picture book recs (round 8)

Okay, it's been two and a half years since my last recs post (Dec 2020), and I have managed to force myself to finish a post.

My reading has definitely gone down since my capacity for everything went down in the pandemic. Most of what I've been reading has been recommended to me by someone, so I'm not sure how much my standards are high/different vs. I'm just burnt-out (I brefly got really enthused about some books in late December 2021/early January 2022, but then slipped back) that I haven't been excited to rec a lot of books myself. Though I've definitely gotten excited about some picturebooks in 2023, so *shrug emoji*.

board books:

• My Hair Is Beautiful written by & illustrated by Shauntay Grant [photographs of Black baby girl hairstyles]
• The Colors of Tet: Màu của Tết written by Ha Huyen & illustrated by Huyen Van -- Vietnamese & English book about Vietnamese Lunar New Year
• A Is for Anemone: A First West Coast Alphabet written & illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers [Tsimshian, Haida, and Heiltsuk] and Robert Budd -- beautiful
• I don't love the "We Are Little Feminists" board books, but I appreciate what they're doing.
• The Animals of Chinese New Year = 中国农历新年动物生肖 written by Jen Sookfong Lee & translated by Kileasa Che Wan Wong.
• Being You: A First Conversation about Gender words by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli & art by Anne/Andy Passchier
• A Is for Artichoke: A Foodie Alphabet from Artichoke to Zest written by America's Test Kitchen Kids & illustrated by Maddie Frost
• [explicity fat-positive, anti-BMI, etc.] Every Body: A First Conversation About Bodies written by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli & illustrated by Tequitia Andrews (I read this in reguar picturebok, but it's also available in board book.)

queer/gender picturebooks:

• My Dad Thinks I’m a Boy?!: A Trans Positive Children's Book by Sophie Labelle
• Pride Puppy written by Robin Stevenson & illustrated by Julie McLaughlin
• Fred Gets Dressed by Peter Brown -- Betsy Bird rightly notes that this isn't really about being trans, but I appreciate its normalization of gender-non-conformity
• Love, Violet written by Charlotte Sullivan Wild & illustrated by Charlene Chua -- elementary school girls in lurve!
• [available in board book and picture book] Being You: A First Conversation about Gender words by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli & art by Anne/Andy Passchier
• If You're a Kid Like Gavin: The True Story of a Young Trans Activist written by Gavin Grimm and Kyle Lukoff & illustrated by J Yang -- I had worried this would be targeted only at trans kid readers, but it does a good job connecting trans experience
• Payden's Pronoun Party written by Blue Jaryn & illustrated by Xochitl Cornejo
• Bathe the Cat written by Alice B. McGinty & illustrated by David Roberts -- not ABOUT being queer, just casually has 2 dads in a mixed-race family, but also it has great casual queer representation like the magnets on the fridge (trans pride flag!)
• No One Owns the Colors written by Gianna Davy & illustrated by Brenda Rodríguez -- which, per the title, is pretty broad, but also clearly opens with pushing back against the idea that "pink is for girls and blue is for boys," and is consistently applicable to gender non-conformity etc. (I also appreciate its normalization of change with the line "I'll copy the trees and I'll change with the seasons;" and I appreciate the line "there are colors we're made of and colors we choose" without any value judgments)
• And That’s Their Family! written by Kailee Coleman & illustrated by Jamie Malone -- explicitly includes poly families in its representation; and has queer rep in lots of the illustrations, not just the ones "about" queer families

other picturebooks:

• [Muslim] The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family written by Ibtihaj Muhammad with S. K. Ali & illustrated by Hatem Aly
• [Indigenous] I Sang You Down from the Stars written by Tasha Spillett [Trinidadian-Cree] & illustrated by Michaela Goade [Tlingit] -- beautiful
• [Black people] Don't Touch My Hair written & illustrated by Sharee Miller -- love this
• Fred Gets Dressed written & illustrated by Peter Brown
• [about worry/anxiety] The Whatifs written by Emily Kilgore & illustrated by Zoe Persico
• [Persian New Year] Seven Special Somethings: A Nowruz Story written by Adib Khorram & illustrated by Zainab Faidhi 
• [India, bedtime] Goodnight Ganesha written by Nadia Salomon & illustrated by Poonam Mistry -- beautiful
• Bodies Are Cool written & illustrated by Tyler Feder
• Sunday the Sea Witch by Andrea Stein and Cayce Matteoli
• Stanley's Library written & illustrated by William Bee
• Mother God written by Teresa Kim Pecinovsky & illustrated by Khoa Le -- though I wish the Scripture Guide were included in the book itself, rather than a separate PDF on the book website
• The Twelve Days of Christmas in Texas written & illustrated by Janie Bynum
• Luminous: Living Things That Light Up the Night written & illustrated by Julia Kuo
• That Flag written by Tameka Fryer Brown & illustrated by Nikkolas Smith -- a powerful story about the contemporary legacy of the Confederate flag
• Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers? written by Junauda Petrus & illustrated by Kristen Uroda -- articulating an abolitionist vision!
• [explicity fat-positive, anti-BMI, etc.] Every Body: A First Conversation About Bodies written by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli & illustrated by Tequitia Andrews

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Reminder to please purchase your books from independent bookstores (see, e.g., this list of Black Owned Bookstores in the United States or these lists of A[A]PI-owned bookstores from EpicReads and Libro.fm). Most will ship to you. And if there are books you can't find at your preferred indie bookstore (though most will special-order for you), you can also shop on BookShop.org -- which has an affiliate program supporting independent bookstores (I first learned about it when my local indie was closed due to pandemic).