
By Aleah Gornbein
This fall, there is an absolute plethora of diverse picture books to share with young readers! There are stories about the Black, Brown, and Asian experience, familial and friendship relationships of all types, queer, Muslim, and Jewish families, and nonfiction books about incredible people in the United States and around the world.
While there are even more books being published that could fit on this list, it’s worth noting that some identities are more represented than others. Nonetheless, you should be able to pick any book off this list and have meaningful reading time with a child in your life whether it’s looking through a window to another’s experience or looking into a mirror’s reflection of your own. Happy reading!
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September Releases
Bubbie & Rivka’s Best-Ever Challah (So Far!) by Sarah Lynne Reul (Jewish)
Release date: September 20, 2022 | Abrams
Description: Two aspiring young bakers learn that practice makes for special together time—and delicious challah.
ISBN: 9781419758980
Release date: September 20, 2022 | Barefoot Books
Description: When her collection of hijabs gets out of hand, Hana shares her talents and belongings with her community.
ISBN: 9781646866205
Release date: September 20, 2022 | Barefoot Books
Description: When a girl’s mother gets sick, she and her family learn to find much-needed joy and laughter.
ISBN: 9781646866229
Release date: September 20, 2022 | Charlesbridge
Description: In this Native American story, two cousins who have been separated each worry that the other hasn’t missed her.
ISBN: 9781623542924
Release date: September 20, 2022 | HarperCollins/Clarion
Description: When Yousif Tlaib asks about his mother’s new job in Congress, his older brother, Adam, fills him in—with some help from Mom herself.
ISBN: 9780358683438
Release date: September 20, 2022 | Little, Brown
Description: Devi and her family celebrate Diwali traditions together.
ISBN: 9780316339339
Release date: September 27, 2022 | Lee & Low
Description: Bonnie’s father is an engineer for the Apollo 11 space mission; while Baba is away working, Bonnie designs, builds, and tests her own model rocket with the support of Baba’s encouraging letters.
ISBN: 9781643790695
Release date: September 27, 2022 | Greystone
Description: This picture book adaptation of Sainte-Marie’s song is a love letter to Indigenous communities.
ISBN: 9781771648073
Release date: September 27, 2022 | HarperCollins
Description: When Imani’s confidence is shaken by peers who tell her she’s too dark, she turns to her sister for a loving reminder that she’s wonderful just the way she is.
ISBN: 9780063064782
Release date: September 27, 2022 | HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray
Description: This is a moving and lyrical tribute to and affirmation of Black children around the world.
ISBN: 9780063091979
October Releases
Release date: October 1, 2022 | Albert Whitman
Description: When a loved one dies, remembering them through shared experiences and the ways they expressed their love, helps with loss.
ISBN: 9780807569320
Release date: October 1, 2022 | Albert Whitman
Description: Even though he doesn’t speak English, Santiago finds a way to connect to his new classmates—through dinosaurios.
ISBN: 9780807572306
Release date: October 4, 2022 | HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray
Description: A heartwarming picture book about a young girl on her first trip to visit family in Mexico, who learns there is no language barrier when it comes to love.
ISBN: 9780062962461
Release date: October 4, 2022 | HarperCollins
Description: Two Black girls—on different sides of the sea—wonder about how they are intricately linked by culture even though they are separated by location.
ISBN: 9780063080201
Release date: October 4, 2022 | Levine Querido
Description: The adorable little Toymaker makes wonderful toys, not for children, but for their grandparents and other older folk, helping them embark on a journey of memory and newfound joy.
ISBN: 9781646141807
Release date: October 4, 2022 | Behrman/Apples & Honey
Description: Set during the American Revolution, this story tells of Sephardic Jews’ involvement in the chocolate trade.
ISBN: 9781681155760
Release date: October 4, 2022 | HarperCollins/Quill Tree
Description: This nonfiction book spotlights the Black postal worker from Harlem who created the Green Book, a guide to help African Americans stay safe while traveling during segregation.
ISBN: 9780062967404
Release date: October 4, 2022 | APA/Magination
Description: The true story of Jeanne Manford, who decided to start a group to help families of LGBTQ people while marching with her son in New York City’s 1972 Christopher Street Parade.
ISBN: 9781433840203
Release date: October 4, 2022 | Page Street
Description: In this celebration of all gender identities, a child goes on a quest to discover the perfect pronouns.
