4 books of 2024

 

4 books published in 2024, that we have been loving.

We love reading books old or new. It's the time we spend together and the connections we make with each other when I am reading aloud that makes our reading times so special. Her brain seems to soak up books and makes so many connections. Newly published books offer connections that relate to our generation. Instead of writing about a dog going through a coal chute, the author might have a reference to YouTube. Good readers comprehend what they read and reading about things that are familiar to you helps with understanding. Picture books are fun to read and look at. Reading crisp and colorful pages that are hot-off-the-press is an exciting thing! I became aware of this year's newly published books through a blog I follow, growing book by book, that has a list of favorite children's books of 2024. This summer, we have been able to read over 20 books that have been published in 2024.

Here are four books that have resonated with us:

1. A Love Letter To My Library by Lisa Katzenberger, illustrated by Rob Sayegh Jr. Published by Sorcebooks. Ages 4-8. 

Why we resonate with this book:

We love our library. We go to our local library weekly. Our daughter gets excited when we say we are going to the library. She learned from this book how to sign "L" by her face for saying "Library." One day she put on her library t-shirt and requested to go to the library.  

The book starts, "Dear Library, thank you for warm welcomes as I skip through your open doors." That's the feeling we get going into our library. It feels like a place where we belong, a place where we hear a warm welcome as we enter. 

This book has wonderful pictures that are inspired by the Richmondtown NYPL. Our library doesn't have a little fish, but the library in the book has a fish who looks like she's smiling which puts a smile on the girl in the books face and on our faces. "Thank you, library, for smiles that turn into giggles that turn into loud laughs." The words are matched with a picture of big smiles and a sign that says, "Please Be Quiet." Our daughter thinks that is so funny that they are loud in front of a sign that says to be quiet. Another one of her favorite pages is the one where the girls takes a book off the shelf, happily looks at it, brings it to the librarian to check-out, then hugs the book the whole way home with her Momma walking beside her. There are dotted lines from picture to picture that she follows with her finger (fine-motor practice) as I explain the story. 

We highly recommend this book and also the YouTube video by Emily Arrow A Love Letter To My Library You can also look in the notes below the video to download a template for writing your love letter to your library. Thanksgiving week is usually when we write thank you letters to local places we are thankful for; however, there is a National Library Day on April 6th and a National book month in October. 

2. Forest by Christine Matheson. Published by Princeton Architectural Press. New York. A division of Chronicle Books LLC. Ages 4-6.  

Why we resonate with this book: 

We aim to be outdoor people. Another way to put it is we aim to be an "outsider." We are doing the 1,000 hours outside in a year challenge. You can learn more about it at the 1000hoursoutside website. 

At the beginning of the summer we saw this book at REI. I was immediately drawn to the trees on the front cover and remembering that I had read another book that I liked by the same author. We looked up the book on our library website to see if we could loan a copy from our library. When we were not able to find the book through inter-library loan we decided to buy the book with some birthday money. We are glad to have a copy that we can read over and over again. It is a great book showing what is in the forest and the importance of the forest. The book is so beautifully illustrated! It is a book that helps instill a love for the habitats that God has created. When our daughter wants to kill the ants, or bugs, that are crawling around we stop her and remind her that it's their home. The back of the book has some ideas on how to help protect forests. Forests are beautiful and magical, and so is this book. 

3. Play Outside With Me by Kat Chen, illustrated by Lorraine Nam. Published by Rise x Penguin Workshop. Ages 1-3. 

Why we resonate with this book: 

I found this board book to be so cute! From the first reading, our daughter would answer the questions from the book. The book is a model of caring, considerate friendship. The book encourages growth in the social skills that will be developed more in preschool. Outside time, bubbles, chalk, slides and swings, a game of chase, noticing animals in the park, snack and one last thing, bye! A perfect book for a toddler who loves playgrounds!

Similar to this book, we've been enjoying the song Outside Time by Tiptoe Giants.

4. This Baby. That Baby. by Cari Best, illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh. Published by Anne Schwartz Books. Ages 2-5. 

Why we resonate with this book:

This book has realistic rhythms of everyday life that our daughter can relate to. You know it is a good book when you get to the end and your kid says, "again." In this book, two babies live across the street from each other and have similar but different activities and then see each other at the park. This baby giggles and that baby wiggles. This book has a lot of comparing and contrasting. This baby has a kitty and that baby has a dog. "Oh, no!" that baby, don't pull the doggy's tail! This baby reads Baby Beluga and that baby sings the baby shark song. Of course the book doesn't forget diaper changes (we say, "Ewww!"), or food or naps or walks to the park. I think my favorite illustration is the last picture of the parents and the dog flopped over the park bench just so exhausted. This is a book our generation needs, when we are separate on our own computer worlds we need a book that reminds us of our unity. A book that reminds us that we all have commonalities even though we go about our days differently. Another must check-out book, or a great read-aloud to add to your collection! 

I am pleased that there are newly published books that we enjoy reading over and over again, books that after reading once you hear "again" spoken. I hope you found a book that you would like to read aloud to a little one in your life. Maybe you will consider taking time to show your library that you love what they have to offer, take a walk in the forest or enjoy a playground and meet up with a friend. Are we reading books by authors that are alive today? Are we supporting authors of our generations? Are we reading a wide array of books that will allow our read-aloud audience to be jazzed about books?  

What books have been resonating with you this summer?