Books like Red is Best
By Kathy Stinson
For the kid who has strong opinions about literally everything they wear, eat from, or carry, this book gets it. Stubborn, funny, and full of quiet toddler logic.
A seven-year-old girl preparing to paint her self-portrait walks through her neighborhood with her mother and discovers that brown skin comes in as many shades as cinnamon, honey, and chocolate.
A parade of baby animals learns words for everyday things — a ball, a dog, a moon — but every single one insists on calling it all MAMA instead.
An earthworm named Carl loves tunneling through the soil until a field mouse asks him why he does it — sending Carl on a search through the forest to discover his true purpose.
A little mouse spends a full day at preschool, from hanging her coat on her own peg through painting, snack time, stories, nap time, music, and outdoor play on the sandbox and slide.
A cookie-loving boy named Alfie tries grabbing, fishing, and even dressing up as a cookie inspector to get one of his mommy's cookies — but the trick turns out to be much simpler than any of his schemes.
A bossy big sister bunny plans an angel surprise cake with raspberry-fluff icing for Grandma's birthday, but her little brother Max keeps trying to add his own messy touches instead.
A boy settles into the barber's chair for a fresh cut, and with every snip of the clippers feels himself transform into something sharper, prouder, and more sure of who he is.
A girl obsessed with everything pink ignores her parents' warnings and eats too many pink cupcakes — then wakes up to find she's turned pink from head to toe.
A curious cub spends a day exploring the forest with his mama, noticing green leaves, blue jays, and brown trout along the way, until he finds a patch of red strawberries.
A little pea faces every kid's nightmare in reverse: his parents won't let him have his beloved vegetables for dessert until he finishes five pieces of candy for dinner.
A parade of rhyming oddballs takes readers from near to far and here to there — a bumpy Wump, a singing Ying, a winking Yink who drinks pink ink — with no plot but plenty of silly counting and rhyming along the way.
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.
