Reading Jbrary’s annual roundup of 2023 Favourite Storytime Picture Books made me think back to the list of Great Books for Two- and Three-Year-Olds I prepared back in April 2019. It’s actually still a pretty solid list! I don’t repeat books in storytime that often, because there are always so many good new ones, but there are several books on my 2019 list that are still in my rotation – Grumpy Pants, Huff & Puff, Hooray for Hat!, Where is the Green Sheep?, Carrot and Pea, A Parade of Elephants, and more.

I skimmed back over my storytime titles from September and picked a few to build this new list of storytime success books. Of course, every storytime is different – depending on who shows up, and how many, and what their energy level is, it’s a real YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) situation. And there are some books that the kids connect to, and others the adults love – it isn’t always both. But as I see it, the storytime is for everyone who attends, from babies to grandparents. (I usually make a note when someone checks out one of the storytime books after the program is over; if they liked it enough to take it home, that’s a good sign!)

So, here are ten to try:

• Are You Big? by Mo Willems
• The Button Book by Sally Nicholls and Bethan Woollvin
• Dim Sum Palace by X. Fang
• Daniel’s Good Day and Wonder Walkers by Micha Archer
• Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier
• Mr. Scruff by Simon James
• Now by Antoinette Portis
• One of These Is Not Like the Others by Barney Saltzberg
• Somewhere in the Bayou by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey
• Tumble by Adriana Hernandez Bergstrom

And here are 10 more that overlap with the Jbrary list:

• How to Count to One by Caspar Salmon
• If I Was A Horse by Sophie Blackall
• I’m Going to Build A Snowman by Jashar Awan
• Is This the Bus for Us? by Harriet Ziefert and Richard Brown
• Just One Flake by Travis Jonker
• Mister Kitty is Lost! and Lucky Duck by Greg Pizzoli
• The Rainbow Snail by Karin Akesson
• Roll Little Pea by Cecile Bergame and Magali Attiogbe
• Superbaby! by Stephanie Parsley Ledyard and Lincoln Agnew
• Whose Egg/Footprint/Poop Is That? by Darrin Lunde and Kelsey Oseid

Over the past half-year, I’ve made an effort to include Spanish/English bilingual books in my storytimes. Some of the ones that have worked well are:

• Marta! Big and Small by Jen Arena and Angela Dominguez
• I’m Hungry / Tengo Hambre and How Are You / Como Estas? by Angela Dominguez
• Round Is A Tortilla / Green Is A Chile Pepper / One Is A Pinata by Roseanne Greenfield Thong and John Parra

What are your storytime favorites?

In any workplace, there are going to be certain questions you’ll be asked over and over again. (“Where’s the bathroom?” for example.) As a children’s librarian, people ask me lots of questions about library programs and services, and ask for help finding books – in particular, books about animals, books about “things that go” (trucks, construction vehicles, etc.), and books about dinosaurs. I am always happy to hand a kid a book about a backhoe or a brachiosaurus or a bat! But I also get questions from caregivers about weightier topics: starting school or switching schools, moving to a new home, managing big feelings, welcoming a new baby, or dealing with grief over the loss of a loved one.

Well, I may not theme my storytimes, but I’ve been keeping a google doc since about 2018 with lists of books by topic; between that and my notes-to-self in LibraryThing, I’m usually prepared with suggestions when these questions come up. This month, I’ve worked to create up-to-date lists for my library, with titles we own so that patrons can have a book in hand right away. I relied on my own lists, consulted some lists the previous librarian had created, and used some of the features in the library catalog to come up with suggestions for books about the first day of school, moving, new siblings, big feelings, and grief/loss, as well as alphabet and counting books and wordless picture books.

In my library travels, I’ve seen themed lists like these displayed in “flippy things” like this desktop reference system, which I was able to get for my library. The lists now live there, and I plan to keep them updated as relevant titles are published each year. If you’d like to see the lists, or adapt them for use in your own school or public library or classroom, the lists are available as a google doc and the visual lists (with book covers) are available as google slides. Feel free to make a copy and make them your own.

Next to the “flippy thing” in the photo above, you can kind of see the “Book Browse Bear,” another (more fun/random/spontaneous) readers’ advisory tool I made this month. But that will be another post!

