Jennifer Tarr

Writing picture books for kids and their grown ups.

Category: Picture Books

Toddler Teaches…DIGGER AND TOM!

I knew that Sebastien Braun‘s Digger and Tom! was going to be a massive hit from the second I saw the cover at the library. (Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover, I guess?). It’s got brightly colored illustrations, construction vehicles, and exudes the kind of friendliness that is especially appealing to a toddler.

An extremely friendly, brightly colored construction site invites the reader in right away.

Unsurprisingly, Digger and Tom! was in regular rotation for months around the two-and-a-quarter age range, with no pause until I eventually snuck it back to the library.

As an initial matter, Digger and Tom! opens quickly to set up our main character, Digger, as someone we should care about.

The opening page gets the reader invested in Digger right away with an ingenious 5 words: “This is Digger. Hello, Digger!” By having the reader excitedly say hello to Digger, we’ve set him up as a friendly vehicle worth knowing. The first page also sets up the onomatopoeia and construction-related action words that run throughout the story, creating a pattern to expect. As with refrains, recognizable patterns are toddler gold.

The very next page tells us what Digger’s problem is going to be: he wants to help out at the construction site, but he makes lots of mistakes.

The illustrations and language are simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. As is Digger’s underlying problem. So when we get to the main conflict in the story — the construction vehicles are all trying to remove a rock that is stuck in the ground — we know exactly what Digger has to overcome and we are invested in his doing so.

And as the vehicles each try to remove the rock, we get more of our onomatopoeia and construction-related action words with each attempt. S loved these words, none more so than “Heave!”

Thinking that S probably would not know what “heave” meant, I mimicked heaving something with S’s foot while reading “Heave! Heave!” out loud. S thought this was HYSTERICAL, and consistently repeated the refrain. But even without this unexpected love of that one particular page, the story stands on its own with its friendly focus on perseverance and the evergreen toddler hook of a colorful construction site.

Digger and Tom! By the Numbers

Pages: 26 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word Count: 340

Words Per Illustration: 12.14

Words Per Sentence: 4.65 if onomatopoeia is included, 6.8 if not

November 10, 2026
Toddler Teaches…JULIÁN IS A MERMAID
About a month ago, S and I took a trip to my favorite used bookstore. S had one mission: find as many Disney books as possible. That mission failed spectacularly, but the trip itself was a success because we walked out with one of S’s new favorite books: Jessica Love‘s Julián is a Mermaid.

I suspect that S’s initial willingness to read the book at the bookstore was related to the fact that it’s about mermaids, and therefore closer in subject matter to a Disney book than anything else we found, but the book has stood on its own for weeks now, no Disney required.

Given the patterns around S’s favorites, this isn’t surprising. We’ve got (1) a favorite subject matter, (2) a quick introduction to our main character and that subject matter, and (3) bright, active illustrations.

Exhibit A: The first two pages of the story.

We meet our main character and learn what he’s all about: “Julián LOVES mermaids.”

The capital letters convey excitement and the depth of Julián’s love for mermaids, and the spare text keeps our focus on exactly that.

S’s consistent response to that line: “I do too!”

S has recently hit an age where identifying similarities with other people has become very enjoyable. S wants to know who else likes raisins/granola/younameit. The fact that the book comes out and says exactly what Julián loves gives S an immediate point of connection with Julián. They both love mermaids.

Other things that S finds relatable/enjoyable in the story:
- the subway
- a parade
- playing dress up
- fish
- MERMAIDS (not just Julián’s love for them, but their actual presence in the story).
The illustrations are another huge draw. They are colorful, varied, and have tons of mermaids in them. We flip through to all the pages with mermaid pictures, including the beautiful end pages, which depict Julián and his abuela as mermaids.

Exhibit B: This is a favorite image because it is bright, active, and has tons of different kinds of fish to point out. Plus Julián’s mermaid tail.

The text in this story is incredibly spare (only 86 words across 23 sentences, with 11 wordless spreads), which puts even more focus on the illustrations. When they are this beautiful, it works quite well. It also means we finish reading the story relatively quickly, which I think is a key factor in S’s re-read requests (as well as my willingness to indulge them).

Things that (I think) go over S’s head:

As far as I can tell, S does not understand the story on a deeper level than the basic plot.

S does not seem to pick up on Julián’s fears that his abuela may not like him dressing like a mermaid. Nor does S seem to understand that the images show Julián imagining himself as a mermaid with long hair while on the subway. I have had to point out that the mermaid there is Julián.

