Here are 100 books that These Olive Trees fans have personally recommended if you like
These Olive Trees.
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Growing up, my family was a meat and potatoes family. The food was good but it was never really about the food. It was about eating together. When I got older, I ventured beyond the world of meat and potatoes, made more friends to eat with, and learned more and more to enjoy the little things in life. My two books are about food but also not really. They're community books. Family books. Adventure books. Same thing with the 5 books on my list. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Ah! This book is so rich and wonderful! The illustrations are unique, textured, impactful, and balanced. The story is warm and fun, and I appreciate how it turns it around with the people sharing with Omu at the end.
The illustrations tell me, "Hey, this is a really good book!" and they do not lie. It deserves the awards it won. I just love how the story and illustrations are so simple yet so full. It's a classic.
A generous woman is rewarded by her community in this remarkable author-illustrator debut that's perfect for the Thanksgiving season, perfect for fans of Last Stop on Market Street.
Everyone in the neighborhood dreams of a taste of Omu's delicious stew! One by one, they follow their noses toward the scrumptious scent. And one by one, Omu offers a portion of her meal. Soon the pot is empty. Has she been so generous that she has nothing left for herself?
Debut author-illustrator Oge Mora brings a heartwarming story of sharing and community to life in colorful cut-paper designs as luscious as…
A satisfying story of rediscovering friendship after time spent apart.
For many years, Hazel and Mabel were inseparable. The two friends made up stories, spent the night together, and shared their snacks. Then, Mabel moved away. As time passes, Hazel and Mabel think of each other often, but they also…
Growing up, my family was a meat and potatoes family. The food was good but it was never really about the food. It was about eating together. When I got older, I ventured beyond the world of meat and potatoes, made more friends to eat with, and learned more and more to enjoy the little things in life. My two books are about food but also not really. They're community books. Family books. Adventure books. Same thing with the 5 books on my list. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
This book has a beautiful message and beautiful illustrations. The words and colors are as warm as the meals the girl has with friends. The book tackles the tough subject of a girl feeling self-conscious about her family's food and culture, yet it's handled so smartly.
The whole book is just warm and beautiful. I find it inspirational to me as both an author and illustrator.
Stay for Dinner is a powerful story that celebrates culture and connection through food, from the creators of The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name, winner of the 2022 Children's Book Council of Australia's Award for New Illustrator.
Reshma loves dinnertime with her family. Her family eat with their hands - not just finger food type-eating, but hands-on squishy eating. When she's invited to stay for dinner at her friends' places, she finds out that they all eat in different ways. Some go ting ting with their cutlery, and others go click clack with their chopsticks. So what will…
Growing up, my family was a meat and potatoes family. The food was good but it was never really about the food. It was about eating together. When I got older, I ventured beyond the world of meat and potatoes, made more friends to eat with, and learned more and more to enjoy the little things in life. My two books are about food but also not really. They're community books. Family books. Adventure books. Same thing with the 5 books on my list. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
My Love For You Is Always feels like a hug. I love how it explains a parent's love toward their child using food. It's smart, simple, and satisfying.
I can imagine reading it to my daughter for bedtime. Sometimes I just want to express to my daughter Lucie how much I love her, and I feel like this book would be a fun way of doing that. Using the food theme was a good choice by the author. I think it's a great little book.
Warm like tea? Sweeter than red dates? A mother shares her love for her child as the two prepare a delicious meal together--perfect for fans of Guess How Much I Love You, Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You, and Mama, Do You Love Me?
What is love? a child wonders. What does it feel like, smell like, taste like? How does it move? How long does it last?
And as she prepares a traditional Chinese meal for her family, the child's mother replies: her love for him is rosy as wolfberries, warm like tea, sweeter than the red…
Floretta- the story of an old woman who discovers life beautifully anew thru the helping hands of a child. The chakra colors of dawn and twilight are woven through the pages as the cycle of life is magically composed. The subject of “heaven,” has the potential to open discussions with…
Growing up, my family was a meat and potatoes family. The food was good but it was never really about the food. It was about eating together. When I got older, I ventured beyond the world of meat and potatoes, made more friends to eat with, and learned more and more to enjoy the little things in life. My two books are about food but also not really. They're community books. Family books. Adventure books. Same thing with the 5 books on my list. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Hungry Roscoe is hilarious. I love it. I always feel that humor is so important in picture books, and funny books were always my favorite as a young chap.
