Browse Our Collections for Children

Simply click on a cover image and you will be taken directly to the listing in our online catalog, where you can read a brief description of the book and also place a hold on the book, if you would like to.

Pride

Rainbow: A First Book of Pride by Michael Genhart
Worm Loves Worm by J.J. Austrian
Call Me Max by Kyle Lukoff
I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders
Gay and Lesbian History for Kids by Jerome Pohlen
Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchino
Two Grooms on a Cake by Rob Sanders
Prince and Knight by Daniel Haack
Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer
Pride Colors by Robin Stevenson
The GayBCs by M.L. Webb

Celebrate Dad

The Best Father
A Father
Berenstain Bears: We Love Our Dad! by Jan Berenstain
Daddy-sitting by Eve Coy
My Dad Used To Be So Cool by Keith Negley
My Papi has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero
Daddies are Awesome by Meredith Costain
How to Surprise a Dad by Jean Reagan
I Love Dad by Joanna Walsh
It
My Papa is a Princess by Doug Cenko

Summer Reads

Summer Song by Kevin Henkes
And Then Comes Summer by Tom Brenner
How do Fairies Have Fun in the Sun? by Liza Gardner Walsh
A Lullaby of Summer Things by Natalie Reif Ziarnik
Summer Color by Diana Murray
Summer Days and Nights by Wong Herbert Yee
Sea Glass Summer by Michelle Houts
Hello Summer! by Shelley Rotner
Summer Supper by Rubin Pfeffer
Mama, Is It Summer Yet? by Nikki McClure
The Summer Visitors by Karel Hayes

New Books in a Series

Isadora Moon Gets in Trouble by Harriet Muncaster
The Dangerous Gift by Tui Sutherland
Heat of the Lava Dragon by Tracey West
Who was Duke Ellington? by M.D. Payne
Dog Man. Mothering Heights by Dav Pilkey
Who was Walt Whitman? by Kirsten Anderson
History Comics. The Challenger Disaster by Pranas T. Naujokaitis
Science Comics. The Digestive System by Jason Viola
Falcon vs. Hawk by Jerry Pallotta
Ivy & Bean Get to Work by Annie Barrows
Spy School Revolution by Stuart Gibbs
The 130-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths
Real Pigeons Eat Danger by Andrew McDonald
Real Pigeons Nest Hard by Andrew McDonald
Hide and Seek by Sarah Mlynowski

Maine Student Book Award 2021-2022

Becoming Muhammad Ali by Kwame Alexander and James Patterson
The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf
Once Upon an Eid by S.K. Ali
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Barnes
The Wild Path by Sarah Baughman
Alone in the Woods by Rebecca Behrens
A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner
The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
The Canyon
Woke: A Young Poet
King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callendar
Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisernos
Kodi by Jared Cullum
The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton
96 Miles by J.L Esplin
My Wild Life by Suzi Eszterhas
Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone
Rick by Alex Gino
Wink by Rob Harrell
The Mystwick School of Musicraft by Jessica Khoury
Primer by Jennifer Muro
Me and Banksy by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Whispering Pines by Heidi Lang
What Lane? by Torrey Maldonado
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
Glitch by Laura Martin
Jinxed by Amy McCulloch
The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips
No Place for Monsters by Kory Merritt
History Smashers: The Mayflower by Kate Messner
Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian
When Stars are Scattered by Omar Mohamed
Bloom by Kenneth Oppel
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
The Seventh Handmaiden by Judith Pransky
A Game of Fox and Squirrels by Jenn Reese
Ashlords by Scott Reintgen
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Kendi Ibram X
Rise Up!: The Art of Protest by Jo Rippon
All Thirteen: The Incredible Rescue of the Thai Boys

