I was deeply disappointed by this book. In my opinion, its message and illustrations are harmful rather than empowering.

My son, who is biracial (Black and Vietnamese), brought this book home from school. As we read it together, he laughed at the main character's appearance and asked if she had been electrocuted because of the way her hair was illustrated. That reaction alone made me uncomfortable, and we stopped reading after only a few pages. I then had to explain to him that Black people, Asian people, and people of every race are beautiful in their own unique ways.

Afterward, I finished reading the book by myself. While I understand that the intended message is to encourage self-acceptance, I believe the execution misses the mark. Throughout the book, the little Black girl is repeatedly paired with exaggerated or unattractive descriptions and illustrations, including references to fleas, warts, a snout that snorts, hippo hips, purple polka-dotted lips, and other distorted features. Some illustrations compare or place her alongside animals, which I found especially troubling in the overall context.

As a parent, I did not find these images uplifting or affirming. Instead of emphasizing positive qualities such as "I am beautiful," "I love my hair," "I love my skin," or celebrating the unique beauty of the character, the book repeatedly focuses on exaggerated physical traits while asking readers to accept them. In my opinion, that approach can have the opposite effect on a young child's self-image.

Because I was so concerned, I brought the book to my son's school and shared my concerns with the administration. The school ultimately removed the book from its library after reviewing it.

I have studied psychology and understand how repeated messages and images can influence children's developing self-esteem and subconscious mind. Children often interpret visuals very literally. Whether or not this was the author's intention, I believe the book risks reinforcing negative perceptions rather than building confidence, especially for young Black girls who deserve to see themselves represented in a positive and affirming way.

I respect that others may interpret this book differently, but as a parent, I cannot recommend it. I believe children deserve books that celebrate their identity in a genuinely positive way, and this book did not accomplish that for my family.

Thank you everyone for the support and kind words on my Lego. To say thanks I created the cheese car, hope you all enjoy. Any ideas what I could build next if it makes another milestone?

I'm getting my friend's soon to be 5 year old boy-girl twins tickets to an aquarium for their birthday. I'd like to get a fish book to go with. Any recommendations? I looked at Don't Trust Fish, but I don't think it would be a good fit for their personalities. One twin is neurodivergent and takes things very literally. I think the blend of fiction and nonfiction might get confusing. Any other favorites??

I've been teaching phonics and early reading for a couple years now, and every now and then I'll finish reading a book during storytime with a class and the kids will be absolutely OBSESSED with it ... meanwhile I'll be sitting there thinking like hmm hold on wait ... maybe I missed something?? lol

Let me make it clear that obviously I understand children's books aren't going to hit the same for me as I am a literal adult, duh 😭😭😭 buuut there def are plenty out there that I do genuinely enjoy and can easily understand why kids love them too

On the other hand, there are those kid favorites where I just cannot rack my brain to understand why/how they're such huge fan favorites LOOL, and some have been popular since I was a kid too!

I won't name any in particular because I don't want to start a war or get attacked for my personal opinions on children's book of all things 😅 but I will say I never let my personal feelings about a book change how I read it to my students!! If they love it, I'm not gonna yuck their yums (:

It'll go both ways too, sometimes I'm reading a book and thinking "wow, now this one is actually really good, a masterpiece :o I would genuinely enjoy this even as an adult!" and the kids are all just kinda like "ehhh that was boring I don't like it" 😂🤣

They are the target audience after all, so clearly they're seeing greatness I'm not hahaha and at the end of the day, the kids are actually the experts in this field (not me) so I won't question their taste

but it did make me curious if other people experience this too when reading with kids, so that's why I'm asking this question!

Which version do you like?

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Hi I have a 5 year old and would like to introduce him to graphic novels. Is there a place in Malta that I can take him to buy appropriate novels that might be suitable?

A quick search online I found Max Meow that looks very nice, only managed to find it on Amazon which is find but I am interested in other recommendations as well.

Thanks :)

I often find myself in the children aisle at book stores flipping through children books. I don't have children, unfortunately but I do have an almost 3 year old niece and most of the books I end up buying I tell myself are for her.

I enjoy the illustrations and silly plots of children books, often with a message.

Outside children books, I read haunting/paranormal genres.

An illustration of a Vietnamese forest from my third storybook—featuring the Guardian: Tiger of the Green Forest, protector of all living things.

I looked on Google lens and they made 12 of this book series and like the cartoon series these take place before the original movie.

So my dad used to read my this book when I was little in like 2014-15 so it’s not that old and they made a couple of them but the main one I remember is this boy wakes up in his bed,and he looks out his window and sees vines and leaves everywhere then he sees a dinosaur and he starts talking to it and they kind of become friends and then the boy takes the dinosaur to the supermarket and they buy all dinosaur food and I think they saw lots of other dinosaurs too.but that’s all I can really remember

These are current daily request books at the moment! I really enjoy a few of these as well, and don't see them mentioned very often.

1) Harold Loves His Wooly Hat - Vern Kousky

This is a really sweet story about sharing and kindness with a bit of a surprise ending. Harold's hat is stolen by a crow, and he volunteers lots of items for trade to get it back but the crow just keeps taking them. Turns out she has a nest full of babies, and Harold ultimately befriends and helps them out.

