In 2022 I tried something new. I've long used Goodreads to log all the books I read, even started logging all the books I was reading to Luke, starting when he was about 18 months (do I still wonder what I read him in those first 18 months? Yes. But we weren't committed to picture books then like we are now.) However, in 2022 I made a new shelf to log all the books I read to the boys in that calendar year. Which is how I can tell you I read them 2,118 (two that Goodreads still needs to add to their library) last year. I'd say that's about 50/50 on new to us books vs. rereads (particularly of seasonal books and ones we own). That...is a lot of books. I know I added 1,365 books to Sam's total alone sooooo...getting that narrowed down to 25...that's an accomplishment. Even if my first run of this list was 107.
Now, not ever book we read is outstanding (could immediately eliminate all the media books...I have yet to read a Paw Patrol book that is great) but, I curate the books that I pick out for them pretty well to where many are 4 or 5 star reads, and I didn't even consider anything for this list rated lower. I tried to mostly exclude season-specific books even though we read some fun ones there too. And I rate nearly every biography as 4 stars or higher (everyone who gets a picture book written about them just seem like wonderful people! Although I'm sure that's not true nearly all of the time) but I didn't include very many of those. I can highlight those somewhere else!
Final note, not all of these were published in 2022, I wasn't really paying attention, but I'm sure most of them were. But we do find some older gems! Regardless, these are all books we first encountered in 2022.
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In NO particular order, here we go!
1) Whistling for Angela by Robin Herald and Peggy Collins
This book earned it's spot but casually throwing in an adopted baby without making that the point of the story. One of my sons gasped in a delighted way when that was revealed. It was the rare random library grab and I was happy the way that turned out. About a older brother trying to help settle his new baby sister. Very sweet.
2) Zero Zebras: A Counting Book about What's Not There by Bruce Goldstone, illustrated by Julien Chung
This is one a sister recommended to me and it was a delightful way to illustrate a quantity of zero, by showing zero zebras at all. Humorous but educational!
3) The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster by Mo Willems
We are big fans of the Pigeon here and when I saw there was a new book I first texted some sisters to see if I was the only one who missed this info and then went to order it (I promise my sisters and I do talk about things besides picture books). We took a child on his first huge roller coaster this year and that maybe scared him out of ever doing another one so this was perfect timing, even months later. We always love the Pigeon.
4) More Than Peach by Bellen Woodard, illustrated by Fanny Liem
When Bellen (the author) was a student in elementary school, her classmates refered to the peach colored crayon as "the skin color" which may have been true for many of them but not her. Which led to her getting Crayola to include many different skin tones in their crayons. I LOVE stories of people seeing something that needs changed and getting it changed, especially kids.
5) The Weight of a Mass: A Tale of Faith by Josephine Nobisso, illustrated by Katalin Szegedi
This is a very Catholic specific book but I found it incredible moving to read to the boys! A poor widow begs for a scrap of bread but all she can offer in return is her participation in a Mass. The baker doesn't think this is much payment but his scales can't find anything that weighs as much as the piece of paper with her offer on it.
6) Patchwork by Matt de la Pena, illustrated by Corinna Luyken
A wonderful celebration of how we're all a patchwork of our various selves. Yes, you may be a dancer when you are young but you can take what you've learned there and apply it to something completely different, such a being a computer coder. There is overlap! Even the most random things can inform other parts of your life! We're all made of so many parts.
7) Blood! Not Just a Vampire Drink by Stacy McAnulty. illustrated by Gary Tiedemann
We had this one checked out for a very long time. A older vampire just wants blood. Human blood. Lots of human blood. But the younger vampire running the chocolate milk shake stand informs old vampire why humans really need their blood. And that chocolate milkshakes are delicious. Honestly, I learned things about blood in this book!
8) Seven and Half Tons of Steel by Janet Nolan, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez
This is a story I had NO IDEA was a thing. A beam from the World Trade Center was given to the US Navy who then made it the bow in the ship the USS New York. It weighed seven and a half ton. Also, learn about ship building!
9) Cavities vs. Toothpaste: A Silly Hygiene Book About Brushing Teeth by Didi Dragon, illustrated by Hannah Robinett
My kids have been going to the dentist twice a year since they were 2ish. We been having them brush at least once a day since they were even younger. And yet, this book made them much more enthusiastic about brushing and caring for their teeth than we ever could. Maybe because this was told with a bit more humor than I used! And pictures of bacteria.
10) The Whale Who Wanted More by Rachel Bright
This whale is just looking for one thing. Just ONE thing. You know, that ONE thing that will make his life complete. It has to exist, right? It's gotta be out there! Ummm...yes. Great lessons for my little want to be hoarders and also, for my loves to shop at Target self.
11) If Tigers Disappeared by Lily Williams
This is the latest in a FANTASTIC picture book series about how crucial different animals are to the survival of our whole planet. Presented in such a beautiful but educational way. Just wonderfully done.