It has such a fun story, and I can imagine that it was a blast to illustrate. The pictures really push the humor. I had so much fun reading it, and I kept thinking, "Boy, this is great. I hope they stick the landing." And they really did! I love the ending. It's a really good book.
Roscoe is a hungry raccoon fed up with eating rotten junk out of the bins. What he wouldn't give for a lovely bit of fish or some fresh, juicy fruit -and where better to find food than at the zoo! An excellent idea, except for the grumpy zookeeper who's intent on keeping Roscoe OUT. But Roscoe's come up with a plan to disguise himself as a zoo animal. . . . What could go wrong?
As an autistic person, I know just how critical authentic autism representation is. It was a book that first opened up the possibility for me that I might be autistic—and looking back, I realize that that book may have some problematic portrayals of what it means to be autistic. But I was so hungry for representation that I took what I could get. Because of this, when I see myself in books with autistic protagonists, I can’t help but cheer! I know there are quite a few great books with autistic representation, and there are so many more I’d love to include here, but here are five of my favorites. I hope you enjoy!
This book uses the fantastic metaphor of an “upside-down” bat in a world of mammals.
At school, everything she does is perceived as “wrong” because it is different from the world of her classmates and instructor. But Bitsy learns to find joy in her differences and takes initiative to celebrate the strengths of not just herself but her classmates.
This picture book is a great way to introduce readers, young and old, to being neurodivergent in a neurotypical world, as well as how to welcome neurodivergent folks and create a neurodivergent-inclusive space.
A little bat struggles to fit in only to learn to celebrate differences in this heartfelt picture book from an autistic perspective about starting school, making friends, and seeing what makes each person special.
Bitsy is a little bat with big star dreams of making friends at her new school. But when she arrives, Bitsy doesn't feel like she fits in. The other kids sit on their chairs, but sitting upright makes Bitsy dizzy. The other kids paint with their fingers, but Bitsy would rather use her toes. Everyone tells Bitsy she's doing things wrong-wrong-wrong, so she tries harder...and ends…
I’m an award-winning children’s book author and photo-illustrator of over sixty picture books. I got my first camera when I was five years old and have been taking pictures ever since. I realized in college that photography was my passion, and I studied photojournalism at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Soon after I received graduate degrees in early childhood education and museum education at Bank Street College of Education. After teaching kindergarten, first, and second grade, I combined my passions to create books. My books have always been about inclusivity and diversity. I hope all children can find themselves in my books to help them navigate the world they live in.
I loved this book because it is a board book for a larger age group of kids and shows a range of kids and their skin color, showing kids doing what kids do—playing, learning, and living their lives.
I also love that this is a board book and appeals to younger children who are observing and trying to process the world they live in. Also, it is an early introduction to racism. This book represents all colors, and it is about inclusivity and the joy of being who you are.
1
author picked
Our Skin
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
2,
3,
4, and
5.
What is this book about?
Developed by experts in the fields of early childhood and activism against injustice, this topic-driven board book offers clear, concrete language and beautiful imagery that young children can grasp and adults can leverage for further discussion.
While young children are avid observers and questioners of their world, adults often shut down or postpone conversations on complicated topics because it's hard to know where to begin. Research shows that talking about issues like race and gender from the age of two not only helps children understand what they see, but also increases self-awareness, self-esteem, and allows them to recognize and confront…
An engaging picture book for children that celebrates what it means to be American!
What does it mean to be American? Does it mean you like apple pie or fireworks? Not exactly. This patriotic picture book is perfect for Memorial Day, Independence Day, Election Day, or any day you want…
We are two dads, both with three kids, who are on a journey of trying our best to raise our kids in the way of Jesus. Of particular interest to us both is exploring how Jesus overcomes evil. Does He beat up the bad guys like superheroes do? Does He drop bombs on them, like nations do? With all the struggles kids experience at school—and everything they hear about evil occurring around the world—we think it’s important for kids to learn how Jesus teaches us to love our enemies, even from the earliest ages.
As we dive into the difficult work of enemy love and peacemaking, we quickly discover that loving someone often begins with forgiving them. And further, once you forgive someone, this opens the door to authentic friendship.
I have some comical memories of saying “bless you” to a particular bully in school as though this were a magic trick that would completely change the situation. While it may have been a good start, I now realize that forgiveness is more about an ongoing posture of the heart than it is about using “magic words” to fix everything.
This book doesn’t just show us how Jesus forgives us (through the story of Peter’s restoration), it also gives kids a roadmap to understand the deeper realities of forgiveness.
Bible storybook that points young children to Jesus, the friend who forgives.
