While not all of these picture books were published in 2021, they are newer titles (published within the last 5 years or so) and are stand-out books based on artwork, humor, theme or general story. Here are my favorites of 2021 in no particular order!
This list is aimed to help emerging independent readers, aging around the 5-8 mark.
For beginning chapter books, I feel like the most important thing it keeping the reader engaged so by having adventures and cliff-hangers, books are harder to put down! However, they’re also in that transition stage between picture books and chapter books. If a book doesn’t have enough pictures, it can look daunting and we don’t want to discourage our readers, we want them to gain confidence as independent readers!
So with that being said, these are a few of my FAVORITE early chapter books.
Good Dog by Cam Higgins
Published: December 2020
This first-person narrative series currently included 8 books. Bo Davis is a farm dog and lives with his adoptive human family. In the first story, Bo loses his collar tag and visits other farm animals in search for it.
This series includes an interracial couple (Bo’s human parents) and a 3-legged dog.
Sample Page:
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The Fabled Stables by Jonathan Auxier
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Ana & Andrew by Christine Platt
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Charlie & Mouse by Jonathan Auxier
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Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us by Lauren Castillo
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Kondo & Kezumi by David Goodner
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The Princess In Black by Shannon & Dean Hale
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Doggo and Pupper by Katherine Applegate
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Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo
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Anne's Kindred Spirits by Kallie George
