I enjoy reading kid’s books a lot. It’s part of my job description, they are a constant reminder of how fun and encouraging things can be when read with the right words. And this list is such a parade of good illustrators, some very well-known, and others about to be!
Let’s start with early readers:
As the proud owner of a timid cat, I felt for this white cat and her big efforts to escape a toddler.
Suzy is visiting Auntie today, and she wants to play with Cat.
It is so fun to peer through the clever hiding places that poor Cat chooses again and again! Susy is so frustrated!
But, maybe, in nap time, when everything is quiet, they can co-exist?
Where Is the Cat? is available since September 09, 2025.
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Pages: 32/ Hardback
EAN/UPC: 9780593754580
Up next, a Mutts book:
Calvin and Hobbes, Mafalda, Clemente, Mutss, and Macanudo are such a stable staple in our home. They can always cheer you up! Simple drawings, lots of funny jokes, and sometimes a picture book based on the comic strip characters make for a powerful combination, one that my now-teenager son finds as amusing as when he was first starting to read.
In this festive book, Mooch the cat is searching for the perfect gift for his special friend Earl. But what is perfect? Maybe, sometimes, we can all check out the entire forest instead of focusing on a single tree. And learn to see everything!
The Gift of Everything is on sale since October 07, 2025.
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 40 Hardback
EAN/UPC 9780316583305
Up next, a Mexican illustrator:
A little girl feels that everything is fine on the outside, but on the inside, she is not that well. Her best friend has moved away, and the symptom that something is not quite right is two crocodiles!!
There is a weeping gray one and a loud breaking green one. They show up everywhere and chase her, leaving her without a moment of peace. They even follow her to her family’s beach vacation, and that is when she decides to talk to them. And yes, they have something in common: She has been feeling sad and angry, too.
Crocodiles Everywhere is on sale since October 07, 2025.
Published by Rocky Pond Books
Hardback | Pages: 40
ISBN: 9780593859148
And now, a book by the inimitable Oliver Jeffers:
This is a lovely book about miscommunication. Bridget wants to celebrate her birthday, but she fails to mention that it is her birthday when asking her friends to spend the day with her.
All of a sudden, her friends are way too busy. Royal, Rodney, Regis … they all have plans! Will Bridget have to spend her birthday all alone?
Well, if you put it like that…
I’m Very Busy is on sale from October 07, 2025.
Published by Philomel Books
Hardback | Pages: 32
ISBN: 9780593622308
Another holiday book:
This is one of the feel-good books that tells you a straight message. I have a bit to say about that, because we are missing the point of children’s stories. They are not here to fulfill our “be kind” wishes, but to tell a story. One where the character suffers and transforms, and transforms the reader in turn, with their experience.
Having said that, the message is one of changing what you see by becoming the change you want to see in the world. Jerome wants to collect words but only sees bad news, sale offers, and despair. So he decides to make a performance and invites every neighbor to hang a kind word in a tree for the holidays.
The World Collector sends a message of unity that can be well paired with the book The Gift of Everything, described above.
The Gift of Words is on sale since October 07, 2025
Published by Orchard Books
Hardback | Pages: 40
ISBN: 9781339000343
Now a book biography:
This is a lovely and whimsical take on the childhood and further life of one of the most beloved authors of children’s books: Arnold Lobel.
Presented as a quiet observer, an avid reader, and a person who grew up to be the man that kept a gorilla suit in his closet… the drawing and representations of the illustration process, and how some things influence us and how we influence others by putting our emotions into our work, are well presented.
I appreciated how delicate the portrayal of his emotions and relationships was, too. From the relationships with his children, how he approached work, to his later acquaintances, everything feels respectful and kind, just how Lobel was.
Outside In and the Inside Out is on sale since September 23, 2025.
Published by Viking Books for Young Readers
Hardback/ 40 pages
ISBN: 9780593692509
To finish, here come two amazing non-fictional books:
Rock Star. How Ursula Marvin Mapped Moon Rocks and Meteorites by Sandra Neil Wallace (Author), Nancy Carpenter (Illustrated by)
I enjoyed how the book is laid out, because it ends up in something that might feel kike defeat. She believed meteorites held the key to unlocking the origins of the solar system. She travelled to Antarctica, the coldest climate on Earth, and had a blast fighting the harsh conditions and finding meteorites that will prove how some of those rocks came directly from the Moon. But she broke her leg, and felt dispirited, a feeling a lot of high-achieving women feel: that they are not doing enough… even when holding rocks from the stars in their hands.
Ursula Marvin was a scientific trailblazer and I am glad I got to know her through this story.
Rock Star is on sale since October 14, 2025.
Published by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Hardback | Pages: 48
ISBN: 9781534493339
Now one of my favorite scientific illustrators:
Rachel Ignotofsky is the most inquisitive illustrator I’ve had the pleasure to encounter. I highly recommend her Inphograhics books: Women in Science, Women in Sports, Women in Art, The History of the Computer, and her What’s Inside picture book series.
Dinosaurs is on sale since October 14, 2025.
Published by Ten Speed Press
Hardback | Pages: 128
ISBN: 9781984861757
Source: geekdad.com