12) Knight Owl by Christopher Denise
This is a clever story about a young Owl who just wants to be a hero so he signs up to be a knight, defending the castle from deadly dragons. It's cute but also has a bit of humor.
13) I am Malala Yousafzai by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
This is the sole biography on it's list and it absolutely deserves this spot. We love the "I Am...." picture book series by Brad Meltzer and nearly every one makes me choke up a bit. This might be the most inspiring one yet, about young Malala who just wanted an education and how hard she had to fight to learn. What a force.
14) Endlessly Ever After: Pick Your Path to Countless Fairy Tale Endings by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Dan Santat
My boys LOVES this one and we had to keep reading and rereading until we exhausted every combination of story. It was multiple hours over a 2 weeks or something but it was a delight. Mixes a whole bunch of fairy tales and my boys were shocked that it included death (evil queens and such). Which then confused Sam when he heard me talk about the actual Queen Elizabeth (this was in the spring, when she was still alive). Huge bang for your buck, would have been great to take on the plane to Texas, would have been the only book we needed for 5 days!
15) A is for Always by Linda Cutting, illustrated by Leonie Little Lex
This is a wonderful ABC book to read to adopted kids and non-adopted kids alike! Gentle rhymes and lovely pictures of animal families showing the beauty of adoption. I have STRONG feelings about families reading books like this, regardless of if they have adopted or not. Among a variety of other "different" things, it's so helpful and needed for kids to know that families can be made different ways. So, maybe, say, when they encounter kids who are adopted they don't say things that can be very hurtful. The more normal it is the less it will seem "weird". It. really. does. matter.
16) Little Blue Truck Makes a Friend by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry
We love Little Blue Truck, even if none of the books match up the genius of the first two. In this the farm animals are thrown into a tizzy because there is a new animal in the neighborhood, one that is nothing like them. Blue is the truck of reason, reaching out the woodchuck. My favorite page is the one where the animals are terrible at hiding.
17) Father Ben Gets Ready for Mass by Katie Warner, illustrated by Meg Whalen
We gifted this one to two godchildren this past Christmas! It's an interactive book but a Catholic one, helping Fr. Ben get ready for Mass by lighting the candles with your fingers (no actual fire involved) and such. It's very cute and good to keep little hands busy.
18) Chester van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme by Avery Monsen, illustrated by Abby Hanlon
I have read 5,000+ picture books and this is maybe the only one that has made me laugh out loud. And we also gifted this to a different godchild at Christmas! And they said a different part made them laugh! It's weird reading though because you expect some rhymes, but since Chester has forgotten how to do that, the words don't rhyme. It's a good one.
19) Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld, illustrated by Matt Tavares
This was a wonderful book about the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the honor that it is and the twenty-one steps it takes to walk in front of it. How they guard it in every kind of weather. It's very touching and poignant.
20) Over and Under the Waves by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Neal
Another series we love that had a new book released in 2022! I LOVE this over-under books, showing what happens over the waves and what is happening underneath them. Gorgeous pictures and the words and pictures together manage to convey so much. Beautiful.
21) The Unbreakable Thread by Emily Joof, illustrated by Asma Enayeh
Beautiful (and a bit heartbreaking, as a mother) story of the unbreakable bond between a mother and her child, illustrated by a thread that keeps getting longer as the child grows and become more independent. Been VERY conscious lately of how fast my children are going and this was both reassuring and a bit sad.
22) Octopus Shocktopus! by Peter Bently, illustrated by Steven Lenton
From the emotional to the absurd - an giant octopus lands on a house and the family inside are a bit surprised at first but then decide that having a giant octopus living on their roof is actually pretty fun. The kids love sliding down the octopus' tentacles as a slide and the octopus helps rescue a cat from a tree! Then it is gone one day and everyone is sad.
23) Our Planet! There's No Place Like Earth by Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by David Litchfield
Big fans of this series about different parts of our solar system or Earth (there is one just about waves), we've read all of them many times through. This one celebrated Earth, as told by Earth herself. Fun and educational, great pictures.
24) And J.J. Slept by Lorette Garbutt, illustrated by Erika Rodriguez Medina
This was the first surprise adoption story we read this year (the second is listed above!), where in I had NO idea the story featured an adoption and my boys were DELIGHTED by this. J.J. comes home to his adoptive family with 4 older siblings. His house is loud and J.J. has no problem sleeping through it all...until the house is quiet. Then he can't sleep. It would have been a fun story without the adoption but that made it extra special.
25) Anti-Freeze, Leaf Costumes, and Other Fabulous Fish Adaptations by Laura Perdew, illustrated by Katie Mazeika
I'm not sure how we came across this one but we happened to check it out shortly before Luke started learning about animal adaptations at school which was perfect timing. There are others by the same author about different animal adaptations but this is just about fish. Sam liked it because there was a hammerhead shark on the cover (one of his many favorite animals). Just really interesting and it came to us at the perfect time!
If you have any favorites from the year I'd love to hear them!
{25} Favorite Picture Books of 2021
{20} Favorite Picture Books of 2020
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