Are you looking for the best picture books to read in April 2021?
It may be closer to the end of April, but there are always new books to add to our list of books to read! While this post may be a bit late, this list of 20 picture books to read in April 2021 will help you stay up to date on the most anticipated book releases.
Whether you’re looking for new releases to read with your kids before bed, picture books to add to your classroom library, or a new read-aloud for class, this list of brand new picture book releases is for you!
From humourous stories to important themes and messages, there’s a book for everyone on this list.
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April 1st
Animals • Albert Whitman & Company
When a bird flies into their window by accident, Callum and his sister, Emmy, learn that from the outside, the glass looks just like the sky. They also learn that the United States has lost a lot of birds in recent years–and that there are lots of things their family can do to help. First, they set out feeders and make the windows safe. Then, for the winter, they build a little shelter and put out a heated birdbath. By springtime, all kinds of birds are visiting their yard! But with such a big problem, is there more they can do to make a difference?
Music • Albert Whitman & Company
One bright city morning, Penelope and her mom make their way to the farmer’s market. On street corners and train platforms, musicians and performers enchant Penelope, speaking to her through their floating, booming notes. The noise of the city keeps the pair moving — until Penelope hears a sound so magical she knows she has to play the instrument that makes it.
Social Themes • Sourcebooks Wonderland
An expanded deluxe edition of the Sesame Street bestseller Just One You! that celebrates the beauty of diversity.
In this special deluxe edition of Just One You!, join your favorite Sesame Street friends as they celebrate all of the spectacular reasons you’re one of a kind and how those differences make the world a more beautiful place! This inclusive story features all new characters from Sesame’s international shows that have never before been featured in U.S. books. Filled with fun illustrations and inspiring text, this sweet picture book reminds children that what makes them and others unique is what also makes them great! Plus it includes stickers and a special jacket poster!
This is a story that’s all about you,
And all the spectacular things that you do!
Everyone’s extraordinary, and you’ll see that it’s true —
That our differences make the world wonderful, too!
Legends, Myth • Albert Whitman & Company
Tanabata Matsuri, the Star Festival, celebrates a popular folktale: The Emperor of the Heavens separates his daughter, Orihime, from her love, Hikoboshi, all year — but on this day the two stars finally reunite on a bridge across the Milky Way.
For Keiko, her mama, and her grandmother, Tanabata is about making tanzaku wishes, taking in the colorful decorations, and eating delicious food like nagashi somen and shaved ice. But when Obaasan gets lost in the crowd, Keiko and Mama must make their own bridge to find her again — and see if their tanzaku comes true.
April 6th
People & Places • Greenwillow Books
America, do you love me?
Acclaimed author-artist Daria Peoples-Riley invites readers to answer timely — and timeless — questions beating inside the hearts of children across America. Exquisitely illustrated, with a powerful, lyrical text, America, My Love, America, My Heart will challenge readers of all ages to examine and evaluate personal beliefs and attitudes toward the many different colors of America.
America, do you love me? My black. My brown. My pride. My crown.
What begins as a single question from a single child multiplies as America, My Love, America, My Heart sweeps across the country with every page turn, inviting in more and more children of color — and their questions. Does America love them when they speak? Or whisper? Or shout? When they stand? Does America love them just as they are?
Inspired by the questions of her own childhood, author and artist Daria Peoples-Riley has created a powerful and important book for Americans of all ages — an essential addition to every bookshelf and classroom. Her poetic text encourages readers to confront bias, prejudice, and discrimination and invites readers to reflect and respond with their own answers, while honoring the identities of black and brown children and people of color.
The unforgettable monochromatic oil paintings incorporate patriotic colors — red, white, and blue — to evoke deeply felt emotion and unique perspective. This rich, resonant book is a conversation starter for children, for families, for classrooms, and for communities.
Family, LBTQ+ • Little Bee Books
Discover a wonderful grandfather-granddaughter relationship, as a little girl hatches the perfect plan to get her Grandad adventuring again.
Gramps and Grandad were adventurers. They would surf, climb mountains, and tour the country in their amazing camper. Gramps just made everything extra special. But after Gramps died, granddad hasn’t felt like traveling anymore. So, their amazing granddaughter comes up with a clever plan to fix up the old camper and get Grandad excited to explore again.
This beautiful picture book honors love and reminds us not only to remember those we have lost, but to celebrate them.
Family • Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
A unique baby book that sings with Native cultural detail, while striking a universal chord in its celebration of the blossoming of love that comes with expecting and welcoming a new baby.
