TOON Books

  • A Big Bouquet of Books This May

    A Big Bouquet of Books This May

    Sun and rain and all kinds of flowering plants surround us in the Northern Hemisphere during the month of May. This year seems especially bountiful in May-perfect picture books to share. Anne Booth’s Bloom, illustrated by Robyn Wilson-Owen (Tiny Owl Publishing) has been praised by The Sunday Times, a large number of other critics, and […]

  • For the Love of Words

    For the Love of Words

    Books tell stories—both factual and imagined—and most stories need words to communicate the writer’s ideas to the reader. Words, like books, come in all shapes and sizes and can be put together in ways both traditional and creative.  Let’s celebrate words with some recent picture books about them! Let’s start with Ivan Brunetti’s beginning reader […]

  • Father’s Day Picture Books and Books with Pictures

    Father’s Day Picture Books and Books with Pictures

    Fathers receive their special day of public (and family) recognition on the third Sunday of June. To celebrate, we’ve gone to our stacks to show off some books featuring stories (and pictures) about dads. The Haircut, by Theo Heras and illustrated by Renné Benoit (Pajama Press) provides a toddler and daddy bonding story of a first […]

  • Fresh Air Science Fun – and Giveaway!

    Fresh Air Science Fun – and Giveaway!

    Springtime offers so many inviting ways to explore and celebrate nature that we’ve decided to offer the chance to teachers and librarians to win a nature exploration picture book shelf!  The collection includes seven different books, one for each day of the week, and everybody can follow these links to the free web-based resources their […]

  • Children’s Book Day 2020

    Children’s Book Day 2020

    We continue to update this post as more publishers provide free resources for those impacted by COVID-19 and local stay-at-home guidance. We are living in a worldwide period of school and library closures, social distancing, and the search for activities to keep kids engaged and as active as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. AND we’re […]

  • Brand New Award Winners

    Brand New Award Winners

    In our last post, we sang the praises and delights of longlists and shortlists of finalists for major awards. Now we’ll celebrate some recent winners of awards that have been announced across the past few weeks. The Cybils Awards, which “recognize the children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary […]

  • World Kid Lit Month Picks from the Western Hemisphere

    World Kid Lit Month Picks from the Western Hemisphere

    This is the second in a series of four posts with which we ask you to join us in celebrating World Kid Lit Month (#WorldKidLit on social media). As we continue to celebrate World Kid Lit Month with a cavalcade of kids’ books from international publishers, we make our next stop in the Western Hemisphere, […]

  • Small Worlds

    Small Worlds

    Summer days invite us to explore nature up close and in detail, including the small worlds of insects, bees and butterflies. All of these make fine topics for picture books as well, so pairing an outdoor reading time with observation and discovery can turn a plain afternoon into magic.  Pack your hat, a magnifying glass, […]

  • Meet the Authors and Illustrators

    Meet the Authors and Illustrators

    We hosted half a dozen folks who create children’s books during ALA Annual 2019. If you couldn’t visit with them during the book signings, you can catch them here in the video interviews we made as each one settled behind the signing desk. First up: Tilbury House’s Rebecca Evans who created the fun and colorful […]