Year-end book recommendations from Oak Knoll reading specialist - InMenlo

by Linda Hubbard on December 22, 2024

As Oak Knoll school Reading Specialist Jacqui Cebrian says, “The stories you share together will lead to so many amazing conversations and connections — something we never have enough of.”

Explore her annual year-end favorites collection with books for every age and type of reader offered in her own words.

Picture Books

If You Run Out of Words by Felicita Sala; I’m Sorry You Got Mad by Kyle Lukoff/Julie Kwon; Are You Small? by Mo Willems; A Pinecone by Helen Yoon; Touch the Sky by Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic/Chris Park; Noodles on a Bicycle by Kyo Maclear/Gracie Zhang; Lefty by Mo Willems/Dan Santat. The challenges of learning to pump the swing, the “joys” of bringing the outside in, small and astoundingly small things, the fine art of the apology letter, handedness and bedtime avoidance. Picture books are so great for everyone!

Series Books

Each of these series had a new book out this year. Sidekicks, by Dan Santat, originally published in 2014, but so many readers kept writing and asking for a sequel that the 1st book was redone and we can expect three more to follow it. The Kids in Ms. Z’s class is a series launched by Kate Messner where each book features a different kid in the fictional class and is written by a different author. Ava Lin is a 1st grade thing finder. If you have one of those in your house, you’ll enjoy this read aloud together. Book 2 comes out in January. Scare School is a fun new series featuring a ghost in his first year of Scare School. Party Diaries features a main character who loves planning parties and the challenges she faces each time. The Squad is a highly anticipated follow up to The Tryout. Series books are great for keeping readers going.

Middle Grade Chapter Books

Reasons to Look at the Night Sky by Danielle Daniel (Novel in verse, great on audiobook); Magnolia Wu Unfolds it All by Chanel Miller (local author); Operation Happy by Jenni L. Walsh (historical fiction – the dog lives); The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon (what if secrets from the past were saved somewhere?); And Then…Boom! by Lisa Fipps (funny, but real look at living in poverty); Lily Xiao Speaks Out by Nicole Chen (local author); Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie (escape room adventure).

Engaging NonFiction

I learn so many fascinating things reading children’s non-fiction. This year’s crop did not disappoint. Spooky Lakes by Geo Rutherford shares mysterious and often deadly stories behind 25 lakes throughout the world. Super fascinating. This is my Brain: A Book on Neurodiversity by Elise Gravel, the author of last year’s treasure: Killer Underwear Invasion, brings her wit and cute drawings to another topic in a way that’s accessible and interesting; Oddball Histories: Spices and Spuds by Andy Warner explores how plants have affected humans and how humans have affected plants in really interesting ways; Kid Musicians by Robin Stevenson/Allison Steinfeld is stories of many favorite/well known musicians when they were kids; Go Forth and Tell by Breanna J. McDaniel/April Harrison is the story you probably never heard about Augusta Baker, librarian and master storyteller; The Reading Adventure compiled by We Need Diverse Books is a book of book ideas – 100 books to read before you’re 12 with a description of the book and often the author as well; And Yet You Shine by Supriya Kelkar is the story of the Kohinoor Diamond, Colonization and Resistance. Informative and lovely – as so many children’s nonfiction books are.

Enjoy some time together with books during these next winter weeks. Reading books together is a great way to find common ground and touchpoints. Audiobooks engage the same parts of the brain as reading and you can read on road trips with them. There are many ways to read, and all can lead to connection and belonging – in the pages of a book or the conversation that follows. Can’t wait to hear what books you loved.