January is always the trickiest month for Dad’s Bookshelf, because it comes immediately after our list of the best picture books of the previous year. Sometimes it can be a challenge to find more books to write about after listing so many great books in one article – but thankfully that isn’t the case this year!
It wasn’t hard to find three books I’m excited about, primarily because we just got a new shipment of several books to sell in our store from Eerdmans. Up until this point they’ve been criminally underrepresented in our store, but I won’t be making that mistake going forward! They make some very beautiful books.
One thing I like very much about Eerdmans is how many collections of poetry they make for kids. I love when good poems are accompanied by good art, so I definitely had to include one of those in this article. It will be a very welcomed addition to our poetry section.
And, speaking of things I love, this edition of Dad’s Bookshelf features a picture book about chess too. I think there are far too few stories for kids featuring chess, particularly with its booming popularity. Maybe this wonderful one will be the start of more to come!
I hope everyone’s year out there has gotten off to a great start. And I hope you enjoy learning about these three new picture books that we’re loving in our house. Hopefully at least one of them is something you’ll be tempted to track down at the local library!
Dad’s Bookshelf is a continuing, monthly series featuring the kids books we are most excited about each month. The series is named after the real life bookshelf we have in our home, where I keep all of my favorite picture books of all time. While the books we share on Dad’s Bookshelf are often brand new releases, it’s also not uncommon for us to be excited about an older book we just discovered or rediscovered.
Disclosure: Some of the books on this list were shared with us by their creators. All thoughts and opinions are our own. Links in this article are affiliate links that will lead you to view the books on Bookshop.org and Amazon.
