12 Must-Read October Children’s Book Releases

Like their previous picture book together, Last Stop on the Reindeer Express, The Midnight Zoo features peek-through pages and lift-the-flaps among beautiful, ornate illustrations. Luna’s cat has been missing for two days, and she’s so worried. Hearing animal noises under her bed at night, she crawls under the bed and discovers a magical zoo for lost pets and animals. Transported to the zoo, Luna searches for her beloved pet and finds many wondrous things along the way. Though it’s never mentioned in the story, Luna wears a hearing aid. I love seeing disability representation in stories like these.

When I requested this picture book, I was not expecting to cry while reading it, but I’ve read it three times now and cried every time. So be warned. The child Hilda loves helping the witch Hazel around the house, and in return, hearing Hazel’s stories from long ago and watching the stories play out in magical dust. As the seasons pass, Hilda watches and listens to more and more of Hazel’s stories until one day, Hazel is no longer there, and Hilda sweeps the house only in the company of Hazel’s cat. But the magical dust still remembers Hazel and knows precisely what Hilda needs. Everything about this picture book is magical, from the sweet, lyrical prose to the sepia-toned illustrations.

This bilingual picture book explores the 1930s Mexican Repatriation, when, amidst the Great Depression, the U.S. government forced U.S. citizens of Mexican descent into Mexico, even though many had lived on their land for many generations. The text itself never mentions the history, instead centering on a boy’s story about his sadness at leaving his home and how his family comes together to support one another during this time. The author’s end note explains more about the Mexican Repatriation movement. While it takes place in a specific moment in U.S. history, it’s also a universal story and feels very modern. Mora’s vibrantly colored, smudged illustrations are beautiful.

This extremely silly picture book will get big belly laughs from young readers. Tiny Spoon and Little Fork both think they’re Baby’s favorite eating utensil. They both come from a long line of spoons and forks excellent at their jobs, and they both have photographic evidence of Baby enjoying some yum yums with their aid. When it’s time to eat, however, Baby throws both Tiny Spoon and Little Fork, sending them on a wild ride into the floor alongside Baby’s bunny lovey. Will Spoon and Fork find a way to cooperate instead of compete so they can return to Baby? This one is genuinely hilarious and so much fun to read aloud.

The Talk is a beautifully written and heartfelt picture book about possibly one of the hardest conversations Black and Brown caregivers have with their children. Jay loves to race around the neighborhood with his friends and pretend he’s a wolf in his hoodie. His mother measures him in a doorway, but as Jay grows taller, his family begins to worry. His Grandma mentions people may see him as threatening now, and his dad explains how to act when police confront him. But Jay is still a kid and wants to act like a kid. How is it fair that he has to behave differently just because of the color of his skin? With lovely, warm illustrations and gentle prose, this picture book provides lots of room for caregivers to have tough but essential conversations with their kids. This picture book can also be a meaningful tool for white families to discuss the impacts of racism with their children.

Get your singing voice ready for this wildly inventive picture book about how digestion works, presented as a musical. It’s Lil’ Candy’s big chance to do something great, but the human body doesn’t want to eat Lil’ Candy. Lil’ Candy has nothing to offer the teeth, lungs, liver, etc. However, the tongue wants to give Lil’ Candy a chance, and in the stomach, Lil’ Candy makes a friend — Gum. With the help of four baby carrots, Gum, and a red blood cell, Lil’ Candy learns all about human digestion, and it turns out Lil’ Candy has a secret that will change how the rest of the body thinks of it. This book is hilarious, adorably illustrated, and very informative. I’m a big musical fan, so I love making up tunes and belting out the book. However, this has backfired, and my daughter will now only read the book with me, ha!

This innovative and lovely middle grade is told from the perspective of Resilience (Res), a fictional Mars rover. NASA scientists Rania and Xander built Res to help find a lost rover on Mars and to test for signs of water and life there. During his testing period, Res begins to develop emotions alongside the more logical skills he needs to navigate Mars. Once on Mars, he befriends his drone, Fly, and seeks to prove himself worthy of one day returning to Earth. Meanwhile, Rania’s daughter Sophie becomes interested in the rover and writes him letters. She continues to write him letters for the many years Res is on Mars, relating her mother’s illness and school struggles. This is a heartwarming, emotional read for space lovers of all ages.

I had so much fun listening to this contemporary middle grade spy novel on audio, narrated by Victoria Villarreal. Like her parents, 14-year-old Andréa Hernández-Baldoquín works as a spy for the Factory, an organization of non-white spies whose mission is to help protect people of color from terrorism and other major crimes. Andréa’s first lead mission is to pose as a white student to get close to the estranged son of a white supremacist and terrorist, Kyle, to uncover his father’s whereabouts. She soon realizes that the best way to befriend Kyle is to learn to play a card game and read the comic book series it’s based on. However, while learning about the game and befriending Kyle, she begins to have romantic feelings for Kyle’s best friend and roommate, Rámon. There’s lots of good stuff in here: excellent, nuanced discussions about race and being a light-skinned Latina, action-packed spy scenes, a look inside gaming and cosplay communities, and I love that the main character is 14, an underrepresented age in middle grade.

Ava has recently been diagnosed with anxiety and is seeing a therapist for coping mechanisms. She especially struggles with surprises, and when her father informs her that they will be spending two weeks in Colorado to meet his girlfriend and her daughter at the last minute, Ava’s anxiety spikes. She doesn’t want to add people to their life, no matter how nice they are, and she definitely doesn’t want to go to Colorado, especially after reading about how dangerous it is online. She actually does find she likes her father’s girlfriend and her daughter Z; however, that doesn’t mean she’s prepared to upend her entire life to include them in it. This middle grade is a super fun, compulsive read, and the anxiety portrayal is so well done. There are even sections of Ava’s journal included where she lists some of the coping strategies she’s learned.

Dominican middle schooler Marlene is tired of going to the hair salon to get her curly hair straightened or braided. She loves hanging out with her friends and playing — she does not love her mother’s constant criticism about how playing ruins her hair and how her hair must be “presentable” at all times. Marlene’s Tía Ruby keeps her hair natural, and Marlene has decided she wants to do the same. But how does she let her mom know without disappointing her? With beautiful, soft illustrations and a very lovable main character, this middle grade graphic novel is an empowering ode to Black and Brown hair and self-love.