Top Rated Picture Books to Enjoy With Your Kids
By: Hidden Gems on January 11, 2022
If you’re looking to spend some extra quality time reading with your kids this year, you won’t want to miss this list. We’ve rounded up five children’s picture books that Hidden Gems ARC readers have recently read and adored. With delightful illustrations and touching messages they can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Consider adding these titles to your shopping list the next time you’re buying for a child you love!
Do You Want To Be A Ninja? by Mark Bacera
This illustrated children’s picture book is for all the little girls and boys who love dressing up and playing make-believe. In this book you and your kids can explore the secret traits and techniques of ninjas. If you’re lucky, you may even find all of their hidden ninja tools.
“So, so cute!” raves Ashley in her 5-star review. “In this story, author Mark Bacera asks, ‘Do you want to be a Ninja?’ I can’t imagine an answer to the negative. Not only are we given some animals for good comparison, but there are some cute and funny illustrations in between.
We’re shown an obviously mid-training ninja, performing moves that my kids would try too. His complete focus and seriousness while he succeeds and struggles is very funny. All this topped off with steps at the end to make a ninja outfit and a picture search game, I can say that I really love this book!”
I think this may be one of my favourite children’s books,” writes Brenda in her 5-star review. “Do you want to be a Ninja not only has some adorable and very detailed illustrations making it very interesting to the little ones to observe and recognize, but it is also a very interactive book. My niece loved other books by this author. But with this one in particular, she loved the part that helped the reader convert into a ninja and find some objects. It is a great way to spend some time reading and also exploring after it.”
Cole and the Giant Gingerbread House by Riya Aarini
Cole and the Giant Gingerbread House explores the realities of hunger and homelessness, while inspiring empathy and gratitude. Readers will find hope and goodwill eloquently expressed throughout this magical holiday tale!
Jessica H. writes in her 5-star review, “I enjoyed reading Cole and the Giant Gingerbread House with my six year old daughter. It was nice to see Cole have generosity when he gave the loaf of bread to someone even more needy than his family. I like that it was ‘Santa’ that gave him the gingerbread house and I was happy the family had a happy ending in the large gingerbread house that regenerated each time they ate some of it so they would not go hungry again. This is a good book to help show the ‘true’ meaning of Christmas being about giving rather than receiving.”
“This is a beautiful story for children and adults alike,” explains BohemianRhapsodyReads in their 5-star review. “I liked this story because it was about hope and how that hope can turn into a better life. For me that’s what Santa represents. The hope that life can be better, that life can always be better, we are never done hoping or being better.”
The Flying Tree by Ingo Blum
A vivid story about the importance of home and the place we love the most. This dual language picture book is part of a series of bedtime stories that are specifically designed to teach children new foreign words and phrases as you read to them.
Books and Pens on Green Gables raves in their 5-star review, “The Flying Tree is a rhyming book kids will love! Great illustration, and written in English and French, your kids will love to learn these rhymes! A great story about going on an adventure but that there is no place like home. The swallow was my favorite. I wonder who will be your kids’ favorite? An excellent conversation-building book.”
“A wonderful story of a lonely tree who wants to travel because he is bored,” writes Eva F. in her 5-star review. “The story is written in rhyme which gives melody to the text. It is a smart text that has a lesson to teach. The French text is professionally translated and both stories can be read as two standalone tales. The story is a mixture of excellent storytelling and clever techniques. I always love stories which leaves me with a memorable sentence ‘you leave a big hole……’”
Ethan and Mia’s Space Adventure by Karin Aaron and Danny Friedman
This book will teach your children positive thinking, how to use their imagination in everyday life, and how to be happy and confident. It will help them stay positive, creative, responsible, and be good siblings. Parents and teachers love this must-have series that encourages children to be creative, think outside the box, and learn to take initiative.
“This is another great book from the Magic Power series,” writes Amazon Customer in their 5-star review. “I loved the way they use their imaginations to make the long drive fun and exciting. The illustrations are amazing and imaginative. My kids loved the alien’s playground and they are waiting for the next book!”
“My 6 year old enjoyed this story, especially since it mentioned one of her favorite games!” says Sue in her 5-star review. “Ethan and Mia (along with their parents and pup) are on a loooong drive to grandma and grandpa’s house. Mia gets bored and begins to whine when Dad gives them a game to play. Ethan and Mia use their imagination to get them through several hours of driving. How? Well, you’ll have to read and find out!”
Kitty Counts Her Blessings by Kat E. Erikson
Children are experts at finding delight everywhere they look, even when life gets a little dark. Kitty Counts Her Blessings celebrates that gift—and shares a lesson in counting besides. This cheerful, rhyming book invites children and the grownups who love them to seek the blessings in their own world.
Paige G. writes in her 5-star review, “This was a very cute and colorful children’s book about remembering the blessings you see and get each day. The artwork was adorable, the kitty explained what blessings were well and how to find them. The book veered a bit on the religious side, but wasn’t obviously religious and would probably be ok for children that parents are wanting to raise without religion.”
RobbyeFaye raves in their 5-star review, “Kitty Counts Her Blessings by Kat E. Erikson fittingly shows how certain things that seem one way may actually be another as Kitty learns to count her blessings. The story has valuable lessons for children, particularly those who view everything in either black or white. In addition, while Kitty is counting her blessings, children will learn how to count. The sweet illustrations by Roksolana Panchyshyn will thrill young children. The kitten is loveable and cute. Kitty’s owner is nice, engaging and appealing, and the other animals in the story are charming. Kitty Counts Her Blessings is aimed at children ages three to seven, but I believe it will also appeal to children of a younger age as well.”
Hidden Gems readers got to read these enchanting children’s picture books first, so if you want more tales to add to your collection, sign up today! Subscribers to Hidden Gems receive invitations to read books like these – plus other titles from any of up to 15 other genres – for free. Authors send these out in the hopes that the readers will write an honest review on Amazon once they’re done.
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