15 Must-Read January Children’s Book Releases

Mượn Thị Văn, author of Wishes, and Jessica Love, author and artist of Julián is a Mermaid, team up in this beautiful picture book that celebrates love in all its diversity. Each page spread features a different family explaining why they love one another, written in a call and response format. The prose is simple and lovely, and the illustrations warm and tender. While I’m sure it’s being released in January in preparation for Valentine’s Day, it’s a universal expression of love that can be read all year round.

The author/illustrator’s first team-up, The Day You Begin, tackles finding the courage to make connections when you’re different. This second book focuses on a little girl featured in the first book and how her grandmother helps her and her brother find imagination and resilience. A brother and sister are completely bored on a rainy day, but their grandmother encourages them to use their imagination to fly them out of their boredom. This skill comes in handy on another day when everything goes wrong, and the siblings can fly away with their minds to find hope, a skill honed by their ancestors. Jacqueline Woodson was inspired to write this story by the collection of African American folktales The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton.

This homage to fatherhood and the ways fathers speak and show their love was written in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder after his 6-year-old daughter told reporters, “Daddy changed the world.” Inspired by those words, the author poured out her love for her father and the ways fathers love their children into this poetic picture book. I especially appreciate that the fathers in this show their love by participating in non-stereotyped play as well, such as painting fingernails and having tea parties. The lovely, tender watercolor illustrations by E.B. Lewis depict fathers of multiple racial backgrounds. 

January 2022 will be the fifth anniversary of the Women’s March, when women worldwide protested the treatment of women by men in power in the wake of former president Donald Trump’s inauguration. This picture book is told from the perspective of a young girl who is helping her grandmother knit pink hats for the march. As the little girl learns to knit, her grandmother explains the basics of women’s equality, and her dad and brother even join in the conversation and receive their own pink hats. It’s a charming picture book that combines themes of intergenerational wisdom, feminism, and knitting.

When Africa sees an advertisement for a double dutch competition on the side of a bus, she knows she has to enter. Her grandmother was a double dutch pro, and Africa knows she can be like her. Her brother protests that Africa has never double dutched before, so how can she expect to win? With help from her friends, memories of her grandmother, and lots of practice, Africa learns confidence and forges a connection between herself and her heritage. Anna Cunha’s muted yet evocative digital illustrations are reminiscent of her previous books, A Story about Afiya and Anita and the Dragons.

Kylie and her amah video chat weekly, though Kylie struggles to understand Amah’s language. When Kylie’s mom announces they’ll be traveling to Taipei to visit Amah, Kylie is nervous. Everything will be new and different! At first, she’s filled with anxiety in Taipei, but when Amah takes her to the hot springs, she loosens up and starts having fun. After that, it’s Kylie who’s leading the way everywhere, and when she and her mom return home, her video chats with Amah are much more animated. This delightfully sweet intergenerational picture book is based on the author’s experiences visiting her Amah in Taiwan. The illustrator’s mother is also Taiwanese.

While I enjoyed Geraldine Pu and Her Lunch Box, Too!, which was published in 2021, I like the second book in this early reader graphic novel series even better, quite possibly because my daughter loves cats. Each book is a standalone. The weather has gotten chiller, but Geraldine doesn’t mind because she has the best winter hat ever, Mao Maotz! When school picture day is announced, Geraldine decides she’ll wear Mao Maotz that day to cover her hair, which she doesn’t like. However, there’s a no-hat rule for school pictures. Geraldine will have to learn to love her hair or else be disappointed in her school pictures. This is a fun, super sweet early reader.

This memoir in verse relates Kathlyn’s commitment to activism, which started at a very young age. Her protests eventually helped lead to Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday becoming a national holiday. This memoir shows how teenaged activism and participation in protests can enact meaningful change. It’s a powerful, inspiring read.

Student and activist Freshta Tori Jan gives her first-person account of living in Afghanistan as a Hazara, a Persian-speaking ethnic minority in Afghanistan and target for the Taliban, whose terrorism of the group is genocidal. From the Taliban shutting down her school to the murder of her friends and family, Freshta Tori Jan depicts the horrors of living under constant threat with unflinching but accessible prose. It’s a powerful read and part of the nonfiction I, Witness series of memoirs.

The Akata Witch series toes the line between young adult and middle grade but are perfect for middle graders who like darker fantasy! In this third book in the series, Sunny Nwazue has trained and is now a powerful Leopard Person. She and her friends now must go on a quest to acquire a dangerous magical object hidden deep within the magic realm. Entertaining and action-packed, this Nigerian-based fantasy series is a blast to read.

There is not enough fat representation in children’s books, so this fun middle grade standalone is a welcome change. Max is having a rough year in 8th grade. The popular kids pick on him for being fat, and he’s fed up with it, but he also doesn’t know what to do about it. He turns to the supervillain Master Plan, who is positive about his big body, for help. The two hatch a plan to show the school that Max is a human being who deserves respect.