ISBN: 9781645675587
Release date: October 4, 2022 | Crocodile
Description: Raya and Samar have fun playing with a piece of cloth in this story celebrating imagination and creativity.
ISBN: 9781623718091
Release date: October 4, 2022 | DK
Description: A gentle and light-hearted tale about friends, family, and ferris wheels, this book depicts a world where there are all kinds of families, and they are all equal.
ISBN: 9780744059816
Release date: October 4, 2022 | Macmillan/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Description: On a hike with her grandparents, an Indian American girl makes note of all the things in nature that are brown, too, and collects mementos to show her baby brother.
ISBN: 9780374389529
Release date: October 4, 2022 | Soaring Kite
Description: Readers explore the different ways to eat kimchi in a rhyming tale that also teaches the days of the week.
ISBN: 9781953859273
Release date: October 4, 2022 | Scholastic Press
Description: This is the true story of how Yaffa Eliach recovered thousands of her town’s photographs that were lost in WWII and used them to create a permanent exhibit in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
ISBN: 9781338225891
Release date: October 4, 2022 | Soaring Kite
Description: A bittersweet celebration of the everlasting bond between a mother and child through the changing phases of their lives.
ISBN: 9781953859259
Release date: October 11, 2022 | Second Story Press
Description: An Indigenous boy who struggles with feeling different embraces his true self when his supportive parents teach about Two Spirit/Niizh Manidoowag people—those who have both masculine and feminine spirits.
ISBN: 9781772602531
Release date: October 11, 2022 | HarperCollins
Description: This lyrical picture book is a joyous, poetic, celebration of Black children and a reminder of the Universe’s unconditional love in stunning verse and captivating collage.
ISBN: 9780063015760
Release date: October 15, 2022 | Owlkids
Description: A girl and her family prepare to host a Lunar New Year celebration.
ISBN: 9781771474627
Release date: October 15, 2022 | Owlkids
Description: A child who looks different from her mother finds beauty and belonging with her mother’s loving support.
ISBN: 9781771474528
Release date: October 18, 2022 | Random/Make Me a World
Description: An intergenerational community of women take care of a girl during the week her mother is away for work, showing that Mama’s home can be anywhere as long as there’s love.
ISBN: 9780593180228
Release date: October 18, 2022 | Chronicle
Description: An inspiring picture book biography about the amazing Ann Lowe—the first nationally-known African American fashion designer.
ISBN: 9781452161600
Release date: October 18, 2022 | S&S/Atheneum/Dlouhy
Description: All Black and Brown kids get The Talk—the one that could mean the difference between life and death in a racist world.
ISBN: 9781534495296
Release date: October 25, 2022 | West Margin
Description: With gentleness and empathy, this beautiful story follows a young boy as he learns how a word that may seem funny to one person can be hurtful to another.
ISBN: 9781513134857
November Releases
Release date: November 1, 2022 | Penguin Workshop
Description: A girl learns the importance of speaking up for what she wants while at the barbershop.
ISBN: 9780593387085
Release date: November 1, 2022 | Abrams
Description: In this version of the classic fairy tale, Little Red, who lives in a village near the Great Wall and trains in kung fu, must defend herself and her grandmother.
ISBN: 9781419737282
Release date: November 1, 2022 | Lerner/Millbrook
Description: Free-verse poetry chronicles Chisholm’s fight for fairness and change on her journey to becoming the first Black woman ever elected to Congress— and, in 1972, the first woman to run for president.
ISBN: 9781728420080
Release date: November 1, 2022 | HarperCollins/Greenwillow
Description: A legendary race determined the order of the animals in the Chinese zodiac calendar . . . but what happened to Cat, the one animal who never received a year? Rat, Cat, and their eleven friends star in this funny animal adventure that introduces young readers to both the Chinese zodiac and the importance of apologizing.
ISBN: 9780062976826
Release date: November 1, 2022 | Kar-Ben
Description: This book retells the story of Deborah, the only female judge in the Bible.
ISBN: 9781728438955
Release date: November 8, 2022 | Penguin/Kokila
Description: A Tamil boy explores his love for his grandmother and her colorful sari collection in this tale of expressing your true self.
ISBN: 9780593324608
Release date: November 15, 2022 | Abrams
Description: An Aztec girl tells her brother how their parents create painted manuscripts, or codices.
ISBN: 9781419749421
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