Children’s Books About School Pictures, Plus 2 Great New Releases
Since my daughter’s school pictures were last week, I decided to round up some new children’s books about school pictures. Be sure to check out my list from last year, too!
New Releases
I Hear You, Mountains by Kallie George, illustrated by Carmen Mok
Kallie George returns to her Sounds of Nature series with this lovely celebration of mountains and hiking. Three children and an adult are hiking on a mountain in the fall. They hear so many mountain sounds, from crunching leaves as animals scurry to and fro to the whisper of snowflakes drifting from the sky. It’s a lyrical series with rich sensory illustrations. The other two picture books in the series are I Hear You, Forest and I Hear You, Ocean.
Taxi Ghost by Sophie Escabasse
This is a sweet and magical new middle grade graphic novel that would be a great winter read (I know, I know, we’re not there yet!). Adèle lives in Montreal with her sister and grandmother. It’s winter break, and all her friends are going on vacations to warmer areas while she’s stuck at home. She plans to spend the entire time in the library, but when she gets her first period, she inherits the ability to see ghosts. Unfortunately, her grandmother isn’t much help in learning about her new ability because she’s decided to ignore the ghosts, while her sister didn’t inherit the ability.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
School pictures! Last year, my daughter could wear whatever she wanted, but this year, she had to wear standard school attire (which is similar to a uniform) and was very disappointed. She wanted to dress up like a cat, ha! Here are four recent children’s books about school pictures.
Itty Bitty Betty Blob by Constance Lombardo, illustrated by Micah Player
This is a funny picture book about picture day at monster school. Betty knows she should want to be ferocious and menacing for her school picture, but she’d much rather be sweet and good. When she tries to fit in, she just doesn’t feel like herself. When she comes upon a field of beautiful, vibrant flowers, she finds her perfect picture-day outfit. And maybe her friends and family love her just the way she is, flowers and sweetness and all.
Rostam’s Picture-Day Pusteen by Ryan Bani Tahmaseb, illustrated by Fateme Mokhles
In this picture book, Rostam also struggles with his picture-day outfit. He and Maman have just moved to the U.S. from Iran, where his baba remains to work. Maman and Baba want him to wear his pusteen, which Baba wore when he was little. But Rostam is worried about what other kids might think. Will he be made fun of? When he wears the pusteen to school, instead of making fun of him, his classmates think it’s cool.
Picture Day at Dino Play by Sean Julian
This is a great picture book for toddlers or preschoolers. It’s about picture day at daycare, which they didn’t do at my daughter’s daycare, but I’ve heard of other places having them! Freda the triceratops is wearing her favorite hat to her daycare’s picture day. When the hat goes missing during a fun day full of play, she despairs, and the entire class helps her look. This is a follow-up to Norman’s First Day at Dino Day Care.
Popcorn by Rob Harrell
Seventh grader Andrew’s anxiety feels like popcorn in his belly, and the more he heats up with anxiety, the more they pop. He’s been to therapy before, but his mother couldn’t afford it, so he does his best to practice what he learned while there. And he’s going to need those management skills on picture day because it feels like everything that can go wrong is going wrong: encounters with bullies, spills on his brand new shirt, and, worst yet, his grandmother with Alzheimer’s goes missing. His anxiety and OCD quickly spiral into a full-blown panic attack. This is based on the author’s experiences with anxiety and OCD.
Bookish Good
Personalized Picture Frame Bookends by curatedaccents
Put your children’s school pictures in these cute bookends! $50
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Here I am for my second-grade school pictures, incredibly stylish. I still remember my older sister Leasa helping me with my bangs!
If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, X @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.