Great New Reads

The Tree in Me by Corinna Luyken
Unicorns are the Worst by Alex Willan
Mel Fell by Corey Tabor
Oona by Kelly KiPucchio
Every Night is Pizza Night by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
The True Story of Zippy Chippy: The Little Horse That Couldn
Horace & Bullwinkle by PJ Gardner
Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron
Spy School Revolution by Stuart Gibbs
The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles
Real Pigeons Nest Hard by Andrew McDonald
Case File: Little Claws by Eliot Schrefer
Mothering Heights by Dav Pilkey
Arkhamaniacs by Art Baltazar
The Leak: For the Love of Truth by Kate Reed Petty
Mr. Corbett is in Orbit! by Dan Gutman
Black Sand Beach: Are you Afraid of the Light? by Richard Fairgray

Kindness Matters

The Power of One by Trudy Ludwig
A World of Kindness by Pajama Press
Kindness Grows by Britta Teckentrup
The kindness book by Todd Parr
Finding kindness by Deborah Underwood
Each kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
Bee heartful : spread loving-kindness by Frank J. Sileo
I walk with Vanessa : a story about a simple act of kindness by Kerascoët
Step right up : how Doc and Jim Key taught the world about kindness by Donna Janell Bowman
The starkeeper by Faith Pray
Dictionary for a better world : poems, quotes, and anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham & Charles Waters
Be kind by Pat Zietlow Miller
I am peace : a book of mindfulness by Susan Verde
Shelter by Céline Claire
If you plant a seed by Kadir Nelson
Hank finds an egg / by Rebecca Dudley
Paulie Pastrami achieves world peace by James Proimo

2021 Award Winners

When you Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
We are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul by Carole Boston Weatherford
I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott
Vamos! Let
See the Cat by David LaRochelle
Honeybee: the Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming
Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein

Learn Something New

The Fierce 44: Black Americans who Shook up the World by the staff of the Undefeated
Why Don
The History of Prehistory by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom
Rescue: Daring Missions from On, Under and Above the Earth by David Long
The Mysteries of the Universe by Will Gater
Weird but True: Dinosaurs by Nat Geo
Winged Wonders by Meeg Pincus
Follow the Link: A Journey through Transportation by Tom Jackson
Fearless Felines: 30 True Tales of Courageous Cats by Kimberlie Hamilton
1,000 Facts about the White House by Sarah Wassner Flynn
The Crayon Man by Natascha Biebow
My First Atlas of the 50 States by Georgia Beth
Modern Art Explorer by Alice Harman

Diverse Reads from the “Shake Up Your Shelves” Reading List

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
Heart & Soul by Kadir Nelson
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
I am Enough by Grace Byers
Let
Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora
Where are you From? by Yamile Saied Mendez
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

Our 2020 Favorites- Picture Books

Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away by Meg Medina
Red Shoes by Karen English
Digging for Words: Jose Alberto Gutierrez by Angela Burke Kunkel
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard
Julian at the Wedding by Jessica Love
Nerp! by Sarah Lynne Reul
Bess the Barn Stands Strong by Elizabeth Gilbert Bedia
Don
Chowder Rules!: The True Story of an Epic Food Fight by Anna Crowley Redding
Swashby and the Sea by Beth Ferry
Let

Our 2020 Favorites- Middle Grade

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce
History Smashers: The Mayflower by Kate Messner
The Canyon
The Barren Grounds by David A Robertson
Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Shirley & Jamila Save Their Summer by Gillian Goerz
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
The Elephant
Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
The List of Things that Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone
Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley
Real Pigeons Fight Crime by Andrew McDonald