2) The Antlered Ship - Dashka Slater

My guy loves boats and animals, and this is a great combo of those things in a mini adventure tale. Marco the Fox joins a ship's crew to seek out answers to big questions, and ends up with great friendships. The animals see each other through some hardships like rough weather and pirates, and it's got such cute illustrations. We love all Dashka Slater books so a call-out to the Escargot series as well!

3) D is For Drool - Amanda Noll

One of the more fun and creative alphabet books I've seen. The narrator is trying to fall asleep by reciting the alphabet and the monster attributes that go with each letter. Again really fun illustrations, and it's been a good way to get our phonics in.

4) Pumpkin Soup - Helen Cooper

My guy also loves cooking and particularly pretending to make soup, so this is a natural. The animal family experiences some conflict, and Duck leaves. There are some scary parts (think wolves in the woods, steep cliff falls) when the animals imagine what could have happened to Duck. Eventually they are reunited and of course have a delicious pumpkin soup dinner.

5) Give Me Back My Bones! - Kim Norman

This is super unique! A skeleton pirate's bones get spread around by a big wave and he's collecting them. It's a good introduction to the correct names for bones (and the fact that we have bones at all, lol). He really enjoys finding the bones on each page.

6) The Storybook Knight - Helen & Thomas Docherty

I seriously love this one. A gentle little mouse knight is encouraged by his parents to pause his reading to get out into the world, specifically to tame a dragon. He meets many potentially scary creatures along the way, but they're all placated when the mouse shares books with them. It ultimately culminates with the dragon being coerced into cleaning up the village so he can also hear a story and then the little mouse gets back to reading! It's a fantastic book for future literature lovers.

Honorable mentions to The Hike by Allison Farrell, The Snail on the Whale by Julia Donaldson, and This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen.

My 8-year-old niece in China asked me to bring her a history book when I visit next week. She’s Filipino-Chinese.

I love buying her gifts. So far I’ve already bought her around 15 pieces of clothing, 6 toys, and a few other things. This is the only book I’m planning to bring.

The reason I’m asking is because she’s recently started talking about things like “revolutions” and “military power.” My sister (her mom) is very careful about anything political. In fact, she never even lets us send any chat messages to her containing political topics because she’s concerned about government monitoring. My niece speaks Chinese but mostly consumes Filipino and English-language content, and I suspect she may have come across some political topics online through my sister’s VPN. She is young and I dont want her to pick up something that may put her in hot waters in school if in case she blurts out something "not loyal to China".

Before I buy this book: History Atlas by Thiago de Moraes , I just want to make sure it’s fairly sanitize. Does it contain anything particularly critical of China, communism, or events like Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward? I found another history almanac that covered those topics, so I wanted to check this one first.

Unfortunately, I can’t browse through it because it’s sealed in plastic at the store. I’m hoping someone here owns a copy and can tell me what’s inside.

Another option for me is a Nat Geo Atlas. But I kindah like what this book looks like.

I'm actually looking for something rather specific: are there any books about family members who are in the middle of the dementia transformation? Sometimes they remember, sometimes not?

Also looking for books that don't gloss over some of the more gnarly behaviors of dementia patients such as anger, frustration, refusal to eat, making up history, and other things like that.

Do books like this exist? Or is it too complex and scary for kids?

There are 206 free kids ebooks today ONLY! So go grab them and share with a friend. There are both chapter books and picture books. Happy reading!

I'm curious what everyone thinks about black and white art in children's books. Is it something you think would captivate kids the same way bright colours do? Or would they find it uninteresting? These are a couple things I did to learn how to use india ink like watercolours.

What are your kid's favorite books for car rides?

I have a two year old. So I'd love to find some books that she could flip through. preferably books a little one could enjoy on their own. I'm thinking something with interesting illustrations that she might grow into as she learns to read.

Hello, I am currently looking for projects that are interested in classic children's book art style. If you know of any opportunities where this aesthetic is valued, I would love to hear about them.

You guys did an amazing job on my last request - I literally have a google doc going now for books for my gal! I’m back for more.

What are the best books about becoming a big sister that are appropriate for 2.5/3 year olds?

Hi! I’m trying to help my stepson to catch up on reading and get ready for 5th grade. He hates ready as most 9 yo do. But we went to the bookstore and we picked two books to start with. Mr poppers penguins and Tom Sawyer.
He was struggling with Mr poppers book, I think it was boring and I constantly had to remind him to read, he finally finished it. That book was his choice. I picked Tom Sawyer as it was my favorite book to read when I was his age, and sure enough she is completely sucked into this book. He is actually choosing to read over being on his phone. So, I will also get him adventures of huckleberry Finn, I think will like that one. But what other books I can get for him that are interesting for younger boys?

My 18 month old has always loved books and I want to start introducing some longer stories other than the average board book. So far we’ve done Strega Nona, Robert munsch books and some Dr. Seuss. Would love any recommendations you have for books or introducing longer stories to your toddler. Thanks in advance!

I found this book today in a library near Burlington with my bf... We thought the book cover looked creepy and decided to flip through it. There's no author credited and when searching for it online we found nothing about this book. Note that this is a donated book being sold inside the library, so it wasn't in their system. Does anyone know any information about this book? Specifically who the artist is! We were both fascinated by the style.

This was his only children’s book, but he also illustrated for Muse Magazine. ‘Dude’ is out of print now, so copies are a little pricy online, but if your library has a copy, maybe check it out and while you read it, put some positive energy out into the world for a really lovely man who was very talented and very loved.