picture book recs (round 4)

Niblig turns 18 months in 2 days, and we leave tomorrow to visit, so I'm posting today.

Due to a GoodReads glitch, I'm not sure exactly how many picturebooks I've read this 6-month period, but I think ~98 (which is significantly more than I would have guessed before I tallied it up).

My big focus this time was on books set in Africa, not written by white folks. Prompted by this FB post about how not everyone who lives in Africa lives in a hut -- though I didn't actually find many picture books set in Africa that depict human people living in not-huts (I got a lot of village life and a lot of folktales).

• Kitoto the Mighty written by Tololwa M. Mollel & illustrated by Kristi Frost -- a mouse seeks the most powerful being to protect him from the hawk [African folktale retold]
• Subira, Subira written by Tololwa M. Mollel & illustrated by Linda Saport -- a girl struggles to get her younger brother to behave [contemporary Tanzania, folklore elements]
• Big Boy written by Tololwa M. Mollel & illustrated by E.B. Lewis -- a Tanzanian boy wishes he were bigger ... but what if his wish were granted? [contemporary Tanzania]
• Song Bird written by Tololwa M. Mollel & illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger -- girl saves the day! (okay, magical song bird saves the day, but the girl keeps the grownups from messing it up) [African folktale retold]
• To Dinner, For Dinner written by Tololwa M. Mollel & illustrated by Synthia Saint James -- mostly I just love the mole wearing glasses [in the style of African folktales]
• A Is for Africa written & photographed by Ifeoma Onyefulu [Nigeria]
• The Magic Gourd written by & illustrated by Baba Wagué Diakité [African folklore]

I also read a bunch on labor:

• Old Tracks, New Tricks written by & illustrated by Jessica Petersen -- not explicitly about labor, but it very much has that feel as it's about toy trains being bossy and insisting that the toy tracks' only purpose is to do what the trains want ("You tracks exist so trains can go.")
• ¡Sí, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A. written by Diana Cohn & illustrated by Francisco Delgado, with an essay by Luis J. Rodríguez -- about the janitorial strike in L.A. in 2000
• Side by Side/Lado a lado: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/La historia de Dolores Huerta y Cesar Chavez written by Monica Brown & illustrated by Joe Cepeda (watching the Dolores documentary, I developed strong feelings about the importance of including Dolores Huerta in the Cesar Chavez narrative)
• Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 written by Michelle Markel & illustrated by Melissa Sweet [Clara is a Jewish Ukrainian immigrant, though her demographic specifics are mostly elided by the narrative]
• That's Not Fair! / ¡No Es Justo!: Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice/La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia written by Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Teneyuca & illustrated by Terry Ybáñez

And some miscellaneous books:

• An Australian 1, 2, 3 of Animals by Bronwyn Bancroft -- probably my favorite of the Bronwyn Bancroft books I read, though all of her books I wanted to like more than I did. [Aboriginal Australia]
• Who Counts?: 100 Sheep, 10 Coins, and 2 Sons written by Amy-Jill Levine and Sandy Eisenberg Sasso & illustrated by Margaux Meganck
• The Adventures of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy written by S. Bear Bergman & illustrated by Suzy Malik -- supporting trans kids!