Picture Books about Social/Emotional Learning

There might be lobsters / Carolyn Crimi ; illustrated by Laurel Molk.
After the fall : how Humpty Dumpty got back up again / a story by Dan Santat.
I will be fierce! / written by Bea Birdsong ; illustrated by Nidhi Chanani.
The day you begin / Jacqueline Woodson ; illustrated by Rafael López.
Ruby finds a Worry / Tom Percival.
I
I
Anxious Charlie to the rescue / Terry Milne.
Maybe tomorrow? / by Charlotte Agell ; illustrated by Ana Ramírez González .
Ida, always / Caron Levis and Charles Santoso.
The rabbit listened / by Cori Doerrfeld.
What do you do with a problem? / written by Kobi Yamada ; illustrated by Mae Besom.
The junkyard wonders / Patricia Polacco.
Come with me / Holly M. McGhee ; illustrated by Pascal Lemaître.
How full is your bucket? for kids / written by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer ; illustrated by Maurie J. Manning.
If you plant a seed / words and paintings by Kadir Nelson.
I am human : a book of empathy / by Susan Verde ; art by Peter H. Reynolds.
You are your strong / by Danielle Dufayet ; illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin.
I am love : a book of compassion / by Susan Verde ; art by Peter H. Reynolds.
Last stop on Market Street / words by Matt de la Peña ; pictures by Christian Robinson.

Middle Grade Books for Social/Emotional Learning

Stanley will probably be fine / by Sally J. Pla.
Ghost / Jason Reynolds.
Fish in a tree / Lynda Mullaly Hunt.
Zenobia July / Lisa Bunker.
Front desk / Kelly Yang.
Finding perfect / Elly Swartz.
Guts / Raina Telgemeier ; with color by Braden Lamb.
Harbor me / Jacqueline Woodson.
Step up to the plate, Maria Singh / by Uma Krishnaswami.
Merci Suárez changes gears / Meg Medina.
The goldfish boy / Lisa Thompson.
The science of breakable things / Tae Keller.
The stars beneath our feet / David Barclay Moore.
The seventh most important thing / Shelley Pearsall.
The battle of Junk Mountain / Lauren Abbey Greenberg.
A long walk to water : a novel / by Linda Sue Park.
Up for air / Laurie Morrison.
Rick / Alex Gino.

Laugh Out Loud Reads

Claymates / written by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge.
Horse meets dog / by Elliott Kalan ; illustrations by Tim Miller.
Home sweet motel / Chris Grabenstein ; illustrated by Brooke Allen.
Real pigeons fight crime / Andrew McDonald and Ben Wood.
Go to school / by Julie Falatko ; illustrated by Colin Jack.
The misadventures of the family Fletcher / Dana Alison Levy.
The day the crayons quit / by Drew Daywalt ; pictures by Oliver Jeffers.
Bad dad / David Walliams ; illustrated by Tony Ross.
Just joking sidesplitters : 300 hilarious jokes abouth everything, including tongue twisters, riddles, and more! / Rosie Goswell Pattison.
Dory Fantasmagory / Abby Hanlon.
Mother Bruce / Ryan T. Higgins.

For Harry Potter Fans

The secret of platform 13 / Eva Ibbotson ; illustrated by Sue Porter.
Sandry
The girl who circumnavigated Fairyland in a ship of her own making / Catherynne Valente ; with illustrations by Ana Juan.
The wizards of once / written and illustrated by Cressida Cowell.
Midnight for Charlie Bone / Jenny Nimmo.
The iron trial / Holly Black and Cassandra Clare ; with illustrations by Scott Fischer.
Magyk / Angie Sage ; illustrations by Mark Zug.
The golden compass / Philip Pullman.

Engaging Nonfiction

Greek myths and mazes : discover the legends of ancient Greece and find your way out of a maze on each page! / Jan Bajtlik ; translated by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones.
National Geographic kids ultimate U.S. road trip atlas / by Crispin Boyer.
Chef Gino
Do all Indians live in tipis? : questions and answers / from the National Museum of the American Indian.
What
Everest / [text, Angela] Sangma Francis ; [illustrations] Lisk Feng.
The boy who harnessed the wind / William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer ; illustrations by Anna Hymas.
Google it : a history of Google / Anna Crowley Redding.
How they croaked : the awful ends of the awfully famous / Georgia Bragg ; illustrated by Kevin O
Kid President
Our house is on fire : Greta Thunberg
Planting the trees of Kenya : the story of Wangari Maathai / Claire A. Nivola.
The Mayflower / Kate Messner ; illustrated by Dylan Meconis.
The next president : the unexpected beginnings and unwritten future of America

