100 books to experience with kids! These books include themes of new perspectives, own voices, science, music, laughter, language, science, travel, reading, adoption, strong female characters, LGBTQ+ and more.
Generally these are great for 3-6 year olds. Books are listed alphabetically by title.
Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon and Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Most of these books are also available at your local library!
100 Children’s Books to Read in 2021:
- 111 Trees: How One Village Celebrates the Birth of Every Girl by Rina Singh, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer (also available on Amazon)
- Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport (Amazon)
- A Girl Like You by Frank Murphy and Carla Murphy, illustrated by Kayla Harren (Amazon)
- Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Janet Stevens (Amazon)
- Animals in the Sky by Sara Gillingham (Amazon)
- A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems edited by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Chris Raschka (Amazon)
- Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua (Amazon)
- Another by Christian Robinson (Amazon)
- Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock by Dallas Hunt, illustrated by Amanda Strong (Amazon)
- Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg (Amazon)
- Before We Eat: From Farm to Table by Pat Brisson, illustrated by Mary Azarian (Amazon)
- The Big Stink by Lucy Freegard (Amazon)
- Bob the Artist by Marion Deuchars (Amazon)
- Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James (Amazon)
- A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui (Amazon)
- Does It Fart?: A Kid’s Guide to the Gas Animals Pass by Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti, illustrated by Alex G. Griffiths (Amazon)
- Drawn Together by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat (Amazon)
- Drum City by Thea Guidone, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Amazon)
- Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic (Amazon)
- Elbow Grease by John Cena and Howard McWilliam (Amazon)
- Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett (Amazon)
- Fiona’s Feelings by John Hutton, photography by Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Amazon)
- Firebird by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers (Amazon)
- Fishing with Grandma by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, illustrated by Charlene Chua (Amazon)
- The Girl Who Heard Colors by Marie Harris, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Amazon)
- Georgia’s Terrific, Colorific Experiment by Zoe Persico (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Goodbye Book by Todd Parr (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Groovy Joe: Ice Cream & Dinosaurs by Eric Litwin, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang, illustrated by Max Lang (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Hike by Pete Oswald (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Home by Carson Ellis (Amazon and Bookshop)
- How Do You Dance? by Thyra Heder (Amazon and Bookshop)
- I Dream of Popo by Livia Blackburne, illustrated by Julia Kuo (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Imaginaries: Little Scraps of Larger Stories by Emily Winfield Martin (Amazon and Bookshop)
- I Love My Tutu Too! by Ross Burach (Amazon and Bookshop)
- In a Jar by Deborah Marcero (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Julián at the Wedding by Jessica Love (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Julia’s House Moves On by Ben Hatke (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea by Meena Harris, illustrated by Ana Ramírez González (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Kate, Who Tamed the Wind by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Lee White (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Little Red Stroller by Joshua Furst, illustrated by Katy Wu (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Maddi’s Fridge by Lois Brandt, illustrated by Vin Vogel (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Magical Tale of Ben and Holly by Mark Baker and Neville Astley, illustrated by Eone (Amazon and Bookshop)
- A Manual for Marco: Living, Learning, and Laughing With an Autistic Sibling by Shaila Abdullah, illustrated by Iman Tejpar (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Mooncakes by Loretta Seto, illustrated by Renné Benoit (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Mousetronaut: Based on a (Partially) True Story by Mark Kelly, illustrated by C. F. Payne (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Mr. Scruff by Simon James (Amazon and Bookshop)
- My Family Celebrates Kwanzaa by Lisa Bullard, illustrated by Constanza Basaluzzo (Amazon and Bookshop)
- My Friend Suhana by Shaila Abdullah and Aanyah Abdullah (Amazon and Bookshop)
- My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis, illustrated by Suzanne DeSimone (Amazon and Bookshop)
- My Two Border Towns by David Bowles, illustrated by Erika Meza (Amazon and Bookshop)
- A Night Out with Mama by Quvenzhane Wallis (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Night Wishes edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Jen Corace (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Old Truck by Jerome Pumphrey, illustrated by Jarrett Pumphrey (Amazon and Bookshop)
- One Little Bag: An Amazing Journey by Henry Cole (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Operation Rescue Dog by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Luisa Uribe (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Petra by Marianna Coppo (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Pablo’s Tree by Pat Mora, illustrated by Cecily Lang (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Paper Kingdom by Helena Ku Rhee, illustrated by Pascal Campion (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Picture Book By Dog by Michael Relth (Amazon and Bookshop)
- A Plan for Pops by Heather Smith, illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola (Amazon and Bookshop)
- A Princess of Great Daring! by Tobi Hill-Meyer, illustrated by Elenore Toczynski (Amazon and Flamingo Rampant Micropress)
- Rani in Search of a Rainbow: A Natural Disaster Survival Tale by Shaila Abdullah (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania of Jordan Al Abdullah and Kelly Dipucchio, illustrated by Tricia Tusa (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Santa’s Husband by Daniel Kibblesmith, illustrated by A P Quach (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Saying Goodbye to Lulu by Corinne Demas, illustrated by Ard Hoyt (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Sheila Rae, the Brave by Kevin Henkes (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Skin Again by bell hooks, illustrated by Chris Raschka (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Sometimes People March by Tessa Allen (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev, illustrated by Taeeun Yoo (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Sumo Joe by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Nat Iwata (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Sun is Kind Of a Big Deal by Nick Seluk (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk, illustrated by Alexandria Neonakis (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Sylvia’s Bookshop by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Katy Wu (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Talking Is Not My Thing by Rose Robbins (Amazon and Bookshop)
- This Is It by Daria Peoples-Riley (Amazon and Bookshop)
- This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt, illustrated by R. G. Roth (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Whose Knees Are These? by Jabari Asim, illustrated by Leuyen Pham (Amazon and Bookshop)
- We’re All Wonders by R. J. Palacio (Amazon and Bookshop)
- We’re Going to Be Friends by Jack White, illustrated by Elinor Blake (Amazon and Bookshop)
- What Is Inside This Box? by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Olivier Tallec (Amazon and Bookshop)
- What Will These Hands Make? by Nikki McClure (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds (Amazon and Bookshop)
- You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Danielle Daniel (Amazon and Bookshop, also available in Cree with translation by Mary Cardinal Collins)
- You Matter by Christian Robinson (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Young Charlotte, Filmmaker by Frank Viva and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrated by Luisa Uribe (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin (Amazon and Bookshop)
Ready for more? Take a look at Caldecott and more! The Best Preschool Picks from the 2021 Awards!