But the basic plot and illustrations are enough to captivate S. It’s another check mark in the column of having enough hooks for a younger reader, even if your primary target is slightly older.

Julián is a Mermaid By the Numbers

Pages: 32 pages of what I would consider the “main” book, though we also spend a lot of time looking at the final end pages, since those feature a number of mermaids in them

Word Count: 86

Words Per Illustration: 3.58 if you don’t include each of Julián’s individual “becoming a mermaid” images as a separate illustration; 2.15 if you do

Words Per Sentence: 3.74
October 27, 2026
Toddler Teaches…LITTLE BOO

Maddie Frost‘s adorable Little Boo is in heavy rotation in our house right now. While it’s now officially fall, Little Boo‘s popularity is not Halloween related. (Though I did enjoy S pointing at the ghost-shaped chips at Trader Joe’s and telling me that they looked like Little Boo this week.) We’ve been reading Little Boo for at least a month or two at this point, if not longer (what is time, anyway?). Here’s why I think it has staying power:

Relatable subject matter

At its core, Little Boo is about sibling relationships. Our narrator — Little Boo’s older sibling — walks us through Little Boo’s transformation from adorable baby ghost that did whatever the narrator wanted to annoying toddler ghost that wreaks havoc on the narrator’s toys/life/ability to eat cereal in peace.

S is particularly interested in sibling stories right now on account of expecting one soon. But none of the other sibling stories we’ve read have garnered anywhere near this level of interest, which makes me think that the other reasons for S’s interest are as, if not more, important. So let’s discuss those.

Little Boo quickly introduces its lovable main character

The story opens by getting the reader to fall for Little Boo:

That is one cute ghost baby!

This is accomplished by (1) outright telling us that Little Boo is adorable, (2) backing it up with the illustrations, and (3) picking a relatable character name.

Calling something “little” is an easy way to get S interested in it. Toddlers aren’t babies, but they’re also not big kids — those are the elementary schoolers that run past them on the playground. S seems to take a particular interest in things when they are “little” — just like S. (See, e.g., Little Blue Truck, five little monkeys, Little Red Hen…).

So in just 10 words and one introductory spread, we’ve fallen for Little Boo. That gives the story staying power. (Fast introductions to lovable characters are a hallmark of the books we read over and over.)

And Little Boo is absolutely S’s main reason for reading the book. Little Boo goes “off screen” for a few pages in the middle of the book as part of a sibling swap between the narrator and a friend, and during those pages S consistently asks after her (“Where’s Little Boo?”).

The swapped sibling, Little Howl, simply does not cut it. We were introduced to Little Boo straightaway, became attached to Little Boo straightaway, and no substitutes will do. (Little Howl’s descent into a hunger-fueled monster-state — see below — may also have something to do with it.) S is always excited when Little Boo returns.

Fun sounds

Little Boo is chock full of onomatopoeia and short, repeatable phrases that are fun to say.

S loves this page, which has our siblings headed to the library while Little Boo says and does ridiculous things. For some reason, repeating “boogah-boogah!” and “hat hat hat” are highlights of the story.

As is shouting “kitteez!!!” The page and its punctuation just ooze excitement and beg to be repeated over and over.

As an aside, however, S always wants me to skip this page:

Apparently the combination of Little Howl’s descent into monster madness and the way I read “Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa[ck]” is less than desirable.

Colorful, active illustrations and short, punchy sentences

As you can see from the pictures above, Frost’s illustrations have tons of movement, lots of color, and lots of variety. They also have a lot of panels, which keep S’s interest since there are often 2 to 3 to 4 things happening on a given page.

The book’s sentences are also very short, averaging just over 4 words per sentence (and even shorter if you add all in the onomatopoeia sentences). That makes Little Boo a fast read, which is great for a toddler attention span and which invites (numerous) subsequent re-read requests.

And from an adult perspective, there’s a ton of value to the illustrations and short sentences too. Every time I open the book, I spot something new (the hill being a candy corn and the sun being a jack-o-lantern, the impressive way that the ghosts are somewhat transparent, etc., etc.). That doesn’t impact S’s interest in the book, but the cleverness of the illustrations combined with the fact that it’s a quick read do make me far more willing to read it back to back to back.