Miss Jess’s Graphic Novel Recommendations

Estranged / Ethan M. Aldridge.
Lowriders in space. Book 1 / by Cathy Camper ; illustrated by Raúl the Third.
The witch boy / Molly Knox Ostertag.
When crocs fly : a pearls before swine collection / Stephan T. Pastis.
The Tea Dragon Society / written & illustrated by Katie O
I survived the sinking of the Titanic, 1912 / adapted by Georgia Ball ; with art by Haus Studio ; pencils by Gervasio ; inks by Jok and Carlos Aón ; colors by Lara Lee.
Nathan Hale

Exploring Space

Fly guy presents : space / Tedd Arnold.
Counting the stars / Lesa Cline-Ransome ; illustrated by Raul Colon.
Katherine Johnson / by Thea Feldman ; illustrated by Alyssa Petersen.
Margaret and the moon : how Margaret Hamilton saved the first lunar landing / by Dean Robbins ; illustrated by Lucy Knisley.
What Miss Mitchell saw / written by Hayley Barrett ; illustrated by Diana Sudyka.
Hidden figures : the true story of four black women and the space race / by Margot Lee Shetterly with Winifred Conkling ; illustrated by Laura Freeman.
Moon! : Earth
Red rover: curiosity on mars / written by Richard Ho, illustrated by Katherine Roy
Zoom, rocket, zoom! / Margaret Mayo ; illustrated by Alex Ayliffe.
Cleopatra in space. Book one, Target practice / Mike Maihack.
Jedi Academy / by Jeffery Brown.
Sanity & Tallulah. [1] / Molly Brooks.
Zita the spacegirl. Book one, Far from home / by Ben Hatke.
The countdown conspiracy / Katie Slivensky.
Stink : solar system superhero / Megan McDonald ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds.
Life on Mars / Jon Agee.
Sheep blast off! / written by Nancy Shaw ; illustrated by Margot Apple.
Touch the brightest star / Christie Matheson.
A big mooncake for Little Star / Grace Lin.
Hopper and Wilson fetch a star / Maria van Lieshout.

Miss Jess’s Chapter Book Recommendations

The elephant
I can make this promise / Christine Day.
Sweep : the story of a girl and her monster / by Jonathan Auxier.
The wild robot / words and pictures by Peter Brown.
Bronze and Sunflower / Cao Wenxuan ; translated from the Chinese by Helen Wang ; illustrated by Meilo So.
The book of Boy / Catherine Gilbert Murdock ; illustrations by Ian Schoenherr.
Premeditated Myrtle / Elizabeth C. Bunce.
We
The season of Styx Malone / Kekla Magoon.

Maine Student Book Awards 2020

The line tender / by Kate Allen.
This was our pact / Ryan Andrews.
Orange for the sunsets / Tina Athaide.
The last human / Lee Bacon.
The important thing about Margaret Wise Brown / written by Mac Barnett ; illustrated by Sarah Jacoby.
Monstrous : the lore, gore, and science behind your favorite monsters / Carlyn Beccia.
Caught! : nabbing history
The forgotten girl / India Hill Brown.
Zenobia July / Lisa Bunker.
New kid / Jerry Craft ; with colors by Jim Callahan.
Maybe he just likes you / Barbara Dee.
The remarkable journey of Coyote Sunrise / Dan Gemeinhart.
Charlie Thorne and the last equation / Stuart Gibbs.
Scary stories for young foxes / Christian McKay Heidicker ; with illustrations by Junyi Wu.
The Dark Lord Clementine / Sarah Jean Horwitz.
Ghost : thirteen haunting tales to tell / a collection by illustratus ; writers: Blaise Hemingway, Jesse Reffsin ; illustrators: Chris Sasaki, Jeff Turley.
Dog driven / by Terry Lynn Johnson.
Lily the thief / Janne Kukkonen ; color by Kévin Bazot ; English translation by Lola Rogers.
Killer style : how fashion has injured, maimed, & murdered through history / by Serah-Marie McMahon & Alison Matthews David ; illustrations by Gillian Wilson.
The world ends in April / Stacy McAnulty.
Fireborne / Rosaria Munda.
Under the broken sky / Mariko Nagai.
The mystery of Black Hollow Lane / Julia Nobel.
Homerooms & hall passes / by Tom O
The best at it / Maulik Pancholy.
Good enough / Jen Petro-Roy.
Wildfire / Rodman Philbrick.
Beastly puzzles : a brain-boggling animal guessing game / written by Rachel Poliquin ; illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler.
Blood Mountain / James Preller.
Changeling / written and illustrated by William Ritter.
Nikki on the line / Barbara Carroll Roberts.
We
To Night Owl from Dogfish / Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer.
I, Cosmo / Carlie Sorosiak.
Roll with it / Jamie Sumner.
The bridge home / Padma Venkatraman.
Other words for home / Jasmine Warga.
The Guinevere deception / Kiersten White.
Genesis begins again / Alicia D. Williams.
Captain Rosalie / Timothée de Fombelle ; illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault ; translated by Sam Gordon.