As she waits for the arrival of her new baby, a mother-to-be gathers gifts to create a sacred bundle. A white feather, cedar and sage, a stone from the river …
Each addition to the bundle will offer the new baby strength and connection to tradition, family, and community. As they grow together, mother and baby will each have gifts to offer each other.
Tasha Spillett-Sumner and Michaela Goade, two Indigenous creators, bring beautiful words and luminous art together in a resonant celebration of the bond between mother and child.
Humour, Nature • Sourcebooks Explore
With pictures from the illustrator behind Last Week Tonight’s A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, this delightfully punny story about ocean life, conservation, and cooperation is perfect for sparking conversations in the classroom and at home.
Walt is a proud lobstah whose greatest dream is winning the annual Swell Gahdens contest. But year after year that honor always goes to his chowdah-head neighbor Milton. One day, when heaps of gahbage show up in their yahds, the rival lobstahs must join forces to save their beloved gahdens from the trash floating down from above.
Our oceans are beautiful, colorful, diverse ecosystems that are home to over a million species of underwater creatures. Unfortunately, humans are putting our friends under the sea at risk by polluting Earth’s oceans daily. Lobstah Gahden will help kids understand the importance of conservation, and additional backmatter about sea life and pollution will give readers practical ways they can help preserve our oceans.
The fourth book in the hit Rocket and Groot picture book series, following up to Night Night, Groot, First Day of Groot!, and Snow Day for Groot!
Accept the challenge of this special mission: Map every planet for your expedition!
It’s finally summertime! The Guardians of the Galaxy are off on a trip to map the cosmos with plans to see as much as possible in one day. From surfing the waves of Zenn-La and riding a tandem bike on Morag to playing hide-and-seek in Asgard and enjoying a dazzling display of fireworks on Xandar, Rocket and Groot are determined to enjoy all the best activities that summer in space has to offer!
Young readers will be inspired to create their own to-do list for the ultimate summer adventure.
The farmer follows his new friends to the circus in this whimsical and touching conclusion to the trilogy from two-time Caldecott Honor medalist Marla Frazee that began with the beloved The Farmer and the Clown.
The little clown and monkey miss their friend the farmer. They spend their days playing farmer together, until one day they get a surprise. Farmer has come to visit the circus! What will happen when he meets the rest of the circus family?
Sweet, humorous, and full of emotion, this third and final book in Marla Frazee’s stunning trilogy is sure to become a classic favorite for young readers.
For fans of Oh, The Places You’ll Go! and The Wonderful Things You Will Be, What Would You Do in a Book About You? will empower kids to reach for their dreams. From Zolotow Honor award-winning author Jean Reidy (Truman) and illustrated by Joey Chou, this lyrical picture book has pitch-perfect rhythm and rhyme and makes for a great read-aloud.
No dream is too big or too small in this heartwarming, heart-building book about you!
So, stop. Dream. Think it through. And remember, there is so much you can do. Here is an exuberant book that asks what wonderful, endless possibilities your story and your future might hold, making YOU the author of your own powerful tale.
Perfect for a graduation, a new baby, a birthday, or any milestone in a child’s or adult’s life, this book celebrates everything you are capable of doing and becoming. For after all, the best stories are the ones that you will write …
April 13th
Ramadan has come to an end, and Amira can’t wait to stay home from school to celebrate Eid. There’s just one hiccup: it’s also school picture day. How can Amira be in two places at once?
Just the thought of Eid makes Amira warm and tingly inside. From wearing new clothes to handing out goody bags at the mosque, Amira can’t wait for the festivities to begin. But when a flier on the fridge catches her eye, Amira’s stomach goes cold. Not only is it Eid, it’s also school picture day. If she’s not in her class picture, how will her classmates remember her? Won’t her teacher wonder where she is?
Though the day’s celebrations at the mosque are everything Amira was dreaming of, her absence at picture day weighs on her. A last-minute idea on the car ride home might just provide the solution to everything in this delightful story from acclaimed author Reem Faruqi, illustrated with vibrant color by Fahmida Azim.
Fluffykins is a perfect cat. He wouldn’t do anything naughty … would he? But what’s this? He’s knocked over the flowers, tangled up all the yarn, bent the blinds, and scratched the sofa … and he won’t apologize.
What a bad cat! Whatever will Fluffykins do next? This witty and perfectly paced story by award-winning author-illustrator Nicola O’Byrne revels in all the mayhem of living with a bad cat.