Little Boo By the Numbers

Pages: 31 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word Count: 285 (including onomatopoeia), 258 (not including onomatopoeia)

Words Per Illustration: 7.125

Words Per Sentence: 4.16 (excluding onomatopoeia)

September 24, 2026
Toddler Teaches…CRANKY

Every so often we stumble upon a book that S keeps requesting even though the book is too long or complicated for a two-and-a-half year old attention span.

When this happens, there are generally a few things at play: (1) a subject or combination of subjects S loves, (2) truly expressive and inviting illustrations, and (3) an extremely fast introduction to an emotionally-resonant main character.

Phuc Tran and Pete Oswald‘s Cranky hits all three criteria for such a book. It’s too long for S and the puns go straight over S’s head. But S keeps asking to read it because it features (1) construction vehicles, (2) wonderful illustrations, and (3) a main character that S can root for from page one. Also ice cream, which we’ll come back to.

On a typical read, we make it through about the first seven pages of the book. The first five pages are tight, snappy and have about 10 words per page. They also quickly introduce our main character, Cranky, and his problem — he’s cranky, but he doesn’t want to talk about it. (It’s like Grumpy Monkey with construction vehicles…) Oswald’s illustrations imbue Cranky with a life and personality that makes him feel friendly and compelling to S, frown and self-proclaimed crankiness aside.

Two simple words and a brightly colored picture introduce us to our main character, who has Oscar the Grouch vibes — grumpy yet still personable.

The next two pages have nearly 40 words per page, and significantly longer sentences. After that, we sometimes keep going, with me paraphrasing the text, but by page 11, the same thing happens every time: S declares that it is time to look for the ice cream, and flips all the way to the last two pages of the book.

Said last two pages.

These last two pages are notable to S not for Cranky’s epiphany about friendship (we skip almost the entire plot of this book), but solely for the giant ice cream cones. They really are quite impressive – brightly colored, two scoops, lots of sprinkles, a cherry… S loves to look at the ice cream. The splat is irrelevant, just the fact of the ice cream is what matters.

The sheer amount of work that these ice cream cones are doing for S’s interest in the book gave me even more appreciation for the work illustrators do. Nothing in the text suggests the need for the presence of ice cream, yet the ice cream (and the splat!) are a perfect visual ending for the book. It also highlights yet again the value of having multiple toddler hooks in a given book, regardless of length.

And now I’m off to daydream about ice cream.

Cranky By the Numbers

Pages: 30 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word Count: 725

Words Per Illustration: 21.32

Words Per Sentence: 8.06

July 2, 2026
Toddler Teaches…THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR
Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar is iconic. It was one of my absolute favorite children’s books 30-something years ago, and it is one of S’s favorites now. Whenever S spots the book, I have to read it at least 3 times, often back-to-back-to-back. This is not surprising. From a picture book construction perspective, the book is near flawless. And each of the things the book does well make it a toddler classic. Here’s why.

A Quick Introduction to an Adorable Main Character

The very first spread of The Very Hungry Caterpillar sets up the anticipation of what is going to happen in the story. We’re told that a little egg lays on a leaf, and that’s it. Things that are small are very appealing to toddlers, and S loves to point out the egg on the leaf.

Pointing out the little egg.

And then the next morning, the warm sun comes up, and the tiny caterpillar comes out of that egg with a “pop.” That littlest bit of onomatopoeia goes a long way; S loves to repeat it, and it sets up the excitement of the caterpillar being born. So in two pages we’ve got anticipation and excitement, and a delightfully plucky, toddler-sized main character that we are now interested in following around.

Hooks on Hooks on Hooks

In just 224 words, Carle manages to seamlessly integrate about a bazillion hooks. I’m sure I’ve missed a few, but at a minimum, we’ve got:
- Night and Day – The book opens in “the light of the moon” and transitions to the “warm sun coming up.” (And the sun and the moon are so friendly! Just look at their smiling faces…)
- Days of the Week – The story goes from Sunday to Sunday, with the caterpillar eating different foods each day.
- Counting – Each time the caterpillar eats a new food, he eats one more of that food, so the reader can visually see what 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 look like.
- STEM – We see the caterpillar transform from egg to butterfly over the course of the book.
- Interactivity – S LOVES the holes that the caterpillar “eats” in each food. We touch each one as we count, which adds an interactive element to the reading experience.
- The Greatest Junk Food Sequence Known to Books – S adores this page, which contains pretty much every food a little kid wishes they could eat on the regular.
Rattling off each of the junk foods and touching the food holes as quick as we can!