Celebrating the Words and Art of Maine’s Own Ashley Bryan

Let it shine : three favorite spirituals / [illustrated by] Ashley Bryan.
Sail away / poems by Langston Hughes ; art by Ashley Bryan.
The night has ears : African proverbs / selected and illustrated by Ashley Bryan.
What a wonderful world / by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele ; illustrated by Ashley Bryan.
Ashley Bryan
Ashley Bryan
Beautiful blackbird / Ashley Bryan.
Can
Freedom over me : eleven slaves, their lives and dreams brought to life / by Ashley Bryan.
Infinite hope : a black artist
Ashley Bryan
The story of lightning & thunder / Ashley Bryan.
Words to my life
A nest full of stars : poems / by James Berry with pictures by Ashley Bryan.
Blooming beneath the sun / poems by Christina Rossetti ; art by Ashley Bryan.
I am loved : poems / by Nikki Giovanni ; illustrations by Ashley Bryan.
It

Kim’s Picture Book Recommendations

Your name is a song / Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow ; illustrated by Luisa Uribe.
We are water protectors / written by Carole Lindstrom ; illustrated by Michaela Goade.
Danbi leads the school parade / by Anna Kim.
Down under the pier / by Nell Cross Beckerman ; illustrated by Rachell Sumpter.
Going down home with daddy / written by Kelly Starling Lyons ; illustrated by Daniel Minter.
Let
Nerp! / Sarah Lynne Reul.
The galaxy needs you / written by Caitlin Kennedy ; illustrated by Eda Kaban.
Woke baby / Mahogany L. Browne ; illustrated by Theodore Taylor III.

Black Lives Matter

Exquisite : the poetry and life of Gwendolyn Brooks / by Suzanne Slade ; illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera.
Little dreamers : visionary women around the world / Vashti Harrison.
Woke : a young poet
Young, gifted and black : meet 52 black heroes from past and present / words by Jamia Wilson ; illustrated by Andrea Pippins.
Black brother, black brother / Jewell Parker Rhodes.
Lu / Jason Reynolds.
As brave as you / Jason Reynolds.
The bear
Get up, stand up / adapted by Cedella Marley ; illustrated by John Jay Cabuay.
Happy hair / written & illustrated by Mechal Renee Roe.
Cool cuts / written & illustrated by Mechal Renee Roe.
Magnificent homespun brown : a celebration / written by Samara Cole Doyon ; illustrated by Kaylani Juanita.
Fly, firefly! / written by Shana Keller ; illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki.
You matter / Christian Robinson.
Hair love / Matthew A. Cherry ; illustrations by Vashti Harrison.
Sulwe / written by Lupita Nyong
Just like me / Vanessa Brantley-Newton.
Mama Miti : Wangari Maathai and the trees of Kenya / Donna Jo Napoli ; illustrated by Kadir Nelson.