Kimberly Fakih

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.

From a glittering party in Harlem to a dazzling parade in Tokyo, from a baba's small patch of soil to a cadre of children learning to love who they are or stand up for others, the very best of 2023's picture books invite readers into pages to meet the world head on.

The beginning of life, the stars in the sky, the fungi around us, and some of the hottest topics in biology and science are on display in the best books of 2023 in the elementary nonfiction list. The facts are in: these writers and illustrators help kids connect with the real world in one thrilling book after another. 

The author/illustrator describes his inspiration for this story about a mother fox making her way across an autumnal landscape to get home to her kits.

With fascinating topics across fiction and nonfiction, these 21 board books make babies and toddlers happy, keep them engaged, and don't wear out caregivers on the first reading.

By reaching back two generations to the abuses suffered by her grandmother in boarding school, Carole Lindstrom, author of the Caldecott Medal-winning 'We Are Water Protectors' reclaims a piece of Indigenous culture about the power and beauty of long hair.

Impeccable art and lyrical and child-friendly text set these 27 titles apart from everything else we read this year.

Stellar research, unexplored histories, scientific breakthroughs, and heartbreaking truths loom large in this whopping list of 52 choice nonfiction works.

Back to school means time to revisit Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's How to Raise an Antiracist. This New York Times bestseller is his answer to the many questions parents and educators have on how to bring children into conversation, about how to be better citizens in the world, and how to treat their peers with compassion and inclusion.