Fantastic Sentence Construction

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is short, and not just in word count — the story is only 18 total sentences. This concision keeps S engaged — every sentence meaningfully advances the story.

The story also makes brilliant use of refrains, which, as we’ve established on numerous occasions, are toddler gold. Each day of the week, the caterpillar does something similar. “On Monday, he ate through one apple. But he was still hungry.” On Tuesday, he eats through two pears, “but he was still hungry.” And so on. The repetition gives S something to latch onto and expect with each page turn, while the slight changes give S something to pay attention to — namely, the counting and days of the week hooks. And when the caterpillar goes off the rails on Saturday, it is both hilarious and delightful.

The book’s average “words per sentence” count is markedly higher than S’s normal favorites, but the sentence length is offset by (1) the overall tightness of the story itself and (2) smart sentence construction in the longest sentences. The longest sentences are offset by dashes/easy to understand clauses (ex: the “pop!” that breaks up the sun coming up and the caterpillar coming out of the egg and the long list of foods the caterpillar eats on Saturday) that make it much easier for S to follow along.

Gorgeous, Colorful Illustrations

This one goes without saying. But it certainly contributes to S’s interest in the story. It also creates a payoff at the end when the caterpillar turns into a truly beautiful butterfly.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar By the Numbers

Pages: 22 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word Count: 224

Words Per Illustration: 13.18

Words Per Sentence: 12.44
June 15, 2026
Toddler Teaches…AFIKOMAN, WHERE’D YOU GO?

I have been a huge fan of Rebecca Gardyn Levington and Noa Kelner‘s Afikoman, Where’d You Go? ever since it first released two years ago. It’s bouncy, fun, imaginative, and right up my alley (an anthropomorphic afikoman version of Where’s Waldo? = truly incredible stuff). This year, S was finally old enough to understand a bit about Passover, so I was really excited to be able to share the book as part of our celebration.

It was an immediate success. S got it as a prize for finding the afikoman on the first night of Passover (thanks, mom and dad!) and has wanted to read it multiple times a day since. As with Challah Day!, Afikoman, Where’d You Go? is representation at the level that means the most to kids. Finding the afikoman is (in my opinion) the most kid-friendly part of the seder, and the one that intuitively makes the most sense to a toddler (hide and seek! with a snack at the end!). So to be able to relive the fun over and over is exciting.

But it takes a lot more than a great premise to make a great book. So let’s take a deeper dive into some of the things that the book does so well:

Interactivity and Agency

Thanks to Rebecca Gardyn Levington and Noa Kelner for their kind permission to use some of their art in this post!

The story brings the reader into the action immediately, opening with a question: “Have you seen the Afikoman?” We are not going to be passive participants in this story — we are going to be finding the afikoman too. The rest of the stanza further sets this up: “But together we will find him. We can do this — you and I!”

S is immediately hooked and ready to find the afikoman, pointing him out on the first page and every subsequent page. (“He’s over there!” “Right there!” [spoiler alert] “In the doggy’s bed!”)

The first page also immediately sets up Afikoman as a lovable trickster. He’s “silly” and “sneaky” — two words that immediately signal to S that this is going to be fun. S loves when things are “silly,” and now Afikoman has a personality matched by the delightful illustrations.

Extremely active illustrations

I have often written about how important active illustrations are to keeping S engaged with a story. Afikoman, Where’d You Go? has this going on in spades. Each illustration has tons going on, and the ability to point out so many different interesting things (Afikoman! the dog! bunnies! a basketball!) keeps S’s attention on every page.

A fun refrain that reinforces the interactivity

Every few failed attempts to find the afikoman there is a catchy refrain — “Is he hiding somewhere high? Is he hiding somewhere low? Afikoman? Afikoman? Afikoman? WHERE’D YOU GO?”

The refrain is incredibly effective. For starters, toddlers adore repetition. And this refrain reinforces the interactivity of the story, reminding us to check for Afikoman on every page. It also pushes the adult reader (*cough*, me) to ask the child where the afikoman is on other pages too, if they haven’t done so.

Plus, the refrain sets up two hysterical back to back payoffs at the end. I won’t spoil the first one, which is amazing, but the fact that the structure is parallel to the earlier refrain highlights the change for S.

