Books like Bare Tree and Little Wind
By Mitali Perkins
For families who mark Holy Week with the same story every year, this gives that tradition a gentle, curious voice to carry it. Reverent, tender, and quietly poetic — a hushed retelling built for slow pages.
A duckling too odd-looking for his own barnyard is mocked and driven off, then must survive hunters and harsh seasons alone before discovering what he truly is.
A young girl faces her first family vacation without Sascha, her beloved dog, until a quiet walk along the beach collecting smooth stones opens into something far larger than her grief.
A younger boy follows a strange, ever-growing list of rules set by his older brother over one long summer, until breaking one plunges him into real danger only his brother can pull him back from.
A little girl's favorite day is ruined when she learns about her parents' divorce on a Thursday, but her stuffed unicorn friend stays close, helping her through the hardest feelings.
A little girl adores her shiny yellow rain boots until the day she discovers her feet have grown too big to fit inside them anymore.
A little dog named Daisy loves her red ball more than anything — until another dog at the park accidentally pops it, leaving her heartbroken, in a wordless story told entirely through watercolor illustrations.
A Black child moves through a year of feelings, from summertime joy on his skateboard to the fear, anger, grief, and eventual peace that follow a police shooting in his community.
A book-loving man's whole life is scattered by a tornado, leaving him stranded in a gray, joyless place — until a single colorful book leads him to a library that needs him as much as he needs it.
A kitten spots the full moon and mistakes it for a bowl of milk, then sets off on a quest to reach it — a night that leaves her tired, wet, and hungry.
When her mother asks why she likes being little, a young girl answers back with a list of the small, particular joys of childhood that grown-ups tend to overlook.
A fox and his dog share an inseparable life together until the dog dies, sending the fox into grief so deep he tears apart the garden they once tended, until an unexpected pumpkin vine slowly draws him back into the world.
A boy and his dad have always lived in the blue house, but as their neighborhood changes and new buildings rise, they're forced to leave the only home Leo has ever known.
