Books like Brontorina
By James Howe
For the kid who won't be told they're too small, too loud, or too anything to do the thing they love, Brontorina is a champion. Warm, hopeful, and gently funny
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.
A spider sets off on a dangerous journey and is rescued in turn by his six sons — then faces a puzzle: which son deserves the glowing reward he found?
While the other field mice work all autumn gathering corn and nuts for winter, a quiet mouse gathers sun rays, colors, and words instead — and when the food runs low, his stories are what feed everyone.
A young donkey finds a magic pebble that grants wishes, but a panicked wish during a scary encounter with a lion turns him into a rock — with no way to wish himself back.
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 sturdy farm girl named Fanny Agnes waits in her garden for a fairy godmother to whisk her off to the mayor's grand ball and her destined prince — but who actually shows up changes everything.
A boy who loves stars decides to catch one for himself, trying a tall tree and a paper rocket ship before finding an answer in an unexpected place.
A determined young dancer in the 1930s and 40s trains for ballet despite discriminatory schools, then refuses to paint her skin white for a company's offer — and rises to become the Met Opera's first Black prima ballerina.
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 cat on Nantucket Island searches for the perfect place to live, using up eight of his nine lives along the way before finding home.
A little girl waits eagerly for a new hat from her favorite aunt, but when it arrives plain and ordinary, she sets out to make it beautiful herself.
A giraffe named Gerald longs to dance but his crooked knees and thin legs keep tripping him up, until an unlikely friend offers just the encouragement he needs.
