I Hate Borsch! – Yevgenia Nayberg (XP G FOOD NAYB)

This fun picture book from Ukrainian author and illustrator, Yevgenia Nayberg, features a girl who hates the beet soup, borsch. Borsch is the beloved soup of the Ukraine and Eastern Europe and everyone should love it right? Our girl doesn’t until she immigrates to the United States and realizes that she misses the flavors and traditions of her country. Every grandma has a secret family recipe for borsch and the girl was given a suitcase full of recipes when she left the Ukraine. When she opens the suitcase and rediscovers the recipes, it is then the girl makes her own soup and loves it!

Love in the Library – Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Yas Imamura (XP L EVEN TOKU)

Love in the Library is a true story of how the author’s grandparents, Toma and George, met and fell in love in the library of Minidoka, a Japanese incarceration camp in Idaho during World War II. Despite the despicable conditions of the camp, Toma, who worked in the library, and George, who visited the library every day, remained hopeful through their love of books and their strength. “To fall in love is already a gift. But to fall in love in a place like Minidoka, a place built to make people feel like they weren’t human—that was miraculous. That was humans doing what humans do best.” This is a gentle introduction to a dark period in the history of the United States. Also includes an author’s note at the end!

Every Dog in the Neighborhood – Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Matthew Cordell (XP D PETS STEA)

Louis and his grandma start the day with breakfast and with grandma determining that it is going to rain because she can feel it in her knees. Louis wants a dog but grandma says there are enough dogs in the neighborhood already. Louis wants to know how many dogs there are so he goes door to door asking “I am counting every dog in the neighborhood. Do you have a dog?” Meanwhile, grandma has begun her own work on the empty lot in the neighborhood since her letter to the city didn’t bring any change. Grandma is cleaning up, planting trees, and creating a dog park! When Louis determines that there are 19 dogs in the neighborhood, grandma tells him that he missed one. It ends up that the twentieth dog needs a home!

They’re So Flamboyant by Michael Genhart, illustrated by Tony Neal (XP K COMM GENH)

In this amusing picture book readers learn that the word flamboyant refers to a person (or a bird or their behavior) that attracts attention because of their confidence, exuberance, and stylishness but also that a group of flamingoes can be called a flamboyance! A flamboyance of flamingoes moves into the neighborhood and the other birds have their feathers ruffled at how different those flamingoes are. Readers will learn about the collective nouns for groups of birds, like a parliament of owls or a mob of emus, while also helping children learn about acceptance, avoid stereotyping, and model welcoming behavior!