Do you ever talk before you think? Mess up? Let others down?
That’s what Peter did, again and again and again, and it led him to abandoning his best friend, Jesus.
Peter loved Jesus. He felt terrible when he pretended not to know him. He thought all was lost when Jesus died.
But after Jesus rose from the dead, he went and found Peter and forgave him. He explained that his death took the punishment for all of Peter’s mistakes and that his resurrection showed that the penalty…
I am a former primary teacher, now a gardener and more recently an author of children’s books–maths features heavily in my writing! My love of maths began when I started teaching it and really took off when I explored maths alongside the concept of Growth Mindsets. Through much study I found that the majority of children can access a good level of maths by adopting a Growth Mindset. Maths is a fascinating subject area, full of beauty and patterns, complexity and wonder; hopefully, over the years, I have inspired at least a few children to feel the same.
I love this book because it involves delicious rhymes, bewildered teachers and backward counting. It’s ideal for children who are learning to count up to and backward from ten. An example of the rhyming pattern:
‘Six delicious teachers, stalking through the grass,
Singing songs and waving sticks and marching extra fast.’
The illustrations of the monsters and teachers are as comedic as the story; it’s a great romp of an adventure with a satisfying twist to finish.
An irreverent and zany counting book that is gently thrilling and written in a deliciously infectious rhyme with witty and whimsical illustrations.
Ten silly teachers have missed the last bus home. But LOOK - a shortcut through the forest! They'll be back in time for tea! Off they skip, unaware that in the woods a hungry horde of mischievous and hilariously goofy monsters is waiting... An irreverent and zany counting book that is gently thrilling with witty and whimsical illustrations.
I am a picture book author/illustrator who writes humorous stories. One of my favorite techniques for instilling humor in my writing is for the illustrations to show the reader more than the characters’ know. It’s so much fun for kids to realize and be in on the joke before the characters in the book. I love a storytime where the kids get engaged and start pointing out what’s really happening and start talking to the characters to try to change their actions. I also love a good twist ending that makes the reader say, “How did I not see that coming?!” and these are the perfect kind of books for it.
The premise of this book is just hilarious. On their first day of school, a class thinks their teacher is a sandwich sitting on the desk at the front of the class. What?! Hilarious!
Because we see the scene through the classroom window, the reader knows that the teacher’s car was smashed by a fallen tree, and he’s stuck in the parking lot dealing with it. But the twist at the end has the reader questioning how much they actually knew all along!
2
authors picked
Mr. S
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
4,
5,
6, and
7.
What is this book about?
Prepare for plenty of giggles as a kindergarten class arrives for their first day of school, but can't find their teacher-only a delicious-looking sandwich and the words "Mr. S" scribbled on the chalkboard. Chaos ensues as the kids argue whether or not the sandwich must be their teacher. A comical, first day of school book of mayhem and chaos by Monica Arnaldo, perfect fans of Miss Nelson Is Missing.
"This might be the funniest first-day-of-school book I've ever read." -Adam Rex, New York Times bestselling author of School's First Day of School
In a time of alternative facts and the loss of a shared sense of reality, A Foot is Not a Fish playfully illustrates the difference between what is true and what is not through absurd fun comparisons that every child—and parent—will instantly understand.
I’ve been fascinated with the natural world for as long as I can remember, spending many happy hours in my childhood exploring forests, splashing in creeks, and hiking in parks with my family. Devouring books from the local library and participating in workshops at our local science center fed my interest and built a strong foundation in science. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more and more fascinated by the tension between science’s goal to neatly classify and nature’s riotous complexity. It’s the exceptions, the grey, that keep me interested and draw in my students. I am an experienced science teacher and award-winning author of books for teachers and kids.
Stereotypes aren’t just for people. As a science teacher, I want my students to look beyond their initial perceptions of animals and plants, and this book helps young readers do just that.
Kate Gardner and illustrator Heidi Smith cleverly and effectively use the book’s layout (a single stereotypical word and a black-and-white illustration of an animal followed by a colorful illustration paired with facts that surprise and challenge) to encourage readers to think again.
A stunning debut picture book that encourages kids to look beyond first impressions by sharing unexpected details about seemingly scary wild animals like gorillas, rhinoceroses, and more.
Spiders are creepy. Porcupines are scary. Bats are ugly. Or are they...?
This captivating book invites you to learn more about awe-inspiring animals in the wild. After all, it's best not to judge a beast until you understand its full, lovely life.
Includes backmatter with additional reading suggestions.
