Vermont for the apples before heading home. There’s a simple map of the world at the back to track your route and an apple pie recipe. Basically, this book has it all, including fun illustrations.

Same, Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

Two boys, one in America and one in India, exchange letters, first with pictures of their worlds. I love that their letters begin with, “this is my world,” and not “this is my home in America” or “this is my home in India.” Where we live is our world most days, and there are so many “worlds” in this big world to awaken our curiosity.

In some ways the boys are the same. They both love to climbs trees, but Elliot has a tree house in his tree, and Kailash has monkeys in his, so they are same, same, but different. Bright illustrations take us back and forth, from Elliot’s family of four to Kailash’s family of 23, plus animals. City and country, how they get to school (both on busses but they look very different), their alphabet, and even how they say hello, repeating the simple refrain, same, same but different. It ends with a lovely sentiment, “We’re best friends even though we live in different worlds . . .” page turn to see the boys in their bedrooms, their letters from the other on their walls, and the final words, “or do we?” The simple text and fun pictures are great for readers young or old.

Journey by Aaron Becker

You know how sometimes you’re busy and you just can’t seem to get a breath? I encourage you to sit down with someone you love, maybe someone who’s begging for a little attention, and crack open this wordless book. Take the most beautiful journey together, where a girl draws a door with her red crayon (echoes of Harold and the Purple Crayon here), and enters a lush forest, draws a boat so she can ride down the river, and enters a magnificent city. People pole their boats through elevated waterways that spill into waterfalls (good thing the girl can draw a balloon before she goes over). She enters a world where a boat floats through the sky, and a blimp chases a long-tailed purple bird, and . . . in the end there’s a rescue and a friend. You’ll want to turn back and take this journey all over again.

The Notebook Keeper: A Story of Kindness from the Border by Stephen Briseño, illustrated by Magdalena Mora

“Our home is no longer a home,” Mamá tells her little girl, and so they head to the border, packing only what they can carry. For the girl, that’s her blanket, notebook, and her muñeca (doll). Their lonely group gets larger and more colorful but when they reach the border, they aren’t treated with kindness. They are told to find the notebook keeper who will tell them when they can cross. The illustrations do an excellent job of portraying emotion without getting too heavy for a young child. There is sadness, but there is also hope.

When they find Belinda and her notebook, she takes their name and country and adds them to her list, treating them kindly. Then Noemí and Mamá settle into their new life, living in a tent among many others who are waiting their turn. It turns out even Belinda is waiting, though her smile never fades. When her number finally gets called she chooses someone with generosity in their heart and kindness in their soul to take over the job. Noemí has given her beloved muñeca to another child, choosing to be kind, so Belinda chooses her and her mother to be the next notebook keepers. They go on to encourage, remind and comfort, just like Belinda did. The end is hopeful, with Noemí and Mamá gazing at the sky where birds fly free, holding hands, walking into their future together.

An author’s note explains how the real notebook keepers kept records at the San Ysidro Border, where refugees gather to wait admittance to the US from Mexico. This book is beautiful, and is a great springboard to conversation, and empathy.

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I recently did school visits in eighteen different elementary schools in Richardson, Texas. At each one, I shared the story of Rebeka Uwitonze, my coauthor for Her Own Two Feet: A Rwanda Girl’s Brave Fight to Walk. What I realized as I shared was that many of these children were first or second generation immigrants from countries just as foreign as Rwanda, with stories just as brave and hard as Rebeka’s. Each one of them has a story to tell, and I wish I could have heard them all. This month I focus on books that give a peek into other countries and cultures and experiences. The more we connect through our stories, the better our world will be.

I Just Want to Say Goodnight by Rachel Isadora

This goodnight book, set on the African plains, is beautiful for the paintings, vibrant and saturated with color, and also for the sweet story of a little girl that needs to tell everyone and everything goodnight before she goes to bed. She says goodnight to the fish, the cat, the goat, the little ants, the rock, and finally, in the the end, her book (a copy of Goodnight Moon). I love the way this shows a foreign country from a child’s eyes and how we can see the similarities and differences in our western world. Baby chicks come through the open door to her bedroom and there are monkeys in the trees outside, but Lala must go to bed as all children do. She has a bed, a stuffed animal, and a book. It’s a beautiful story to drift off to sleep with.

My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood

Imagine immigrating to the US and going from a girl called Cartwheel to a girl who doesn’t want to go out anymore. She wraps herself “in a blanket of my own words and sounds. I called it my old blanket.” English, a foreign language for her, is brilliantly pictured as strange shapes coming out of stranger’s mouths. When the girl takes a walk with her mother, both wearing traditional clothes from their country, heads covered, another little girl smiles and waves. Next time they meet the girl says something, but the words come out as strange shapes. So they swing, something they both understand and love. And in that moment of shared experience, they become friends.

