Books like Quick as a Cricket
By Natalie Wood
A biracial girl with red hair and brown skin mixes polka dots with stripes and eats peanut butter and jelly burritos, refusing to pick just one side of who she is.
A mother cat leads her two kittens, Fluffy and Skinny, through washing, wall-walking, and claw-sharpening — while a third kitten, Boris, just naps through it all.
A little girl wonders whether she's small, so she asks the animals and things she meets on her journey — and discovers that size depends entirely on who's doing the looking.
A born builder who once made a tower from diapers and glue faces a teacher who despises architecture — until a class picnic goes wrong and his skills turn out to be exactly what's needed.
A celebration told through many young voices, each one honoring the beauty of their own brown skin and finding themselves reflected in the natural world around them.
An exclamation point stands out among a page full of periods, bending and shrinking to try to fit in — until a question mark helps him discover exactly what he's for.
A rhyming picture book lists all the things boys and girls are supposed to like — football, fairy songs, kittens, ballet — then flips each expectation with three cheerful words: except when they don't.
A joyful little girl romps through rhyme after rhyme declaring she likes herself completely — messy hair, beaver breath, and all — no matter what anyone thinks.
A bright, silly tour through all kinds of feelings — silly, brave, mad, like eating pizza for breakfast — showing kids that every mood, big or small, is normal.
A laid-back cat wears his favorite shirt with four groovy buttons, and one by one they keep popping off — but instead of crying, he just keeps singing his groovy song.
A lonely old man sets out to find one pretty cat but can't choose among the millions, billions, and trillions he finds on a hillside — so he brings them all home.
A boy sets out to find his father, the Lord of the Sun, and must pass through four ceremonial chambers — the kiva of lions, snakes, bees, and lightning — to prove he belongs.
