We’re excited to share this year-end roundup of children’s and YA books published in 2023 by independent literary publishers. (Read our year-end roundups for fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art and drama as well.)
Picture Books
Cypress Knees and Tupelo Trees: Discovering Plants and Animals of the Swamp by Cathy Melvin
Et Alia Press | April 22, 2023
In this children’s book about the swamp ecosystem, “plants and animals spring to life through lively rhyme and colorful painted collage.”
Regal House Publishing | May 23, 2023
This book follows “one girl’s quest to save her suicidal cat, the loyal friends who help her, the first love she accidentally falls into, and the angry ghost she encounters along the way.”
Tierra, Tierrita / Earth, Little Earth by Jorge Argueta
Arte Público Press | May 31, 2023
This trilingual picture book—featuring English, Spanish, and Nahuat, and illustrated by Felipe Ugalde Alcantara—explores “the interdependence of life on Mother Earth.”
Do I Belong Here? / ¿Es este mi lugar? by René Colato Laínez
Arte Público Press | May 31, 2023
Illustrated by Fabricio Vanden Broeck, this bilingual picture book portrays “the experiences of newcomer students in schools.”
Mis días con Papá / Spending Time with Dad by Elías David
Arte Público Press | May 31, 2023
This bilingual picture book, illustrated by Claudia Delgadillo, “deals with gender equality.”
Middle Creek Publishing & Audio | June 1, 2023
This picture book “teaches children (of all ages) a little bit of Spanish vocabulary using common items, cute images and a rhyming text.”
What Could Maggie Do? by Thomas Donahue
Clare Songbirds Publishing | July 22, 2023
Illustrated by Michele Ridgeway, What Could Maggie Do? is “a delightful lap book about a day full of small adventures.”
Tree Spirits by Louise Wannier
Red Hen Press | September 19, 2023
Tree Spirits is “an interactive picture book that encourages creativity, social emotional intelligence, and seeing the world with fresh eyes.”
Grandma, Where Will Your Love Go? / Abuela, ¿adónde irá tu amor? by Adriana Camacho-Church
Translated from the Spanish by Gastón Hauviller
Arte Público Press | October 31, 2023
Camacho-Church’s bilingual picture book explores “the joy of intergenerational relationships.”
La nana del coquí by Georgina Lázaro
Editorial Destellos | November 3, 2023
This children’s book is “a modern take on the traditional lullaby, with fantastically illustrated scenes that bring the verses to life of what will surely be a new bedtime favorite.”
Encontrando a Paco by Thaís Bermúdez and Julio Puigdorfila
Editorial Destellos | November 10, 2023
This children’s book is “a heartwarming story of a lost stray dog who doesn’t give up his search for a forever home.”
Books for Young Readers
Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade by Kimberly Behre Kenna
Fitzroy Books | February 2, 2023
In this children’s book, Artemis Sparke “heads to the nearby salt marsh to hang out with the birds, plants and mollusks who don’t make a big deal of her stutter.”
August or Forever by Ona Gritz
Fitzroy Books | February 14, 2023
This children’s book is, according to Gayle Brandeis, “a beautiful novel about sisterhood, about art, about hearts broken and hearts mended.”
Emma and the Queen of Featherstone by Lindsay Fryc
Orange Blossom Publishing | March 7, 2023
In this children’s book, “Emma must navigate her new assignment of guarding her new planet from portal intruders while also figuring out what the Kabiren are hiding.”
The Adventures of the Flash Gang: Episode One by M. Downing and S. Waugh
Regal House Publishing | March 21, 2023
In this children’s book, “a Nefarious Deed is afoot, one that threatens the entire country.”
Doomsday Dani by Carissa Turpin
Orange Blossom Publishing | March 21, 2023
In this children’s book, Dani must “come to terms with her new reality: her parents’ recent divorce, a blossoming, awkward friendship, and repeated humiliation at the hands of a school bully.”
Millie and the Kitchen Witch by Hillary Vaillancourt
Orange Blossom Publishing | April 11, 2023
In this debut children’s book, “Millie hopes winning an annual baking contest will help bring notoriety and customers to the struggling diner like it does every year.”
Arte Público Press | May 31, 2023
This bilingual book for intermediate readers, the fifth installment in the Monster Fighter Mystery series, “follows the dangerous battle between a seasoned devil and one unsure of her powers, a witch owl and several very determined kids!”
A Case Is Still a Case / Un caso siempre es un caso by René Saldaña, Jr.
Arte Público Press | May 31, 2023
This novel for intermediate readers “features a web-certified boy detective who learns the hard way that girls can do everything boys can! ”
Regal House Publishing | June 27, 2023
According to Shannon Schuren, this children’s book is “for anyone who has ever fought their own battles with both fitting in and being themselves.”
