Definitely more than a dozen books prove to be a tricky pile to read in a month. Of course, the varied stories, styles, illustrations, and voices make it worthwhile!
Let’s start with illustrated books:
We Can Play Anything! Marit Törnqvist (Author)
The idea of anything is sometimes too broad, and that might stump a kid, but not this kid!
When he invites you for a play date, it’s because he has tons of activities planned, from baking cookies to reading stories, to sleeping in an animal hotel, to make a show, endless possibilities!
Meant for toddlers, this book offers a vibrant celebration of imagination and the value of play.
We Can Play Anything! is on sale since April 21, 2026.
Published by Floris Books
Hardcover | Pages:28
ISBN: 9781782509554
Now, a pig wants the sheep’s job:
Pig Dreams Margarita Del Mazo (Author), Guridi (Illustrated by) Cecilia Ross (Translated by)
Pigs live happy lives but feel underestimated. Why do sheep get to work helping kids sleep, and they don’t?
What would it be like to count pigs instead of sheep?
One day, they decided to make an ambitious coup, and they shorn the sheep and tried to replace them, covered in their wool. However, this important job turns out to be tricky, demanding… and requires a lot of awake time from the pigs! They are in over their heads!
How to get rid of this unwanted job, then? You are going to be surprised.
Pig Dreams is on sale since May 04, 2026.
Published by Nubeocho
Hardcover | Pages:44
ISBN: 9788410406629
Up next, a book about butterflies:
My Butterfly Secret. The Butterfly Catchers of Indonesia, Mahesh Pathirathna (Author), Evi Shelvia (Illustrated by)
This is an interesting take on the perils of over-exhausting natural resources for-profit, set in Sri Lanka.
Kakak is a kid torn between protecting the secret spot where butterflies dwell, or selling them to collectors to feed his family (Same issue here in Bolivia with Dynastes Satan, a unique type of Rhinoceros beetle).
Of course, when lots of families do the same thing, butterflies disappear. Can there be a way to both prevent this from happening and for the community to thrive?
This story, based on the author’s real experiences, offers understanding–and a solution.
My Butterfly Secret will be available on May 12, 2026.
Publisher: Creston Books
Pages: 32 Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9781954354456
Now for a fun story based on science:
Horned Toad Has a Superpower by Jill Esbaum (Author), Bob Shea (Illustrated by)
The style, the tone, and the conversation between the Owl chick and Horned toad are fun, engaging, and most importantly, based on science! This is a delightful collection I would love to share with kids.
The little lizard is called the horned toad, a common misconception.
Check him out as he lounges in the hot Texas sun, snacking on ants, and chatting with his new friend, Owlet. Things are pretty easy.
He is about to tell us about his superpower, which is a surprising one indeed!
Horned Toad Has a Superpower is on sale since May 12, 2026.
Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Hardcover | Pages: 32
ISBN: 9780593700020
Now, a book about where stories get to live:
Where Do Stories Live? by Meenal Patel (Author)
A young girl called Avni receives a journal as a gift, and soon, she wonders about the blank pages. What should she put in them?
Avni and her younger sister, Isha, discover the magic of storytelling in small, poetic phrases that invite the reader to wonder at butterfly wings, homemade meals, and shared laughter.
Sometimes stories are right there within our own lives, waiting to be told.
Where Do Stories Live?</ is be available since May 05, 2026.
Publisher: Kokila
Pages: 40 Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9798217003198
Up next, another book about a weird creature, this time at the bottom of the sea:
Neil, the Amazing Sea Cucumber Amelia Tonta (Author), Lucinda Gifford (Illustrated by)
I felt that this book could have had a bit more about these special detritivores that live at the bottom of the ocean. I know the Sea Snails get all the attention, but Neil is also special!
At least in the eyes of Sandra, her partner, he is! Even though nothing much happens, and cucumbers do not really resemble sea cucumbers… There is a lot of dry humor in this story.
Underrated underwater sea creatures deserve more books!
Neil, the Amazing Sea Cucumber is on sale since April 28, 2026.
Published by Viking Books for Young Readers
Hardback | Pages: 32
ISBN: 9798217039890
Now for a book about a Deli:
Deli Days by Jenna Rothberg (Author), Marta Pantaleo (Illustrated by)
A nostalgic take on the importance of community and what helping out means, even when you make a mistake.
Zeyde’s Deli, where Grandpa serves the neighborhood, is where she spends the Sundays, helping her grandpa.
Sometimes you are helping serve some of the simple and yet signature dishes, like triangular cookies lathered in jam, or pastrami sandwiches, and maybe other times you will not make it. A passerby may cause you to trip, scattering cookies and broken shards of the plate all over the floor.
However, the kind response of the whole community to a grandchild’s mistake is worth treasuring, along with all the delicious sights and smells, the book also offers some recipes like matzo balls!
Deli Days is available since May 05, 2026.
Publisher: Scribble Us
Pages: 40/Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9781964992273
Up next, a not-so-boring book about a nursing log:
I Am Not Boring. The True-Life Story of a Log Lena Podesta (Author)
This is a funny take on the importance of rotting wood! Especially nursing logs, as they are a vital part of many ecosystems.
This is a story of a log in the ground, the end. Or is it? Is it boring because it sits there and does nothing?
Anything but: they are an essential part of life in the forest. Logs provide shelter, become food, and even turn into a safe place for a new tree to grow.
The function of nursing logs is important; we covered a book about the same subject here.
I Am Not Boring will be available from May 26, 2026.