And then S loves the last page, where Afikoman escapes in a car. (We’re still very into vehicles, so pointing out the car gets us a lot of mileage…bad pun only sort of intended.)

All in all, this book is a blast, and I’m glad I get to read it a lot.

Some random musings

Non-English Words

I have occasionally seen questions in writer’s spaces about the use of non-English or culturally meaningful words in picture books (and concerns about the book not being universal if they’re included). The narrator in Afikoman, Where’d You Go? uses Hebrew words for her family members — Imma (mom), Abba (dad), Savta (grandma), Saba (grandpa). This is a complete non-issue for S. S had never heard those words before, wasn’t bothered by it in the least, and figured out what was going on from the illustrations without my needing to explain anything. (Plus there’s a glossary, for anyone who needs it.) And now they’re familiar words for S, given that we’ve read the book about a gazillion times. So from my perspective, if you are considering using words that have meaning to you in your picture book, go for it!

Book Signings

My parents were able to get the book personalized for S at an event. I thought this was really cool, because I love Rebecca’s work. What surprised me was how much S loves it too. Every time we open the book, the first thing S does is point out the inscription and say, “That’s for me!” Obviously the personalization does not impact sales since we were already buying the book regardless, but I found it interesting. It certainly makes it feel even more special when we sit down to read it.

Afikoman, Where’d You Go? By the Numbers

Pages: 30 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word Count: 378

Words Per Illustration: 22.24

Words Per Sentence: 4.15*

*Since the book rhymes, it creates natural pauses that make it easier for S to pay attention to longer sentences. I therefore counted clauses as full sentences where they conveyed a full idea that S could understand (i.e., where they would likely have ended with a period rather than a comma if the book were written in prose). That occurred in about half of the book’s sentences (with the other half naturally being 6 words or less).

May 13, 2026
Toddler Teaches…PUMPKIN DAY FOR BOO AND BELLE

In mid-to-late January, S started to get particularly into bunny rabbits. At the same time, S began to gravitate towards Laura Sassi and Farah Shah’s Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle. This isn’t surprising — the book is adorable and prominently features a bunny as the main character.

Said bunny.

What surprised me a bit was the depth of S’s interest in the book. It’s not just any book; it’s “my” book. As in, the book gets thrust toward me with the instruction to “read MY book.”

The book is very long for S’s normal attention span (561 words), but we can often get through the full text because the sentences are short and bouncy and there’s lots going on on each page.

For the most part, though, S actually “reads” the book without me by picking it up and flipping through the pages. This is a testament both to Shah’s colorful, inviting illustrations (and the volume of fun things to spot in them), and to Sassi’s writing creating the opportunity for new and exciting illustrations on each page.

Since the illustrations seem to drive S’s interest in the book, I thought it would be interesting to highlight a few images and point out what captures S’s attention in them.

This is probably one of S’s favorite images in the book. We’ve got (1) a bunny (2) wearing a bow (3) setting out cakes. And in the background, there are pumpkins, flowers, a ladybug vacuum that S loves to point out (“ladybug!”), and a clock on the wall that S also loves (“clock!”).

Here, S is interested in umbrellas and raincoats. (And probably also the bunny.) The movement in the illustrations across multiple images also doesn’t hurt.

And here, the big winner is the bird essentially playing hide and seek in the window. (And probably also the bunny.)

TL;DR: Having lots of things to point out in the background adds to the number of possible toddler hooks and helps build vocabulary. It turns an already-fun book into an outright winner. Also, one can never go wrong with bunnies.

Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle By the Numbers

Pages: 30 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word Count: 561

Words Per Illustration: 18.1

Words Per Sentence: 5.39*

*Since the book rhymes, it creates natural pauses that make it easier for S to pay attention to longer sentences. I therefore counted clauses as full sentences where they conveyed a full idea that S could understand (i.e., where they would likely have ended with a period rather than a comma if the book were written in prose). That occurred in about half of the rhyming sentences.

April 22, 2026
Toddler Teaches…NOT-A-BOX CITY

Antoinette Portis’s Not-A-Box City has been a huge hit for months. It’s easy to see why — it’s got short, snappy sentences that are easy for a 2-year old to follow; animals; construction; and lots of fun things going on in the illustrations.

Let’s start with the animals. We’ve got a bunny main character, and some unique animal friends — a giraffe, ants, and an iguana/chameleon/lizard (you can tell me which in the comments).

Bunny agrees to let Giraffe help build his city, but with conditions.