There’s a big difference between reading a picture book to yourself, reading it with one other person, and reading it to/with a group. (If you frequently read aloud to children and you haven’t already read Megan Dowd Lambert’s Reading Picture Books With Children, I highly recommend it for making your storytimes more interactive and engaging.) Without further ado, here are some of the picture books that worked incredibly well at my school this year, for students in kindergarten through third grade:

• Endlessly Ever After by Laurel Snyder and Dan Santat: Because this is a choose-your-own-adventure book, you can read it several times with the same group (and they will ask for it again and again!). Every time a choice comes up, I read both choices and ask them to vote. This works with upper elementary as well as with the younger grades.
• Don’t Hug Doug by Carrie Finison and Daniel Wiseman: Cute, friendly, glasses-wearing Doug likes YOU, he just doesn’t like hugs, except under very specific circumstances (are you Doug’s mother? Is it bedtime?). Approachable Doug is the perfect character to deliver this important message about consent.
• Dozens of Doughnuts by Carrie Finison and Brianne Farley: This is a rhyming delight, with the most delicious endpapers ever. Perfect for fall, just as bears like LouAnn are going into hibernation.
• The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater: An autumnal, excellent execution of the buddy comedy featuring high-strung Squirrel and tolerant Bird is a funny story and a great way to explain what happens to leaves in fall. There’s a spring version, too (Don’t Touch That Flower!)
• A Spoonful of Frogs by Casey Lyall and Vera Brosgol: The witch main character and the frogs she tries to add to her soup are perfect for around Halloween time, and “PUT the FROGS on the SPOON” may become a mantra.
• Triangle/Square/Circle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen: These three books, as a group, worked beautifully when kindergarteners were learning about shapes, and they are just fantastic to read aloud; they don’t get old, and the characters’ feelings and dilemmas are easy for the kids to understand and empathize with.
• That’s Not My Name by Anoosha Syed: This is great for the beginning of the year when everyone is learning each other’s name. Most kids can relate to the experience of having someone mispronounce your name or call you the wrong name, and they know the feeling; this book encourages them to insist on being called the right name the right way, and take the time to do the same for others.
• I Want My Hat Back/This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen: Yes, more Klassen, but these two books are brilliant for all ages. Ask the kids what happened at the end; their inferences may surprise you.
• How to Apologize by David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka: Straightforward, kid-friendly language and funny illustrations present an important lesson in a humorous and impactful way. A good one for the beginning of the year, or any time.
• Hot Dog by Doug Salati: This year’s Caldecott winner was popular not just during our Mock Caldecott unit in January, but kids have been asking me to borrow it since then – it clearly stayed with them.
• Knight Owl by Christopher Denise: A Caldecott honor book that was also included in our Mock Caldecott unit (it got the most votes in our school), Knight Owl features absolutely beautiful art, an adorable hero, and a solution involving pizza.
• Somewhere in the Bayou by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey: “Smack! Splash!” This book is built on pattern, repetition, onomatopoeia, surprise, and empathy. It was fantastically popular in our Mock Caldecott, and so fun to read aloud – it truly doesn’t get old.
• How We Say I Love You by Nicole Chen and Lenny Wen: This has strong appeal on three levels: first, there’s the seek-and-find element (a heart on each page); next, the cultural representation; and finally, the way it opens a discussion of how we show love in our own families. Every single class I read this book with (first through third grade) came up with a whole list, with nearly every kid contributing, and some adding more than one idea.
• Sam and Dave Dig A Hole by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen: Yes, Barnett/Klassen again. The kids absolutely freak out as Sam and Dave remain oblivious to the “spectacular” pink gems they bypass as they dig. Kids notice that the dog knows where they should be digging, though, and they love comparing the front and end spreads to spot the differences.
• Bathe the Cat by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts: Pure good fun; the kids catch on quickly as the family’s to-do list gets more and more ridiculous. Great representation, too, of a mixed-race family with two dads.
• How Do Dinosaurs… by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague: These rhyming stories are classics for a reason. I like …Learn to Read and …Go to School for the relevant educational setting. Many kids will already be familiar with this series, if not these specific titles, and they’re usually happy to see and hear them again.
• Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein: The idea and the execution are equally good, the humor is spot-on, and the two sequels maintain the quality of the original (when you store your cookies in a clock, it’s always cookie time!).
• Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang and Charlene Chua: Kids identify with Amy’s problem, and even if the word “bao” is unfamiliar, nearly every culinary tradition has a version of dumplings (knish, empanada, pierogies, etc.). Amy finally figures out the solution to her problem, and her loving, supportive family (including pink-haired grandma and adorable white kitten) is right there with her.
• A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis: I think this is what’s called “deceptively simple,” but it’s brilliant in its simplicity. It ties in with K/1st curriculum when they study plants, and there’s an opportunity to build in movement: start in a crouch as a seed, grow up toward the sky/ceiling, branch arms for leaves and blossoms, and gently fall back down.
• The Adventures of Beekle by Dan Santat: This Caldecott winner uses color effectively to show an (un)imaginary friend’s journey into the real world. (See also: Real to Me by Minh Lê and Raissa Figueroa)
• Don’t Touch My Hair by Sharee Miller: A little Black girl loves her hair, but doesn’t love when other people touch it without asking. She tries running away from the problem, but eventually uses her voice to set boundaries.
• Oh, No! by Candace Fleming: Effective use of repetition encourages students to participate in the chorus (“oh, no!”) as one animal after another falls into a pit, then cheer for their eventual escape as the meaning of the final “oh, no” shifts.

Do you have any knock-em-out-of-the-park read-alouds? Please share in the comments!