12 Of The Best New Children’s Books Out September 2023

This poetic picture book narrated by water itself honors the Indigenous activist Autumn Peltier and her aunt Josephine. Water recalls how once it was celebrated and cared for by Indigenous peoples, but then more people came who did not care for the water. Grandma Josephine, however, honored the water, spoke out about the need to care for water, and taught children about the importance of water. When she died, Autumn, her great-niece, used her voice to continue Grandma Josephine’s work. It’s a stunning picture book about the importance of caring for the water and how anyone can stand up and speak out about environmental issues. It’s perfect for reading alongside Lindstrom’s previous book, We Are Water Protectors.

I teared up several times while reading these seven gorgeous free-verse vignettes that relate true stories of people’s compassion and resilience during war, poverty, and hardship. In “A Garden of Grenades,” Palestinian mother Sabiha Abu Rahmah uses grenade canisters as flowerpots. In “Imagine,” Pedro Reyes creates musical instruments from 6,700 illegal weapons. Singh also writes about Indigenous activist Autumn Peltier, Brazilian gymnast and dancer Tuany Nascimento, and more. Colorful collage illustrations accompany each vignette. Back matter includes more details about the people behind the vignettes. This is ideal for older children, first grade and up.

Poet Amanda Gorman teams up with award-winning illustrator Christian Robinson in this hopeful picture book about how children can help enact change. “You are told / That this is not a problem,” the picture book opens, the illustrations showing a child looking worriedly at a heaping pile of trash on the sidewalk. “You are told that this cannot be fixed,” Gorman continues as the boy begins cleaning. Slowly, the child cleans, and eventually, other children join him. It’s not easy, but together, they plant a garden, and then the entire community begins to help take care of it. This is a book about how everyone, no matter how young, can make a change for the better by addressing community needs and taking action.

Fans of Brendan Wenzel’s previous books (They All Saw a Cat, A Stone Sat Still) will love this picture book, which I think is his most beautifully illustrated to date. The narrator dreams they are various animals, including a sleeping salamander, a drifting octopus, a sneaking tiger, and more. In each dream, they’re woken up, and when they dream again, they’re another animal. The illustrations are bright and dream-like, while the story is poetic and evocative.

Iveliz Explain It All was one of my favorite middle grade reads of last year, and Arango’s newest novel-in-verse is just as amazing and lovely. Sixth grader Laura Rodríguez Colón is living with her Titi Silvia, whom she’s never met before, after her parents overdose and are placed in a rehabilitation center. To get their custody rights back, they must complete the rehabilitation program. Laura expects them to be all done after a week but soon realizes it will be much longer than that. She does not want to be living with her aunt, who could never be bothered to visit before. When Laura finds an abandoned pit bull puppy, she hatches a plan to train the puppy as a therapy dog so she can visit her parents. She enlists the help of her new friend Benson at school, who has Sickle Cell Anemia. This is a realistic and moving novel.

Grace Lin’s latest is a must for foodies and folklore fans of all ages. In seven sections — “Chopsticks,” “Tea,” “Appetizers,” “Soup,” “Side Orders,” “Chef’s Specials,” and “Dessert” — Lin explores the history and myths behind well-known Chinese dishes. For example, her entry on hot and sour soup traces its origins to the Henan province and how it became known for healing illnesses. She then retells a legend set during the Ming dynasty about how it healed a Ming official. She includes entries on fortune cookies, Kung Pao chicken, egg rolls, and so much more. Delightful illustrations accompany each entry. This would make an excellent gift.

This is the seventh and final Vanderbeekers book, so if you’ve been waiting to read the series until it’s finished, now’s the time! The Vanderbeekers are excited to plan and attend a wedding, but then they receive devastating news: one of the siblings has leukemia. All wedding planning ceases as the entire family gathers in the hospital for treatments. When one of their friends also becomes critically ill, the family pulls together to help them as well. This final book in the series is about community, love, and support, and though it deals with weighty topics, it’s an ultimately hopeful conclusion to the series. Full disclosure: Karina Yan Glaser is a Book Riot contributor, and we write The Kids Are All Right newsletter together.

Award-winning children’s author Carole Boston Weatherford attempts to trace her ancestors back to Africa in this moving collection of interconnected poems. Her research leads her to Wye House, a plantation in Maryland where her ancestors were enslaved. She discovers Frederick Douglas mentioned one of her ancestors in an essay he wrote and that one of her ancestors was a member of the Colored Troops Union army regiment during the Civil War. Weatherford is unsuccessful in tracing her ancestors back to Africa. Nonetheless, these beautiful poems capture the voice of her ancestors and the breadth of loss, erasure, and pain experienced by African Americans whose ancestors were enslaved, though ultimately, the book is hopeful, a reclaiming of heritage. Weatherford’s son illustrates the poems, and his scratchboard illustrations are stunning. This is a book for all ages. I recommend an adult co-reading this with middle school readers, as some of the poems deal with non-graphic rape and violence and will need some conversation.

Nell lives in the small, magical town of Gumbling, and despite being magical, it’s pretty boring. This year, every student her age is being paired with a community member as their apprentice. More than anything, Nell wants to be paired with the artist Wiz Brave. But instead, she’s paired with the lorekeeper, Mrs. Birdneck. She thinks this will be the most boring apprenticeship ever. Her best friends both got their dream apprenticeships! Then a sister and brother arrive, claiming to be the heirs to the Gumbling castle — which is used as living quarters for the unhoused and other community essentials like the library. They want to turn the castle into an amusement park, which creates a huge uproar. Nell initially pays them little mind, but when it becomes clear that they could ruin Gumbling, she and her friends get involved, and her apprenticeship might be what saves Gumbling. This hybrid fictional diary and graphic novel by the author of The Okay Witch is so very charming and heartwarming.