A luminous picture-book tribute to house and home gently evokes the passage of time, the solace of memory, and the joys of preservation and renewal.
Every house has a story. This house — an old one hunkered in the deep grass below a wide country sky — is a waiting house. Once it was full of laughter and song. The sounds of life rang within its walls. Now it stands quiet and still. The house has sheltered many families over the years and remembers them fondly, especially the children. New families arrive to look, but none stay. Perhaps the house, too, now belongs to the Long Ago and Used to Be? Or will the “right” family move in to honor its past and build new memories? Wistful and nostalgic, Mary Lyn Ray’s poetic text, combined with glowing, pastoral illustrations by E. B. Goodale that capture the lonely house’s unique character, create a quietly affecting hymn to hope and surprise that will enchant readers of all ages.
Bedtime • Abrams Books for Young Readers
A bedtime fractured fairy tale to help the most restless of little ones fall asleep, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Verde!
Once upon a time there lived a very busy princess who never had trouble falling asleep. Until one night, when a pesky pea changed all that!
Without sleep, the princess feels cranky, and clumsy, and filled with worry that she’ll never sleep again. Will this tossy-turny princess ever be able to calm her mind, relax her body, and finally get some rest?
Book Two of the Feel-Good Fairy Tales series is a soothing spin on a classic fairytale from New York Times bestselling author Susan Verde and illustrator Jay Fleck, giving restless little readers and listeners the tools they need to help them drift off to dreamland. Includes exercises to help YOU fall asleep.
Social Themes • Henry Holt and Co
Celebrate the boundless possibilities of the future with this uplifting picture book about the potential in every child, perfect for fans of Oh, the Places You’ll Go! and The Wonderful Things You Will Be.
Today is a triumph! It’s awesome! You’re great!
The things you’ve accomplished are truly first rate.
Your efforts have made you stand out from the crowd,
So, puff out your chest — you deserve to feel proud.
Follow a group of children as they dream about what the future might hold. As they spin their passions into opportunities, they learn that adventure awaits any and all who put their hearts and minds into something.
Told in Corey Finkle’s touching rhyming verse and paired with gorgeous watercolor illustrations by Shelley Couvillion, Your Future Is Bright is an inspiring ode to self-confidence, kindness, and dedication, and makes for the perfect gift for any occasion, including graduations, baby showers, birthdays, and more.
April 20th
Celebrate diversity, math, and the power of storytelling!
For the Hindu holiday of Raksha Bandhan, Chandrika is determined to make beaded bracelets for her brothers all by herself. She finds out which colors her brothers like and dislike and sets to work. Working with her every-other-one beading pattern causes Chandrika to discover something new about patterns — and her brothers.
Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education non-profit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Holidays & Celebrations • Viking Books for Young Readers
The debut picture book by author and human rights activist Qasim Rashid that celebrates good deeds during the month of Ramadan.
It’s the first day of Ramadan and Hannah wants to be a part of this important month every way she can. But if she’s too young to fast, how can she observe Ramadan? By saving the world, Dada Jaan tells her. And so Hannah learns that by helping her friends and neighbors and by showing kindness and generosity, she can make the world a better place.
The debut picture book by human rights activist and attorney Qasim Rashid tells a timely story full of warmth and heart about the observance of Ramadan and the power of good deeds.
Social Themes • Flamingo Books
From New York Times bestselling author Kelly Corrigan comes a book that celebrates the people in our lives and the meaningful connections we make that come from asking each other questions.
Hello World! is the perfect reminder that the journeys we take through life are all about the people we will meet along the way — people who will make us smarter, stronger, and more amazing than we ever thought possible. With her trademark inspirational wisdom, Kelly Corrigan writes the perfect book for anyone about to embark on a new adventure.
April 27th
A tired daddy lets his son have a turn being the parent at bedtime in Karla Clark’s You Be Daddy, a humorously charming companion picture book to You Be Mommy, featuring illustrations by Steph Lew.
Daddy’s too tired to be Daddy tonight.
Can you be Daddy and hug me tight?
In this clever, rhyming picture book, a father tells his child that he’s simply too tired to be Daddy tonight and asks his son to take over for him.
An utterly relatable theme told with humor and heart provides a story parents and children will delight in reading together at bedtime.
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[…] you’re looking for new releases to read with your kids before bed, picture books to add to your classroom library, or a new read-aloud […]