Animals are always a big draw for S, but bunnies have become especially so. At this point, they can almost carry a book on their own. (Side note: If you want to occupy a toddler for however long you can tolerate listening to the same thing on loop, play this interactive bunny song. You’ll thank or curse me later).

Then we’ve got the main plot. Bunny is building a city out of cardboard boxes. This itself is a major hook — S loves building things, and the steps necessary to make the city (cutting, stacking, painting, etc.) are all activities that feature prominently in preschool.

The story also deals with huge emotions, which is another prime preschool topic. Bunny initially wants to do it all by himself, before agreeing to let Giraffe and some ants help. But when Iguana/Chameleon/Lizard starts painting without permission, Bunny loses it.

This is one of S’s favorite spreads. Like Perry and Augie’s fight over the ball in Two Dogs, S seems to really identify with Bunny getting upset and territorial after the other animals start taking over the project. S loves to shout “This is MY city!” along with Bunny. I thought it was a bit of an anomaly when we read Two Dogs, but something about characters shouting “this is mine!” seems to be very appealing to toddlers.

Of course Bunny realizes he’d prefer having his friends around, and the story ends with the animals working together and cheering “This is our city!”

The illustrations complete the package. Especially toward the end of the story, they are bright, with lots of engaging colors to point out. In the multiple spreads where the animals are painting the city, S likes to talk about the colors each animal is painting with, which reinforces key toddler vocabulary.

The illustrations in the final spread keep S returning over and over. On the last spread, the animals’ city is complete, cheerful, and filled with action. The cars at the bottom add in a transportation hook, but perhaps most importantly from S’s perspective, the final spread features Bunny triumphantly sitting at the top of the Box City Library. S loves to point out Bunny’s location — the library is one of S’s favorite places, and its appearance in the city is yet another small detail that gets a lot of mileage with us.

Neither here nor there from S’s perspective, but just a note for those who are writing stories with speech bubbles — being preliterate and stuck with a parent reader who can’t do voices to save her life, S can’t figure out who is saying what in the spreads unless I tack on something like “said Bunny” or “said Giraffe” as I read each speech bubble. I don’t think it changes much if anything about the way a speech bubble based story would be written, but noting it here in case it affects the way anyone thinks about them.

Not-A-Box City By the Numbers

Pages: 36 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word Count: 96

Words Per Illustration: 5.33

Words Per Sentence: 3.56

April 8, 2026
Toddler Teaches…Toddler-Approved Book Subjects
I’ve written a bunch about the ways that subject matter influences S’s willingness to read books over and over again, and about the fact that even having a favorite subject in the background of an illustration can be enough to get a repeat reading request. To that end, I thought it might be interesting to create a list of the (sometimes idiosyncratic) subjects that seem to be toddler gold:
- Animals – bonus points for foxes, penguins, dogs, bunnies, and cats
- Transportation – bonus points for airplanes, helicopters, and buses
- Construction vehicles – bonus points for excavators and bulldozers
- Birthdays – parties, candles, balloons, cake, characters saying “Happy Birthday!”
- The moon
- Letters of the alphabet
- Counting
- Babies
- Challah bread
- Pizza
- Characters wearing bows (bowties, hairbows — you name it)
- Being upside down
- Camping – bonus points for marshmallows and campfires
- Bubbles
- Popsicles
- Legos
- Hanukkah
- Playgrounds
- Clocks – S loves to point out wall clocks in the background of things
If you really want an A+ on S’s picture book report card, combine one or more toddler-approved book subjects into your story. This can be in the main plot or in the illustrations.

Nikki Shannon Smith and Tamisha Anthony‘s In the Neighborhood was an immediate favorite in the board book category because of its sweet refrain and because it seems to deliberately (and brilliantly) hit on just about every topic a toddler might like. Baby goes on a walk (with “laces in a bow”), blows bubbles, gets flowers, meets a horse and a puppy, gets berries, sees cars, gets car stickers, watches friends learning how to throw a ball, sees a friend reading, and has a picnic.

As noted above, even putting toddler-approved book subjects into the background of illustrations is often enough to get a re-read request. We’ve been getting a ton of mileage recently from books like Goodnight Bubbala where a favorite object (there, a toy schoolbus) can be spotted in the background in different places on different pages.

