Kids - Best of 2025

"A celebration of the history of Black music in America"-- Provided by publisher.

Two little mineral piles, Stalactite and Stalagmite, foster a friendship over millions of years as they grow closer together, figuratively and literally.

Inspired by her teacher, Mr. Koji, a girl begins bird watching in the hopes of seeing an owl.

"With a minimal tableau of familiar objects and a gentle rhythm suited for reading aloud, a forest and all its items-a cabin, some rocks, a (nice) forest ghost, a stream, a bridge-are assembled, ending with bedtime as the sun goes down. This is a forest for a young child to have whenever they want to go there. One of a trio of board books focusing on safe spaces, comfort, and imagination, Your Forest signals both a departure for Jon Klassen and a...

Every year, Lynn spends her summers roaming the forests of the Great Smoky Mountains and watching the fireflies light up the night. As she gets older, she realizes there's something special about these Great Smoky fireflies. Each night they seem to perform a dazzling synchronized light show! She tries to learn more, but scientists tell her that synchronous fireflies don't exist in the western hemisphere. Lynn may not be a scientist, but she wonders...

"Growing up on a dusty farm in central California, Aiko Ruth Asawa lived between two worlds. She was Aiko to some and Ruth to others, an invisible line she balanced on every day. But when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, thrusting the world into war, suddenly she was Aiko, no matter how much her family tried to cut the lines connecting them to Japan. Like many other Japanese Americans, they were taken to a prison camp. The same barbed wire that now separated...

"Told through letters, these poems reveal the everyday conversations between 'big' and 'little' objects in our ecosystem, revealing how different perspectives also have common threads that connect each"-- Provided by publisher.

"All the animals think Crow is just cranky, but there's more to his actions than meets the eye"-- Provided by publisher.

"When dancers have a photoshoot at the Central Park Zoo, a young, African American ballerina and a polar bear form a special friendship. When his new friend leaves her scarf behind, the polar bear must venture through Central Park and out into Manhattan to return it before her performance at the Lincoln Center. However, the theater goers eye the strange bear with suspicion. When the ushers won't let him inside, the ballerina comes to his rescue and...

"Some kids have one job: to be a kid! Cecilia has two. When she isn't on the soccer field scoring goals, she's accompanying her parents to all kinds of grown-up places, like the DMV, the accountant's office, and the auto shop. She helps them translate from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish. It's an important job, and it can even be fun. It's also hard work. Sometimes Cecilia's second job is so much responsibility, it feels like she'll...