New Original Board Books
Aroeste, Sarah. Anyada Buena Shanah Tovah. Illus. by Maria Mola. Kar-Ben, 08/2025. [10]p. $9.99. 979-8-7656-1963-6.
A little girl celebrates the Jewish New Year in this rhyming story with watercolor illustrations. It focuses on a Sephardic Jewish family and uses some Ladino words. The title phrase is repeated which offers the opportunity to engage the audience.
Dexet, Hector. Who Ate the Little Bug? Illus. by Hector Dexet. Post Wave, 04/2025. [24]p. $10.99. 979-8-89509-009-1.
In this oversized board book with die-cut holes, various animals are asked if they ate the little bug (a ladybug). The deeply-saturated colors will make it easy for toddlers to identify the color, and the surprise ending adds to the fun.
Khan, Sara. My First Book About Charity: Teachings for Toddlers and Young Children. Illus. by Ali Lodge. Islamic Foundation/Kube, 2025. [26]p. $9.95. 978-1-83592-000-8.
This book is on Zakat, the third pillar of Islam, explaining the importance of charity. Using a simple, clear text, full color artwork, and quotations from the Quran, children will learn about giving both money as well as doing charitable acts. This may be most useful when shelved with the children’s books on Islam instead of the board books.
Liu, Elyon. A Seed in the Universe. Illus. by Elyon Liu. Post Wave, 04/2025. [26]p. $16.99. 979-8-89509-000-8.
In this circular tale, a seed is shown inside an apple. The text continues “which is eaten by a caterpillar,” and each subsequent line continues with “which is…” The deeply colored illustrations have die-cut holes which help to show what the text is describing. This would be a great choice for storytime because of the repetition and the circular pattern.
Loney, Andrea J. Big Emotions (Bubble Up). Illus. Irene Chan. Charlesbridge, 01/2025. [22]p. $8.99. 978-1-62354-426-3.
Some ocean animals play together until one gets hurt, resulting in different emotions. This simple tale will help toddlers learn to name and deal with their emotions by doing some deep breathing and talking things out. An age-appropriate way for young children to manage their feelings effectively.
Salzano, Tammi. It’s Summerween!. Illus. by Gaby Zermeno. Tiger Tales, 05/2025. [20]p. $8.99. 978-1-6643-5174-5.
In this rhyming counting book, Halloween and summer combine for a celebration. For example, “Four hungry mummies who want a cold treat, chase the ice cream truck that drives down the street.” Brightly colored illustrations add to the fun.
Strasser, Suzanne. So Tired, So Wide Awake. Illus. by Suzanne Strasser. Gecko, 04/2025. [22]p. $12.99. 979-87-6566-353-0.
Using repetition and onomatopoeia, this delightful bedtime story shows several animals getting ready for bed one by one. Crocodile needs to brush their teeth, pelican is thirsty, and so on, until they need a goodnight kiss from the human child. A great choice for storyime.
Sussman, Joni Kibort. Laila Tov, Grover! Illus. by Tom Leign. Kar-Ben, 08/2025. [10]p. $9.99. 978-1-7284-9286-5.
Muppet Grover gets ready for bed in this Shalom Sesame book. The text uses the repeated title phrase “Laila Tov, Grover,” which allows the toddler to call out that phrase. A simple but useful book.
New Board Book Series Entries
Albert, Rosalyn. Let’s Go! On a Bicycle. Illus. by Natalia Moore. Catch a Star, 02/2025. [16]p. $8.99. 978-1-916790-34-6.
In this rhyming story, a Black girl and boy with blond hair head out for a fun bike ride from the city to the country. Part of the “Let’s Go!” series with a dozen titles focusing on modes of transportation, this is relatable. The full color gouache-style artwork makes this more distinctive than the overly cartoony board books that flood the market.
Crisp, Lauren. Noisy School Bus: I Can Learn My First Sounds. Illus. by Laura Silveira. Tiger Tales, 04/2025. [12]p. $14.99. 978-1-6643-5144-2.
More of a toy than a book, this has a brief rhyming text describing a school bus ride. A plastic silicone bus is embedded into the book, which has die-cut pages, and the bus makes different electronic sounds when the reader pushes a different area on the bus. Each spread includes several small, captioned pictures which makes it overly busy. This is more for home use than for a library.
Finan, Sarah. Egg, Egg, Egg. Illus. by Sarah Finan. Post Wave, 03/2025. [18]p. $8.99. 979-8-89509-005-3.
First in a series, this board book with die-cut pages describes how to cook eggs. For example, the simple rhyming text encourages the reader to count to three for a three-minute egg. The second book in the series, Banana, Banana, Banana! includes similar brightly colored folk art.
Ho, Jannie. Spring ABC. Illus. by Jannie Ho. Candlewick, 01/2025. [26]p. $7.99. 978-1-5362-3768-9.
This series is ideal for babies and young toddlers because of its simplicity. Each entry features brightly colored, digitally created artwork, with each page containing a large illustration of the featured item and the capital and lower case letter. For example, “Bb bird” captions a large picture of a blue bird. Other items in the ABC Spring entry includes a frog, a duck quacking (for the letter Q), and “extra eggs” for X. A must-have.
Penny Peck, San Jose State University iSchool
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