The Sweetest and Most Beautiful Kids’ Books
picture books with gorgeous art and an affirming message. suggestions always welcome!
created by kishmish
last updated May, 2026
Comments
Added Street Puppy, Masjid Cat with words by Moniza Hossain and pictures by Wastana Haikal, which I heard about from @fierceandtender’s beautiful list Hope in the Margins: Inclusive Ramadan Reads 🫶🏽
I'd like to recommend Berry Song by Michaela Goade and The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi!
kishmishOP
Oooo 🤩 thank you so much! I’ve added them! (and also put them on hold at the library for us to read at home 🥰)
All the DiTerlizzi books in that little series (The Magical Yet, The Curious Why & The Marvelous Now) are SO good!!!
(was about to comment these too 😊)
They're in my top 10 of the 1,000+ picture books I've read!
kishmishOP
we ended up buying them after getting them from the library first. they’re so so beautiful! thank you so much again for this recommendation! 💕
Hooray!! 🥳
Ooh, love this! 🥰
Some suggeations that came to mind: ~ "The History of We" by Nikkolas Smith ~ "All the Colors of the Rainbow" by Rae White
kishmishOP
Those both look so gorgeous! 😍 I can’t find the second one even on goodreads to add it here though 😔 I don’t know how adding something there works—I think it ’s more of a process? I don’t have an account.
Actually, I've seen a few books that weren't on Goodreads, and I said to myself I would figure out how to add them. . . and then I forgot, haha. I can email J+L and ask for both of us, if you'd like! ♡
kishmishOP
oh thank you! i thought i heard that they were using goodreads as a sort of filter (like if you can’t get it onto goodreads, then it doesn’t belong here), but maybe they’d make an exception. or, the last time i saw a discussion like this, someone was able to add the books on goodreads, but i don’t remember who that was or why/how they were able to do that.
I have no idea, but I will found out, just because I'm curious now! 🕵♀️
(update!)
Okay, so I confirmed that we have to add books to Goodreads before adding them here. I'm finding out Goodreads is a pain for this, but I requested the book to be added... They seemed to have added it, but they listed its publication date for 2026... so I'm assuming it's not available everywhere yet.
Best to hold off on adding this one!
kishmishOP
Thank you so much for looking into this. 💕 I found it, both on goodreads and already added to pagebound, so I think your advocating worked extremely effectively! It does seem like it’s only available in Australia for now, but I’ve added it to the list anyway in case any Aussies are here! And of course because hopefully it’ll be published in other places soon too 🤞🏽
Teamwork! ♡
Looove!! Your Name Is a Song by Jamila Thompkins-Bigelow is one of my favorites to read to my bump rn 🥰🤎
what an amazing list!!! :)) we are list twins! thank you for showcasing all these stories, I’m gonna add a link to your list in mine’s comments bc you covered so so many that I’ve never known about or added!
kishmishOP
thank you! let me link yours here too! my favorite part of this list has been getting so many wonderful new recommendations from others to check out from the library and get for our home 🫶🏽 I know I’m going to get so many more from your list too!
AWEE 🫠🫠🥰🥰
kishmishOP
For Ramadan, I’d like to highlight Zahra’s Blessing by Shirin Shamsi, illustrated by Manal Mirza. So many (English-language, at least) children’s books about Ramadan really focus almost exclusively on eating/not eating, and while that’s obviously a part of Ramadan, it doesn’t feel like it really captures the spirit to me! (Especially for the little ones, since they’re not usually fasting yet.) This has such a lovely story about giving and being in community, and incorporates so many more of our beliefs and practices.
Guardians of Childhood? :)
kishmishOP
the series by William Joyce? If so, they look beautiful! 😍 I just want to be sure before adding though!
Yes!!
oh i've got a few!! 😇 (edit: i do a special children's library program so i can't wait to refer to this list) A New Kind of Wild by Zara Gonzalez Hoang Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy The World Belonged to Us by Jacqueline Woodson Milo Imagines the World and The Perfect Place by Matt de la Pena River of Mariposas by Mirelle Ortega The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad Dandan's Dream by Xiaowen Zhu Festival of Colors by Kabir Sehgal How Are You, Verity? by Meghan Wilson Duff My Name Is Long as a River by Suma Subramaniam
kishmishOP
billiam with the professional recs! 🤗 thank you so much!
happy to help, I love this list!! 💖
kishmishOP
thank you! 💖 you’re the best! (just saw that i never responded to this—i’m so sorry. i’d like to blame it on the toddler, but it’s possible at this point that i’m just a spacey person.)
would love to recommend The More You Give by Marcy Campbell :)
kishmishOP
oh my goodness, this looks so sweet! a modern response to the giving tree! 🥹😭 thank you so much! i’ve added it (and put it on hold at the library, of course!) 💕
found two books during Indie Bookstore Day a week or so again that made me think of this list so wanted to recommend—Bud Finds Her Gift by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Everything Grows in Jiddo's Garden by Jenan Matari 😊
kishmishOP
I’ve seen Everything Grows in Jiddo’s Garden around and it looks so sweet and definitely seems like it fits! And I didn’t realize Robin Wall Kimmerer had written a children’s book! That’s so cool and I definitely want to check it out. 🤩 (Learning about all these already beloved authors who’ve also written for children is amazing!) Thank you so much for these recs! 💞
oh yay!! i'm hoping to use Jiddo's Garden for my literature project next year and maybe partner with our local gardeners :) and yes, i didn't know either! glad to share 💖
Ooh if I could suggest Thank You, Mama by Linda Meeker, it was one of my nieces favorites when I got it for her as a baby. 💖
Also some iSpy books by Walter Wick, for nostalgia and anti ai sake. Haha
kishmishOP
Those tiktoks are the cutest and the book looks beautifully illustrated 💕 And iSpy! Yes, I loved those so much and need to get some for the little one. Thank you!
I was on the Walter Wick website to just see how he made all the set ups and his inspiration, and I was just like wow this man made whole sets for these!
kishmishOP
that is so cool 🤩 i think the effort and attention really comes through in the books!
Love this list! I’d add Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder. Oh and so many from Flamingo Rampant Press! Noodin’s Perfect Day, The Magic Shell, 47,000 Beads, Colors of Aloha, Casey’s Ball, and Bridge of Flowers have been our faves and now seeing they have more. They publish feminist, racially-diverse, LGBTQ positive children’s books - check them out!
kishmishOP
oh, these sound so sweet! and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha! I didn’t know she had written a children’s book! Thank you 🫶🏽