I you happen to know of (or write) a book that fits these categories, let me know in a comment. We’ll be first in line to grab it!
March 11, 2026
Toddler Teaches…HANUKKAH PAJAMMAKAHS

Continuing our theme of “representation matters,” let’s take a look at Dara Henry and Olga and Aleksey Ivanov’s adorable Hanukkah Pajamakkahs.

The story is geared for readers ages 4 and up, and its main joke/premise goes over S’s two-year old head. Ruthie wants to wear her fun new Hanukkah pajamas for all eight nights of Hanukkah and promises her parents she will keep them spotless. She naturally proceeds to get them extremely messy, but claims she’s in the clear because streaks, drips, and splotches aren’t technically spots.

The book’s sentences are also generally too long for S’s attention span and comprehension abilities. Excluding one-word onomatopoeia sentences, the book averages 8.5 words per sentence, with nearly half of them clocking in at 9+ words per sentence. I wind up doing a fair amount of summarizing on each page, which I think makes S less likely to request an immediate re-read of the book when we finish it (there’s less repetition/consistency when I summarize, and toddlers seem to adore repetition/consistency).

Nonetheless, S is always excited to read Hanukkah Pajamakkahs when she spots it (terrible pun intended) on the shelf. Here’s why:

Hanukkah Pajamakkahs introduces its prime toddler hook quickly.

The book begins with Ruthie opening her Hanukkah pajamas, which she calls “pajamakkahs.” S finds this delightful. “Pajamakkahs” is fun to say, and the book instructs the reader to say it with excitement — both the text (Ruthie “squealed in delight”) and the layout (putting “pajamakkahs” in big, colorful font) demand that “pajamakkahs” be uttered with verve. S loves to join in and shout “pajamakkahs!”

You too would want to wear your pajamas 8 days in a row if they featured a robot lighting a menorah.

In addition to starting the story off with excitement, the pajamakkahs are relatable — like Ruthie, S has Hanukkah pajamas and loves to wear them, regardless of the time of year. Hanukkah is exciting, and Hanukkah pajamas carry that excitement forward into something mundane (bedtime).

Like the joyful challah-baking in Challah Day!, Ruthie’s excitement over pajamakkahs (and the existence of a book centering that excitement) is a prime example of meaning coming from something small — a slice-of-life kind of representation.

The book features lots of relatable Hanukkah items and activities.

S also identifies with and enjoys pointing out the other Hanukkah items in the story. Ruthie lights a menorah, makes latkes, and plays dreidel, and many of these items can be found in the background of multiple spreads. These items are exciting, and keep S turning the pages to find more of them.

Ruthie’s first stain is definitely a drip, not a spot, so I give her credit for her rules lawyering.

There is a ton going on in the illustrations, Hanukkah-related and otherwise.

As noted above, S loves to point out Hanukkah-related items in the book, and Hanukkah Pajammakahs‘ illustrations have no shortage of them to look at. They also have a ton of other things going on, which keep S engaged and interacting with the book.

The below spread is probably S’s favorite spread in the whole story. It takes place outdoors (always a favorite) and features kids playing soccer, a dog running around, flying food, and lots of ancillary items to take note of — hats, scarves, a picnic, etc. There is a lot of action and joy in this spread, which S picks up on.

By Day 4, I’m pretty convinced that Ruthie’s already got true spots on her PJs. I’m also kind of shocked the puppy isn’t trying to eat her shirt…

The book makes fun use of onomatopoeia.

Each time Ruthie gets her pajamas messy, the book uses fun onomatopoeia to describe what is happening. Latke drippings go “kersplat!,” jelly donuts go “squish!,” glitter goes “floof!,” and so on.

Like the initial use of “pajamakkahs!,” the onomatopoeia acts as a cheerleader in the middle of the story, raising our enthusiasm level as we read.

Potentially of note for anyone trying to use onomatopoeia as an element to bring in younger readers: S tends to get more excited by certain kinds of onomatopoeia than others. At age 2, words that make sense in context like “squish,” “crash,” or “whoops” tend to get a better reaction than words that convey a sound that S may not understand.

TL;DR: If you or your kids like Hanukkah, fun sounds, giant messes, or rules lawyering, check Hanukkah Pajamakkahs out. It’s a fun read!

Hanukkah Pajamakkahs By the Numbers

Pages: 31 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word Count: 468

Words Per Illustration: 15.6

Words Per Sentence: 7.1 (8.5 if one-word onomatopoeia sentences are removed)

February 25, 2026