Books like Babushka Baba Yaga
By Patricia Polacco
For the kid who's ever felt like the one left out on the edge of the group, this is a story about an outsider finding her way in. warm, folkloric, and quietly tender, with bursts of Russian village color and energy
A friendly ghost named Leo loves drawing and making snacks, but when a new family misunderstands his attempts to help, he leaves home to find where he truly belongs.
A great-grandson wanders through his grandfather's topiary garden, where hedges shaped like a farmboy, a soldier, and a chickenpox-covered kid retell a whole lifetime one memory at a time.
After spotting three dazzling mermaids on the subway, a boy transforms his home into a lagoon of imagination, fashioning his own mermaid costume from a curtain and some ferns.
A king adopts a family of orphans, who each try to win his approval with gifts and displays of talent — until one simply chooses to spend time with him instead.
A foreign exchange student named Eric moves in with a suburban family, asking curious questions his hosts can't always answer, until his farewell leaves behind an unforgettable surprise.
A rich king who prizes gold above all else is granted his wish that everything he touches turns to gold — until he accidentally touches his own daughter.
A poem-portrait of one family — brown-skinned mama, white-skinned daddy, and their two children — celebrates every skin tone between them as simply, joyfully theirs.
A girl and her house full of rescued, misfit creatures grow restless and decide to move on — but when every one of her careful plans falls apart, she has to find another way forward.
A carpenter named Caleb gets into a spat with his wife Kate, then wakes up transformed into a dog — unable to speak or explain who he really is, so he stays close to her as her loyal companion.
A janitor and his loyal dog, cramped and weary of their crowded one-room life, accept a mysterious bird's offer of paradise on a floating island — only to discover the price of that easy life.
A witch called Heckedy Peg turns seven children into food after they disobey their mother's warning, leaving her to find a way to save them.
A quiet meditation on the everyday moments — love and loss, hope and joy, wonder and mystery — that thread through every single life, shown through glowing art and spare text.
