8 of the Best New Children’s Books Out December 2024

This is such a sweet picture book centering a Southeast Asian Hindu family’s bedtime lullaby for their newborn. It features gods and goddesses from the Hindu pantheon protecting the infant, from mighty Durga to wise Saraswati and beloved Ganesha. The lilting, rhyming text is calming and lovely, and the warm illustrations depicting the pantheon, infant, and caring family are gorgeous.

This nonfiction picture book for older readers (6+) is such a unique and fun glimpse into work and jobs with interviews with real people. Feinberg doesn’t choose the typical careers seen in other children’s books about work. Instead, she chooses people in very specific fields, like an architect & accessibility specialist, vegan butchers, a wildlife filmmaker, a tour guide, and more, 28 in all. Each page spread dives into a person describing their jobs with a mix of quotes and summaries. The section ends with a question for the reader. Each section contains multiple painted portraits of the people at work. Back matter describes how the book was made and invites the reader to interview someone, transcribe their answers into a story, and paint their photograph. It’s such a cool and interesting book.

This is another picture book for older readers and is one of my favorite books of the year. It has quite a lot of text and is quite long for a picture book at 68 pages, so I would also recommend it for ages 6+, depending on the child. Maggie O’Farrell bases the magical story on her own experiences with a stammer. Min is the youngest of two sisters and has always loved to talk. Then one day, quite suddenly, she can’t seem to speak anymore. Words stutter in her mouth, and she can’t get past the first syllable. She decides not to speak any more at all. Then she spies a gray shadowy creature at her shoulder in the mirror eating her words. This fairytale feels very much like how I imagined some of my own health issues as a child (and still as an adult, to be honest). It’s a beautiful story that had me tearing up. O’Farrell and Terrazzini have a similar fairytale coming out later in 2025, The Boy Who Lost His Spark, which I also enjoyed quite a bit.

Jia really wants to help her family prepare for their Chinese New Year celebrations, but every time she tries to help, she’s told she’s too young. When she tries to pet the dancing lion at the Chinese New Year feast, the dancers scoop her inside and let her try to catch the cabbage through the lion’s open mouth. Finally she has something to do! Back matter includes an author’s note about the Chinese New Year and lion dancing. The illustrations are colorful and vibrant.

A granddaughter learns to make dumplings from her grandmother in this lovely intergenerational picture book. Just like when she practices Tai Chi, her grandmother is “Slow. Firm. Focused.” When her grandmother becomes sick and can’t make the dumplings, the granddaughter worries. How can she help? Will her grandmother be well again? This is a reassuring picture book about the bonds between family.