The Invisible Elephant by Anna Anisimova
Translated from the Russian by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp
Restless Books | August 1, 2023
This illustrated chapter work follows “a blind girl who joyfully explores her environment using her senses and vivid imagination.”
It’s Just Skin, Silly! by Nina Jablonski and Holly McGee
Catalyst Press | August 1, 2023
Illustrated by Karen Vermeulen, this children’s book explores “the evolution of skin color, based on a collective 40+ years of peer-reviewed research.”
The House of the Lost on the Cape by Sachiko Kashiwaba
Translated from the Japanese by Avery Fischer Udagawa
Restless Books | September 19, 2023
This children’s book is “the moving story of three generations of women adapting to their new home, and its mythical inhabitants, in the tragic aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake disaster.”
If You Meet the Devil, Don’t Shake Hands by Sylvia Whitman
Regal House Publishing | September 19, 2023
In this children’s book, “twelve-year-old Gavin Baker, son of a warrior, is a born worrier.”
Junior Miles and the Junkman by Kevin Carey
Regal House Publishing | September 26, 2023
According to Naomi Shihab Nye, this children’s book is “a tender, transformative novel for all who sometimes feel they don’t fit in.”
The Tailor Shop at the Intersection by Ahn Jaesun
Translated from the Korean by Sora Kim-Russell
Transit Books | October 17, 2023
This children’s book is “about family, resilience, fashion, and staying true to who you are—told through three generations of tailors in a rapidly changing Seoul.”
Nena, y Roberta ¿dónde está? by Marie Biskai
Editorial Destellos | October 20, 2023
In this Spanish-language children’s book, a granddaughter and grandmother search through fantastical worlds for the latter’s lost memories.
Mariano’s First Glove / El primer guante de Mariano by Robert Casilla
Arte Público Press | October 31, 2023
This bilingual children’s book explores “the life of an acclaimed major league baseball player.”
Best Amigas by Patricia Marcantonio
Fitzroy Books | November 14, 2023
In this children’s book, “Juana Méndez and Diane Conrad are going to save each other’s lives. Not with super heroics, but with a friendship that gets them through everything.”
Young Adult
Pearl of the Sea by Anthony Silverston and Raffaella Delle Donne
Catalyst Press | January 31, 2023
Illustrated by Willem Samuel, this graphic novel for young adults “is a South African adventure story exploring how we are both bound to and freed by nature, seen through the eyes of a tough teen-aged heroine determined to live life by her own rules.”
Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar by Jessamyn Violet
Three Rooms Press | April 18, 2023
Violet’s debut LGBTQA+ YA novel “sizzles with a coming-of-age story set in an industry of ambition, secrets, lies, and utter joy. ”
Robin and Her Misfits by Kelly Ann Jacobson
Three Rooms Press | April 25, 2023
In this YA novel, “a roving female gang of fun-loving rebel bikers and street racers, led by Robin, agree to give back to queer girls in need of help.”
Red Hen Press | May 2, 2023
In this debut YA novel, “young Marisol Blaise is taken to live on an underwater mersation known as Aqueous with parents not her own.”
Maybe There Are Witches by Jude Atwood
Regal House Publishing | June 13, 2023
As the characters in this YA novel “quest through historic cemeteries, backcountry libraries, and high-octane scholastic bowl tournaments, something sinister is lurking, watching, and waiting.”
Kariba by Daniel Clarke, James Clarke, and Daniel Snaddon
Catalyst Press | August 1, 2023
Kariba is “an African fantasy-adventure graphic novel inspired by the mythology of the Zambezi River and the history of the Kariba Dam.”
Regal House Publishing | August 29, 2023
In this YA novel, “Winter Break turns deadly when Rory Quinn and her treasure-hunter grandmother travel to Iceland in search of an enchanted artifact.”
The Town that Time Forgot by Elizabeth Donley-Leer
Woodhall Press | September 5, 2023
Donley-Leer’s YA novel follows a journalism student “down the treacherous rabbit hole that just might end with his demise.”
Made in Maine by Shawn Samuelson Henry
Woodhall Press | September 5, 2023
In this YA novel set in the aftermath of a mill closure, “a tragic accident sends the town spiraling further into despair.”
But Cats Don’t Talk by Lynne Heinzmann
Woodhall Press | October 2, 2023
This YA novel is “the inspiring story of Rebecca O’Sullivan, a 17-year-old prodigy who has everything going for her: a promising career as a classical pianist, a supportive mother/piano teacher/manager, and a loving pet, Beethoven the Cat (BC).”
Tepozteco’s Belly by José Agustín
Translated from the Spanish by Nicolás Kanellos
Arte Público Press | October 31, 2023
An “adventure story about Aztec gods,” Tepozteco’s Belly “introduces teens to Mexican indigenous traditions.”
