English Picture Books

Rebecca Gugger & Simon Röthlisberger

Oscar discovers a magnificent treasure chest. When he opens it, he is disappointed at what’s inside: nothing but words. What type of treasure is that?! But when he tosses fluorescent into the bushes, a bright yellow hedgehog runs by! Soon Oscar has created a featherlight backhoe, a docile crocodile, and a monstrous—oops!—adorable beetle. Using new words is fun!

Ann Kim Ha 

Eddy is a lonely goldfish stuck inside his fishbowl. He would love to have a friend to swim and play and blow bubbles with. Soon, on the other side of the glass, he spies not one but two new friends. After days of playing games together, Eddy leaps out of his bowl to be closer to them. And that’s when he realizes that his two friends are really the inquisitive eyes of A CAT! Oh, no! Luckily for Eddy, friendship can be found in unexpected places. 

Adam Kay & Henry Paker

This is the hilarious (and admittedly a tiny bit gross) tale of Amy, a small piece of sweetcorn who is eaten by Noah, a medium-sized boy. The story follows Amy on her funny, gooey and anatomically-accurate adventure through the human body as she discovers lots of facts about digestion. (It's fair to say that parents might learn a little bit too.)

David Biedrzycki

Try as he might, Robot can't keep up with the other robots at the warehouse. But when he's sent off for reprogramming, he takes a wrong turn and ends up encountering music, dancing, and ART! He tries to share his discovery, only to find that art is hard to explain—and even harder to do. Will Robot learn to express himself and transform the warehouse . . . or will he be recycled?

Donald Lemke & Bob Lentz

At the far reaches of Earth, high upon a mountaintop, a bustling city is under attack by a . . . cute little furball? Wait—what?! That’s not right. The author wrote this book about a “ferocious beast,” not a cuddly critter. Turns out, the book’s illustrator has other plans. Page by page, these clashing collaborators are writing (and drawing) themselves into the story for a full-on creator combat—a bookmaking BATTLE ROYALE! 

Felicita Sala

Rita is bored. So, so, so bored. 

She’s tried stretching her body across her bedroom, side-eyeing herself in the mirror, stomping her feet and swinging her arms. Time drags on, and there she remains: catatonic with boredom. 

In her tragic and weakened state, her mind drifts to the beginning of a daydream. What if all the bored people in the world gathered together and got onto a bus...?

Brian Lies

In the warm, late afternoon sunlight, a girl sits on the couch reading a book. Her kitten dozes nearby. But when Kitten notices a mouse and dives after it through a framed poster on the wall, an epic chase through time, art, and history ensues. Is it a dream? That’s up to the reader to decide, but for the kitten, every leap and bound is full of suspense and makes for a masterpiece.

Neil Sharpson & Dan Santat

Why, dear reader, must you NEVER EVER trust fish?

1) They spend all their time in the water where we can’t see them.

2) Some are as big as a bus—that is not okay.

3) We don't know what they're teaching in their "schools."

4) They are likely plotting our doom.

This nature-guide-gone-wrong is a hilarious, off-the-rails exploration of the seemingly innocent animals that live in the water.

Tara Lazar & Pete Oswald

Flat Cat was born flat. He wasn't squashed by an out-of-control ice cream truck, or smushed in a waffle iron. He was just flat. This slick, sly cat could stray and roam anywhere he pleased, keen and unseen. And wouldn't you know it, Flat Cat liked it just like that.

That is until one day, when Flat Cat accidentally fell splish splosh right in the wash. And when he emerged from the dryer, Flat Cat wasn't flat at all.

Cherry Mo

When Jun moves from Hong Kong to America, the only words she knows are hello, thank you , I don’t know , and toilet . Her new school feels foreign and terrifying.

But when she opens her lunchbox to find her favorite meals—like bao, dumplings, and bok choy—she realizes home isn’t so far away after all.

Linda Ólafsdóttir

Vera and Mamma are headed out for a march, but it’s not just any march. It’s October 24 in Reykjavík, and on this day in 1975, the women of Iceland took the day off, walked out of their homes and away from their jobs—as farmworkers, butchers, and fisherwomen; wives, daughters, and children—and marched to demand equality and change, “I dare! I can! I will!”

Kyo Maclear & Gracey Zhang

When the deliverymen set off in the morning, the children wait for the flicker of pedal and wheel. It's the demae-- delivery men-- setting off to deliver steaming trays of noodles to hungry customers all over the city. They are acrobats!

Sanae Ishida

Sashiko is a young girl with very big feelings. When her mother teaches her about her namesake—the traditional Japanese practice of mending through embroidery—she finds an outlet for some of those emotions. With each stitch, the dark cloud around her lightens, until her big fears begin to feel less scary. As she heals tears in the fabric, she begins to find a sense of calm and hope.

Drew Beckmeyer 

DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.

Time flies for two charming little cave nubs, Stalactite and Stalagmite. Over millions of years, creatures and things pass in and out of their cave, everything from a trilobite, an ichthyostega, and a triceratops, to a ground sloth and a bat. But what will happen when the two nubs grow enough to finally touch?

Jess Hannigan 

The signs are clear—there’s a BEAR OUT THERE!

You’re lucky to be safe in this cabin in the woods, with a host who is levelheaded, trustworthy, and smart about bear safety.

There’s certainly no need to worry about any dark shadows or sneaky schemes in this book…RIGHT?

Joanna Ho, Carolin Kusin Pritchard, & Dan Santat

Arnold didn't mean for the books to disappear—not exactly. It all started because he liked his book about airplanes best. Why would anyone want to read about tomatoes or ostriches or submarines (ew, the worst!) when they could read about planes, instead? Can Arnold figure out how to bring them back before it’s too late?

Mamiko Shiotani & Polly Lawson 

A little ghost lives in the attic of a big house. All alone: just how he likes it. Until one day a curious girl disturbs his peace and quiet. Why won't the annoying and slightly scary child go away? So he decides to do what ghosts do best...

Hyewon Yum 

Award-winning creator Hyewon Yum’s knack for the adorable is at full power in Toto. This warm and vulnerable story grapples with the pressure we feel to blend in, and celebrates the moments—and the friends—that remind us how much better it is to be our full and singular selves.

Anita Yasuda & Yuko Shimizu

Junko Tabei dreamed of a life climbing mountains. But men refused to climb with her. Sponsors told her to stay home. And gloves were not made to fit her hands. Junko, eager and unstoppable, wouldn’t let these obstacles get in her way. Instead, she planned an expedition to summit Mount Everest with an all-women team. She climbed step by step . . . up, up, ever up!

X. Fang

When three mysterious visitors show up in Mr. Li's field in the middle of the night, he does what any kind human would do - he invites them back to his farmhouse and offers to help fix their... car. No, there's nothing strange about these guests at all. They're just like other humans.