Best Children’s Books of 2025

Updated December 10, 2025
J
Johnson County Public Library
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The bad idea and other stories
Pizzoli, Greg
Paper Book
This giggle-inducing early reader kicks off a brand-new series featuring two unlikely friends, for fans of Frog and Toad, from beloved Geisel Award-winning author of The Watermelon Seed. Earl and Worm have been friends for a very, very long time, but their...

"Worm sat down and drank her tea. It was not sweet. It was bitter. So was Worm.  This story of friendly Earl and not-so-friendly Worm is heartwarming and hilarious."

Lori (Circulation Manager, Trafalgar Branch)

Don't trust fish
Sharpson, Neil
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * An absurdly laugh-out-loud funny picture book about the villainy of fish, illustrated by National Book Award-winning creator Dan Santat "A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on." --Kirkus, starred review ONE OF...

"Honestly? The title says it all: Don’t trust fish."

Brittany (Children’s Services, Trafalgar Branch)

Frank's red hat
Avery, Sean E.
Paper Book
Frank is a penguin with ideas. Mostly terrible ones. That's why his fellow penguins are nervous when he shows them his strange new creation. It was something they'd never seen or expected to see in their cold and colorless Antarctic world--a red hat.

"Frank is a penguin full of ideas, but his newest creation - a red knit hat - doesn't go over well with his fellow penguins.  A sweet, funny story about finding acceptance. " 

Lori (Circulation Manager, Trafalgar Branch)

Please pay attention
Sumner, Jamie
Paper Book
Three starred reviews! A girl with cerebral palsy navigates loss, grief, and the aftermath of trauma following a school shooting in a world that wasn't built for her in this "intimate, lyrical" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) novel in verse from Jamie Sumner, the...

"A girl with cerebral palsy navigates loss, grief, and the aftermath of trauma following a school shooting in a world that wasn’t built for her. You'll cry, but it is so good and so worth it."

Katie (Reference Assistant, White River Branch)

Pocket bear
Applegate, Katherine
Paper Book
An instant New York Times Bestseller! Meet Pocket, created as a good luck charm for soldiers going into battle, whose bravery and loyalty lives on long after the war. From Katherine Applegate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Odder and...

"The story of a group of talking stuffed animals living in the care of a Ukrainian immigrant family, narrated by a cat, focusing on two antique teddy bears from World War I who finally find their forever home."

Andrea (Shelver, White River Branch)

We are the scrappy ones
Taussig, Rebekah
Paper Book
We are the scrappy ones. / We live, we adapt, we defy. / Made of stardust and grit, we are spectacular. Children with disabilities experience the world in all kinds of ways. Yet one thing they share is navigating a world that doesn't always make space for them as they are. Existing on the...

"This picture book celebrates kids with a wide range of disabilities and affirms their worth just as they are with beautiful illustrations. A must-read for disabled and abled children alike!"

Katie (Reference Assistant, White River Branch)

The wild robot on the island
Brown, Peter
Paper Book
A #1 New York Times and IndieBound bestseller! This gorgeously illustrated picture book adaptation brings to full color the adventures of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel The Wild Robot.  ...

"A beautiful picture book companion to the original "Wild Robot" trilogy and film. It's full of heart and love, with gorgeous illustrations on every page." 

Ollie (Circulation Assistant, Franklin Branch)


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