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Seattle Staff Faves 2025: Kids Picture Books

Every year we ask our staff across the library system for their favorite books published in a given year. Enjoy this list of some of our favorite 2025 picture books for kids - with annotations by staff or adapted from review sources as noted. (Created November 2025)

User from The Seattle Public Library

43 items

  • Life’s busy enough for young Cecilia... [she] has two full-time jobs: being a kid and interpreting for her Spanish-speaking parents. [Kirkus] Also available in Spanish: La Intérprete  
    Book, 2025New York, NY : Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2025. — E ABTAHI
  • Menudo Sunday

    a Spanglish Counting Book

    Águila, María Dolores
    Pull up a chair, grab a bowl of menudo, and join in this beloved family tradition. [Kirkus]
    Book, 2025New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, 2025. — E AGUILA
  • Every morning, Sato the Rabbit opens his eyes to the soft light of day, ready to embrace all that the universe has in store for him.  [NoveList Plus]
    Book, 2025New York : Enchanted Lion Books, 2025. — E AINOYA
  • Faith rides the New York City subway with Mama, finding ways to connect with others along the way. A lovely experience of wonder and empathy. [Kirkus]
    Book, 2025New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2025] — E AUGUSTINE
  • Mabel's favorite day is Monday, when she wakes up early, peeks out her window, drags her chair down the hallway and out the door and waits, in a story that celebrates community helpers and captures the joy of being a kid. [NoveList Plus]
    Book, 2025New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2025] — E AWAN
  • [Lena] knows deep down she's really a dinosaur. Her fellow chickens are confused...but when a weasel tries to break into the coup, Lena's bravery makes a big impression. [NoveList Plus]
    Book, 2025Toronto : Tundra, [2025] — E BAILEY
  • Fun-loving, hard-hatted felines romp through difficulties to collaborative triumph. A message of determination and cooperation, conveyed with a kid-friendly combo of colors, trucks, and cute kittens. [Kirkus]
    Book, 2025New York : Random House, 2025. — E BARDHAN
  • Stand aside, little mermaids. The true, pointy-toothed protector of the seas is here! [Kirkus]
    Book, 2025New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2025 — E BEATON
  • Stalactite & Stalagmite

    a Big Tale From a Little Cave

    Beckmeyer, Drew
    When drips of water enter a cave, they pick up minerals, creating two “nubs” that become a stalactite and a stalagmite. Spanning millions of years, their tale unfolds as a jaunty conversation between the two anthropomorphic characters, who witness…
    Book, 2025New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, [2025] — E BECKMEYER
  • A young African American girl joins her grandma's weekly ritual of catching and frying fish for a big family dinner. [NoveList Plus]
    Book, 2025New York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2025. — E BINGHAM
  • Two children cut loose on the Fourth of July. A radiant celebration of all things summer. [Kirkus]
    Book, 2025New York, NY : Clarion Books, [2025] — FOURTH OF E BURGESS
  • A friendly pup greets many different families on his walk. Readers—especially dog lovers—will delight in this everyday slice of life. [Kirkus]
    Book, 2025Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2025. — E CACERES
  • A Halloween twist on a favorite rhyme includes Old MacPumpkin, a farm, a cat, a bat, a spider, a skeleton, a witch, a ghost and a monster. [NoveList Plus]
    Book, 2025Lincoln, MA : Nosy Crow, 2025. — HALLOWEEN E CHARMAN
  • ALL THREE LOCAL AUTHORS! A talented trio of author/illustrator creators and friends explore the three phases of a black swallowtail’s life. [Kirkus]
    Book, 2025New York : Viking, 2025. — E CLANTON
  • A young boy learns the Cherokee lesson of gadugi from his grandmother and how working together and helping each other makes the whole community stronger. [NoveList Plus]
    Book, 2025New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2025] — E COULSON
  • LOCAL AUTHOR! Can three raccoons in a trench coat be better at childcare than the boring and strict human babysitters Freddie has so far endured? [Kirkus]
    Book, 2025New York : Fiewel and Friends, 2025 — E CRAIN
  • A young Cuban refugee unexpectedly reconnects with her home country in this 1960s-set tale. [Kirkus] "This picture book made me cry (in a good way)." [Amanda]
    Book, 2025Atlanta : Margaret Quinlin Books/Peachtree, [2025] — E DEEDY
  • Just as Emberley's Big Green Monster helped young children deal with fears, here the Big Red Monster helps young children manage their anger.
    Book, 2025New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2025. — E EMBERLE
  • A headstrong young girl finds herself in a haunted house standoff. A witty year-round ghost tale that delivers a wonderfully unconventional conclusion. [Kirkus]
    Book, 2025New York : a Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025. — E FORSYTHE
  • In alliterative language as lyrical and atmospheric as the moonlit accompanying scenes of northern forest, water, and sky, Goade evokes both the wonders of the natural world and her own Tlingit and Haida cultural background. [School Library Journal]
    Book, 2025New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2025. — E GOADE