10 Great Children’s Books You Might Have Missed in 2025

At the end of each year, as I wander through bookstores in search of holiday gifts, I’m always struck by the sheer number of children’s books I haven’t yet read or even heard about. As a writer, a parent, and the author of this column, it’s literally my job to know about books! But here’s my public confession: While I’ve recommended about 250 new titles to you over the past two years, I haven’t come close to mentioning all the stories out there that are well worth sharing with your young readers.

So, dear reader, I’d love it if you could do me a favor. This holiday season, when you visit your local bookstore to pick up the ten great books from the past year that I’ve recommended below, please take some extra time to ask the booksellers on duty what their own favorite new titles are. I guarantee you’ll leave with an armful of wonders.

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X. Fang, Broken
Tundra, October 14
recommended for ages 3-7

Author-illustrator X. Fang remembers just how excruciating it is to be a little kid who’s made a mistake, and she’s captured that experience perfectly in Broken. When Mei Mei accidentally breaks her ama’s favorite cup into three pieces, she’s so convinced she’ll be in trouble that she runs outside and hides. But when Ama calls her back in, Mei Mei learns that Ama thinks the cat has broken the cup. Will Mei Mei get away with her crime? Why does the cat keep staring at her? And why does knowing you’ve done something wrong feel so awful? Young readers will see their complex emotions recognized and honored in this empathetic and beautifully illustrated story.

Stephanie Graegin, Everyday Bean (Tiny Bean’s Big Adventures #1)
Tundra, July 8
recommended for ages 3-7

Everyday Bean is a picture book full of bite-sized stories about a tiny hedgehog named Bean, her favorite stuffie, her loving grandmother, and the simple moments in their lives. On a trip to the plant nursery, Bean decides to purchase a cactus because it resembles Grandma. She jumps off swings, rides her scooter, and tries to stay awake at bedtime. When Bean is in a bad mood on a windy day, she goes for a walk, and both her hat and her grouchiness blow away. These almost poetic snapshots of childhood are made all the more wonderful by Stephanie Graegin’s excellent illustrations, which add warmth and humor to every page of the collection.

Eric Velasquez, The Polar Bear and the Ballerina
Holiday House, October 14
recommended for ages 4-8

The Polar Bear and the Ballerina is a sometimes surprising, always enchanting wordless picture book by award-winning illustrator Eric Velasquez. The story begins at the Central Park Zoo, where young dancers from the Harlem Children’s Ballet are posing for a photo shoot in front of the polar bear exhibit. From behind the glass, the polar bear admires the ballerinas’ grace—and soon notices that one dancer has left her scarf behind. Naturally, the helpful bear decides to travel across the city to return the scarf at that night’s ballet performance. Readers of all ages will love visiting Velazquez’s dreamy version of New York City, where even a polar bear can execute a flawless arabesque.

Hye-Eun Kim, Pencil
TOON Books, March 18
recommended for ages 5-7

In colorful, whimsical sketches, this wordless picture book traces the life cycle of the humble pencil, from forest to factory to the hands of an artistic young child. I’m particularly drawn to Hye-Eun Kim’s illustration style and to the ideas the images spark for me: that a pencil is a paradox, a physical tool that consumes natural resources and a creative tool that can help new things grow. But there’s lots of white space here where young imaginations can roam free, and I look forward to watching my kids make their own meaning as they turn the pages. Hand Pencil to readers of any age who are eager to dream, create, wonder, and play.

Mika Song, Night Chef
Random House Graphic, October 28
recommended for ages 6-9

I’ve learned this year that raccoons are surprisingly employable: In June, I recommended a picture book about raccoon babysitters, and now I’m sharing a graphic novel about a raccoon chef. Ever since she was young, Night Chef has lived in the walls of a restaurant kitchen, observing the humans who work there and preparing meals of her own when they leave for the evening. When the egg that Night Chef plans to use in her ramen hatches into a baby crow named Ichi, Night Chef knows she has to help Ichi return to his family. In the funny and exciting adventure that ensues, our raccoon heroine uses her cooking skills to fight off owls, hop a train to Poughkeepsie, save a beloved animal restaurant, and forge connections with new friends.

Judith Eagle, The Stolen Songbird
illustrated by Jo Rioux
Walker Books US, December 2
recommended for ages 8-12

In 1950s London, young Caro Monday cares for her pet rabbit, His Nibs, and dreams of traveling the globe like her mother Jacinta, a world-famous whistler. But life in London can be exciting, too: When Jacinta goes missing on a trip abroad and Caro is sent to stay with her great-aunt, Caro discovers a stolen painting hidden in her suitcase. Soon Caro, His Nibs, and their friends are caught up in a first-rate historical art caper, trying to keep the painting out of thieves’ hands and return it to its rightful owner. Author Judith Eagle has an admirable talent for tale-spinning, and I can’t wait for young readers to be drawn into this engrossing adventure.

Daniel Nayeri, The Teacher of Nomad Land
Levine Querido, September 16
recommended for ages 8-12

Daniel Nayeri’s new novel for young people is already so beloved that it won this year’s National Book Award during the time it took me to write this column! Set in neutral Iran during World War II, The Teacher of Nomad Land tells the story of thirteen-year-old Babak and his eight-year-old sister Sana, who have lost their father in a “misunderstanding” with the British troops occupying the country. Now the orphaned children fear being separated—or worse. They decide to leave their city of Isfahan and seek safety with the nomad tribes their father used to teach. But the war unfolding around them is impossible to escape, and when the children encounter a young Jewish boy on their journey, they find themselves on the run from the Nazi spy who’s been searching for him.

Aubrey Hartman, The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest
illustrated by Marcin Minor
Little, Brown, February 25
recommended for ages 8 and up

Clare the fox is neither alive nor dead, but that doesn’t stop him from going about his business—or from being a star of this middle grade novel that’s creepy, cozy, and thoroughly enjoyable. Clare’s business, as it turns out, is guiding animal souls through Deadwood Forest to their resting place in the Afterlife. He’s content in this role, but his familiar routine is upended when he meets a cheerful badger soul named Gingersnipes who doesn’t seem to have a place in the Afterlife (and who asks far too many questions about Clare’s decorative monocle). Why can’t Gingersnipes leave Deadwood, and what does her predicament mean for Clare? Black-and-white illustrations give the story some old-fashioned charm, while the humorous narrative voice keeps it feeling fresh.

Colby Cedar Smith, The Siren and the Star
Simon & Schuster, October 28
recommended for ages 14 and up

Written in the form of an opera, this ambitious and fascinating new novel in verse tells the stories of two young women connected across time. In 2025, Lula has just enrolled at Boston’s prestigious New England Conservatory, the first step on her journey to becoming the singing phenomenon of her mother’s dreams. In 1635, Barbara works in servitude in Venice and dreams of achieving something beyond the harsh boundaries society has set for her. The Barbara in this book is a fictionalized version of the real groundbreaking female composer Barbara Strozzi, and the themes of her story intertwine with Lula’s as both young women search for their place in the musical world and in the world beyond.

Deborah Heiligman, Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story)
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 16
recommended for ages 14 and up

I’ll pick up anything that Deborah Heiligman writes—I particularly loved her award-winning 2009 biography Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith—and I can’t wait to get my hands on her new biography of anarchist and activist Emma Goldman. In an accessible narrative style that contextualizes history for teen readers, Loudmouth explores how Goldman’s passion for democratic ideals like equality and liberty led her to a lifetime of “troublemaking” activism. Heiligman presents readers with a complex, thoroughly researched portrait of Goldman’s life and encourages them to consider how they might use their own voices to advocate for change.