The girl still feels isolated and alone, but as they continue to meet and the American girl teaches her words, the shapes coming from their mouths become recognizable. A bird, a leaf, a tree, the girl repeats the words until they begin to sound “warm and soft.” Like a quilt. Each new word is like a new square in her new blanket that becomes just as comfortable as her old one. The blankets are languages, and in the end she cartwheels again, realizing, “I will always be me,” no matter where she is, or what language she speaks. Light on text with gorgeous watercolor and oil paintings, this book shows what compassion, courage, and friendship look like in the context of moving to a whole new country.

Sakamoto’s Swim Club: How a Teacher Led an Unlikely Team to Victory, by Julie Aberi and Chris Sasaki

Set in Hawaii in the 1930’s, this picture book takes readers to a time and place that feels foreign, even if it is in the US. Blending content that’s interesting to both adults and children, it’s an inspiring story for all ages. A short preface begins with: “Who would believe that children cooling off in the irrigation ditches of sugar plantations on the Hawaiian Island of Maui could become Olympic swimming champions? Science teacher Soichi Sakamoto believed.” So you get the scope of the story, and then turn the page and paired with gorgeous illustrations you read short, four line, rhyming stanzas. More than a historical accounting, it puts us in this place:

Valley Isle.

Lush terrain.

Migrant workers

cutting cane.

Simple, and yet it paints a clear picture, even without the illustrations, which are gorgeous. It also does a good job of drawing on common experience to really tug a child into this story, the next page:

Dawn to dusk

they toil away.

Children left

alone to play.

Kids almost a hundred years later still identify with that feeling of being around a busy adult and relying on their own resources and ingenuity to find a way to play. So many reasons to read and love this book! The note at the end includes a photo of the Three Year Swim Club, reminding the reader this is a real story about real kids.

Room For Everyone by Naaz Khan, illustrated by Mercè López

I first saw this picture book, which is set in Zanzibar, at TLA 2022. It jumped out at me as I was co-writing a picture book with a friend that was also set in Africa. I love the swahili words like daladala (a minibus/shared taxi) and parachichi (avocado) and the language, falling into clever and unpredictable rhymes and rhythms. “It’s hotter than peppers out there in the sun! Come in, there’s room for everyone!” What a lovely message, there’s room for everyone. For one old man, a herder with two goats, three fruit sellers, a farmer and his four shiny pails of fresh milk, five mamas . . . and so on. Bright colors, lots of different people doing different things, including ten divers in the end, all on their way to the shore. It’s a fun read and begs retelling and re-looking, the illustrations are equally fun.

My First Day by Phùng Nguyên Quang and Huynh Kim Lien

Set in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, the story begins with a boy sitting on his front porch, his feet dangling in the water and his “little open boat” tied up nearby. We’re told, “Today is the first day,” but we don’t know where he’s headed or what he’s about to do. All we know is this is the first time he’ll travel alone. With spare text and beautiful illustrations, we set out with him.

Clever text hints at his destination as he braves rain and rough water. “It’s different when you’re alone in the unfamiliar halls of the forest. I hear the chatter of a classroom full of animals as I move by.” This book nails the familiar experience of a first day of school. The boy paddles across a dark double page spread that reads, “When you don’t know a place, it can be scary.” He’s finally welcomed by schools of fish, a herd of water buffalo and new friends as he lands at the shore of his school.

An author’s note explains how kids get to school around the world in lots of different ways and shares facts about the Mekong Delta. And at the very end is a beautiful note to the reader from Christopher Myers. He writes that, “strangeness and familiarity are braided together,” in our world where technology, immigration and ease of travel have brought us closer. He goes on to say this book, “collapses the space between same and different and in doing so creates something very close to wonder in our everyday.” Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

My Day with the Panye by Tami Charles, illustrated by Sara Palacios

I’ve seen many women in Rwanda carrying large baskets, or yellow water containers, or bundles of maize or sweet potatoes on their heads. I’ve tried to do it myself, and failed.

In this story, set in Port-au-Prince, a little girl is finally getting to learn how to carry a basket on her head as she goes to market with her mother. Little Sister is left back with Grann so it’s just Fallon and Manman. At first, the basket falls off Fallon’s head and her Manman tells her the wisdom she learned from her mother, “Pitit, pitit, zwazo fe nich li. Little by little the bird builds its nest. Not everything is learned fast.” When I read this I was working on a manuscript of my own with a Kenyan phrase, Haraka, haraka, haina baraka, hurry, hurry has no blessing. Both wise, universal truths.

Fallon is eager to try to balance the basket on her head again, but she must first learn from her surroundings. A tap-tap bus passes playing Kompa music and Manman says to carry the panye she must be graceful, even under the weight. Then they pass walls that still stand years after the earthquake in Haiti, and Manan says strength is also needed. And to carry the panye is to care for the family, she tells Fallon as they pass mothers and daughters in the market. Finally, it’s time to try again . . . and once again it falls. Fallon almost gives up but Manman says, “Pitit, pitit, build your nest,” and after one more try, Fallon does it. She walks like a queen, like Manman, all the way home with the panye on her head.

Back at home, when Manman asks Fallon what the panya means to her, she says, “The panye means we are graceful when the load is heavy. We are strong, even when the earth is not. We are family, fed from love.” I kind of want to paint this on my walls at home. Empowering, and beautiful.

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