Children's Book Suggestions | Poverty Awareness Month

Not only is January Poverty Awareness Month, it's also includes HUD's annual Point-in-Time Homeless Count, which estimates how many individuals are living without stable & secure housing. Looking for more books on income inequality? Browse the catalog to find more books on poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity.

Updated January 17, 2026
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Oregon City Public Library
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Sometimes, a Tiger
Asterplume, Z. B.
Paper Book
A moving picture book by Z.B. Asterplume about imagination and kindness. Dario's day starts like many others: There's not much to eat. But today, the pantry has a surprise as a tiger emerges and accompanies Dario through his day. A tiger? Dario's friends can...

A gentle story exploring kindness and food insecurity. (Picture Books Age 4-8)

Dear librarian
Sigwarth, Lydia M.
Paper Book

Libraries were Lydia's refuge when her family didn't have a home of their own. Now a librarian herself, she writes a thank you letter to the librarian who welcomed her. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

The blue house
Wahl, Phoebe
Paper Book
In the tradition of Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House comes a heartfelt story about a father and son learning to accept the new while honoring and celebrating the old. For as long as he can remember, Leo has lived in the blue house with his dad, but lately the...

A boy and his dad grieve when their landlord decides to tear down their old house and come together to make their new house feel like home. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

PAWS. 3, Priya puts herself first
Fairbairn, Nathan
Paper Book
The best dog-walkers in town are back in the third book of this heartwarming graphic novel series that is the Baby-Sitters Club for pets! Perfect for fans of Real Friends and Allergic! The holidays have arrived for the PAWS team! And the girls are about to discover...

This graphic novel series is a must-read for fans of The Baby-Sitters Club! In this third installment, Priya's family is evicted and must move across town, straining her friendships with the other girls in her dog walking business. (Children's Graphic Novels Grades 3-5)

Something like home
Arango, Andrea Beatriz
Paper Book
A heartfelt and moving novel in verse for readers 9+. who wants a temporary place to act like a forever one? Especially when the social services people keep telling you over and over and over that place is "safer" than...

Sent to live with her aunt after a well-meaning 911 call sends them to rehab, Laura copes with her feelings by training a stray puppy to be a therapy dog in this moving novel in verse. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Sunny Parker is here to stay
Finnegan, Margaret
Paper Book
A determined girl spends the summer before middle school learning to stand up for her low-income community in this funny, fast-paced read just right for fans of Kelly Yang's Front Desk. Sunny Parker loves the Del Mar Garden Apartments, the affordable housing complex where...

A middle school girl champions her low-income apartment community in a story that will be especially relevant to apartment-dwelling tweens in a community where most of their peers live in single family homes. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Operation final notice
Landis, Matthew
Paper Book
Told in alternating points of view, this middle grade novel, following best friends Ronny and Jo, is about anxiety, being in over your head, and learning to accept help-even if you don't know how to ask Eight hundred seventy-eight dollars. That's how much Ronny needs by January...

A gig performing at a nursing home helps tween musicians Jo, who struggles with stage fright, and Ronny, who needs money to prevent his family's eviction following a parent's injury. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)


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