This cute and very relatable story is about a little girl named Mary, who has difficulty being told “you can’t” and “no.” After feeling downtrodden by all the people telling her she can’t achieve her dreams, she learns a valuable lesson from her mother about ignoring the nay-sayers and achieving whatever she sets her mind to. Mary learns to say “I can” to everyone who tries to tell her she can’t.
This inspiring and inclusive picture book is all about self-love and acceptance. As the title suggests, this story is about Blaine’s love of boxes and how he uses them, along with his vivid imagination, to interact with the world around him. He encourages everyone to value their individuality and uniqueness. This book celebrates differences while highlighting the importance of friendship and self-confidence. This wonderfully illustrated book is a must for anyone's collection!
This fun picture book follows Leo and his pet turtle, Bubbles, as they discover how to empower themselves and others using humor, bravery, and imagination. As Leo and the kids he befriends stand up to bullies along the way, they learn about self-encouragement, empathy, friendship, and forgiveness. This book also teaches children that bullying isn’t the way to get their desired attention and that it’s much more fun to play together than alone.
In this story, Buddy and his Great Uncle Frank teach readers how valuable kindness is. We follow Buddy's visit to his Uncle Frank’s farm and see all the kind acts they perform to fill other people’s buckets. Buckets hold people’s happiness, so whenever you do something nice or say a kind word, you fill the buckets up, both for other people’s and your own! We watch Buddy and Frank share their homemade barbecue sauce, help an elderly neighbor with her grocery bags, and lift someone’s spirits. This book is a great learning tool to explain kindness, empathy, and generosity to children.
This children’s book follows a crew of pirates as they come together to form a cohesive ship, something that wouldn’t be possible without everyone's input. This book is about teamwork, responsibility, and how our choices impact others. Using the cohesive nature of pirates, this book aims to teach kids the importance of building good habits and listening to others.
In this story, a little boy named Everett has to advocate for himself when a bat flies into his house, and no one else sees it. Thanks to the lessons his father taught him about being courageous and honest, his family takes what he has to say seriously and catches the bat. This cute book teaches children to find their voices and that anyone can be a leader and a hero.
This fun and wonderfully illustrated picture book follows the conflict that arises as a young boy playing a prince and a young girl playing a pirate discover they are sharing the same fort. The children work to resolve their issue by coming up with a game they both like and can play together: being astronauts. This cute, funny book is about imagination, sharing, compromise, and friendship.

Ella Shauman recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature. In her free time, she loves to travel, try new restaurants, and spend time with family and friends.