Published by Ten Speed Young Readers
Hardcover | Pages: 40
ISBN 9780593838297
Up next, a fun and mysterious graphic novel:
The Marsh Fellows Anna-Laura Sullivan (Author)
Slumber City is a mysterious, swamped, wet city. Strange creatures lurk in the darkness, and the only countermeasure available is powerful light beacons that are alight day and night… if you can call permanent darkness day.
Before the apocalypse, there used to be a marsh with creatures swimming in it, surrounding the city, and an old couple, Pearl and Marvin, used to take care of the Marsh and conduct research on it.
Now the couple has an urchin (an orphan) under their care, and the three of them are in over their heads trying to solve some issues: what is really surrounding Slumber City, and what are the plans of the major? Are the lurking creatures even real? The drawing style is fun and dynamic, and the mystery is truly a good one!
The Marsh Fellows will be available since May 19, 2026.
Published by Top Shelf Productions
Paperback | Pages: 152
ISBN: 9781603095891
This one is a lovely addition to my art-related library:
Dogs in Art. A Canine History of Art by Valeria Aloise (Author), Margot Tissot (Illustrated by)
This non-fiction book takes you through classic and modern artworks, checking out the dogs in the pictures, or statues about dogs, and contemporary takes with dogs as references.
Join Harriet is a museum cat, as she has a lot to say about this art tour involving dogs, the more than 30 artworks that are analyzed range from classical mutts (such as the one you may find at Velázquez’s Meninas) to Jeff Koons iconic Balloon Dog, and everything in between.
Frida Kahlo painted a hairless Mexican dog. Keith Haring made a dog out of rectangular and kinetic lines; various indigenous peoples had space for dogs in their art, as well!
Art styles, fun facts, time periods, and a lot of pets are present in the book, and that one snazzy cat that takes part in the art tour is not at all impressed! (or so she says).
Dogs in Art will be available since April 07, 2026.
Published by Helvetiq
Hardcover | Pages: 64
ISBN: 9783039641239
Now for a nonfiction, fact-filled book about teeth:
Chomp! Our Health and World in Extraordinary Fangs, Tusks and Teeth by Yoann Cantine (Author), Maria Marega (Illustrated by)
This is a fun mix between a normal, dentist approach to teeth, and a wider way of looking at all kinds of teeth, from the beginning of time, and from different species.
Fun facts and different ideas around teeth and tooth tell us about this oh so necessary tool. We use our mouths to smile, to speak, and to chew. Adult humans have 32 teeth that grow twice during our lifetime, while some other animals, like sharks, have hundreds of teeth that can grow up to 30,000 times!
All animals’ teeth are completely unique. Each tooth has its own shape, job, and special features.
Learn way baby Vikings did not have any cavities as opposed to their parents and value dental hygiene and the necessary care, from toothbrushes to mouth protectors, we should all have.
Chomp! is available since May 12, 2026.
Publisher: Helvetiq
Pages: 64/Hardback
EAN/UPC: 9783039641116
Up next, let’s talk animal intelligence:
Animal Intelligence Unleashed. What Animals Reveal about Our Changing World, Jill Russo (Author), Eszter Szepvogy (Illustrated by)
The story of this book is presented as a series of detective mysteries, where you have suspects and must go through a series of clues to discover some basic animal traits.
The main idea is to explain how animals communicate, and how technology is helping us understand animal behavior.
Animal Intelligence Unleashed will be available on January 06, 2026.
Publisher: Beetle Books
Pages: 176 Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9781835694909
Now for a memoir:
Mixed Up: An Irish Boy’s Journey to Belonging by Leon Diop (Author)
Leon Diop is now the European Leader of the Obama Foundation and is very well known in Ireland, but his life was far from easy.
I appreciated the tone of this book. Is not a lyrical book, or a literary book; it is an honest recount of how life became strange to a kid born in Ireland from an Irish mother and a Senegalese father, where there was initially a lot of attraction (for the couple), but soon many differences between the parents proved stressful. Diop had a very difficult childhood, riddled with anxiety.
In his mixed-race experience, described with honesty, Diop doesn’t shy away from recounting difficult times, thoughts, and feelings.
As the sole brown child in his school, he was worried about discrimination, not knowing if he had a right to belong. The main reason he shares his story is that after getting himself into trouble and his feelings of loneliness and loss, he understands others are going through the same thing.
That is when he found his true calling: helping Black and mixed-race people tell their own stories.
I feel that memoirs are always a good gateway point to understand others’ points of view; that’s the beauty of books, they are often windows that let you peek inside other people’s lives and experiences.
Mixed Up: An Irish Boy’s Journey to Belonging is on sale since May 12, 2026.
Published by Little Island Books
Paperback | Pages: 160
ISBN: 9781915071880
Finally, a middle-grade novel about libraries and belonging:
The Chismosas Only Book Club Laekan Zea Kemp (Author), Heidi Moreno (Illustrated by)
This novel grabbed me at the title, as chismosa is an endearing word (if not used to scold) that refers to Latina gossip girls. Add a magical library to the mix, and I was hooked from the very start.
Cat, Sofia, Ana, and Mari are best friends. Nothing, nada, can break their bond. They are about to finish middle school, and the book club of the title is their idea to remain in touch once they enter different high schools.
Milagro’s Books, a three-generation-run library with a little hint of magic, is their go-to place, but ninth grade proves hard to navigate.
Maybe the spirit of Milagro herself can help the girls sort through their feelings.
Stories have the power to hold us together, especially in tough times.
There are graphic novel-style chapters inserted in the narrative, always a win!
The Chismosas Only Book Club is be available from May 26, 2026.
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Pages: 336 Hardcover
EAN/UPC: 9780593859766
