31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Rhyming Picture Books

Rhymes are dangerous things. Many is the picture book that has done them poorly. They are also remarkably difficult to pull off. Anyone who has ever read aloud a picture book that didn’t scan juuuuuuuust right knows what I mean. And anyone who has ever tried to write a book in rhyme? You also know what I mean. It takes a certain level of talent to get away with it.

Today we celebrate the successful rhymers! And, spoiler alert, not every book on this list is a picture book. There is at least one easy book/graphic novel and one collection of short rhyming stories. Keep an eye peeled for them! They’re all worth discovering.

The pdf of today’s list can be found here.

Oh, and are you interested in previous years’ rhyming picture book lists? Of course you are! Feast your eyes, then, on these:

• 2023
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016

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2024 Rhyming Picture Books

Bros by Carole Boston Weatherford, ill. Reggie Brown

Bros shows up on its second list of this month (the first being the Simple Books list). Something about this book reminds me of the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks. It’s not just the fact that it rhymes. Weatherford just eases into this natural feel you get when a group of boys bond together. I love the kids in this book. Illustrator Reggie Brown gives each one of them their own personalities, likes and dislikes. The more you read the book the more you recognize them from one page to another. Plus this is just a fun book to read out loud. “We stride. / We ride.” and “Bros fly / and cry.” It’s simple, smart, and the kind of book that has a purpose without bashing you over the head with didacticism. A title children will actually enjoy hearing. “Bros rise. / RECOGNIZE!”

The Den That Octopus Built by Randi Sonenshine, ill. Anne Hunter

Gentle, cumulative rhymes follows the life of an octopus. Filled with fascinating facts, but with a text that’s appropriate for younger readers, come explore the world of one of our most fascinating creatures. The folks that brought you The Nest That Wren Built and The Lodge That Beaver Built get even soggier with this deep dive (I’m allowed to use puns because I am a professional) into the world of the octopus. Okay, here’s a little secret about writing an informational picture book. You want it to get more attention? Include facts that the grown-ups reading the book won’t even know. Like the fact that the octopus has nine brains, for example. I mean, I guess I heard that once, but it’s just the kind of thing that can’t be stressed enough. Sonenshine is pulling out her rhyming dictionary again, and her talents are soothing to the ear. I never have to worry with her that a line or meter won’t scan correctly. What’s more, she’s taken what I truly believe to be one of the more difficult forms of writing (the cumulative rhyme) and repeatedly made it work for her picture books. You’ll appreciate Hunter’s art (love it when they don’t cheat on those goat-like horizontal irises the octopuses sport) and the writing as well. Great younger nonfiction fare for budding octopus enthusiasts. And I hope you’re a fan of them, because you’re going to see a second octopus title show up on today’s list soon.

The Goat and the Stoat and the Boat by Em Lynas, ill. Matt Hunt

Stoats don’t get enough page time in picture books, that’s my hot take of the day. And how odd that they don’t when you consider how perfectly their little name rhymes with other items, like boats, or animals like goats. So this is a British import coming to us via an author/illustrator duo previously known for The Cat and the Rat and the Hat. I liked that book just fine, but I certainly prefer this one, if only because it really reads aloud nicely. This is a Nosy Crow publication, and to drill home how perfectly its rhymes scan, the publisher has included a QR code to a free audio reading of this book. A good idea, though I would remind everyone that you must always be careful about putting websites and QR codes on children’s books. You don’t want to have a Monster Needs His Sleep situation on your hands or anything. I do like the idea of modeling picture book readalouds for parents, though. This particular book is a load of fun to read one-on-one to someone too. Makes me yearn for some smaller fry of my own to read it to. I have the perfect cadence to put on a sentence like, “I want to float in your boat, Stoat!” I do!

The Noisy Puddle: A Vernal Pool Through the Seasons by Linda Booth Sweeney, ill. Miki Sato

“LOOK! LOOK! Look over there… / a noisy puddle, cold and clear.” Gentle rhyming text talks about a vernal pool and all the critters that rely upon it. Very cool. A great example of how the best books of a given year have wonderful writing paired with stellar art. Sweeney takes the idea of a vernal pool (which we’ve seen done in picture books before) and really expands it and makes it knowable. She answers all the questions a kid might have about it, and has a keen writing style that would work particularly well in a readaloud. I also just adored how artist Miki Sato used clear plastic wrap to look like water. It gives the cut paper art this 3-D quality that you wouldn’t be able to get any other way (how come more books don’t do this?). So cool. 

Octopus Acrobatics by Sue Fliess illustrated by Gareth Lukas

I wasn’t kidding when I said you’d see more octopuses today. Behold the incredible octopus! Think you’ve heard everything there is to know about these creatures? You’re bound to learn something new thanks to the gentle rhyming text. The rhymes themselves (which are difficult to write in the first place) are very well done. Best of all, this not only covering all the octopus facts I wanted to see (brains in arms, moms die protecting babies, etc.) it included a couple I’d never heard of before (how have I never heard of octopuses riding jellyfish before?!?). I mean, this is great stuff. 

One Sweet Song by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, ill. Sonia Sánchez

I have detected a trend. Maybe. You all know how long it takes to put together a picture book. Well, my current working theory is that even in 2024, we’re still seeing the residual effects of a post-shutdown world. All that time when we were all so desperate for community, it had to have led to the current influx of picture books in which people make music together, right? After all, this is the year when we’re seeing books like Jam, Too? by JaNay Brown-Wood and, of course, this title, One Sweet Song. I’m putting these two books on two different lists, though. While Jam, Too? is more of an interactive readaloud, it’s the rhymes of One Sweet Song that stand out the most to me. “One note trills… floating in the air. / A little girl listens, perched on a chair.” No straining rhymes or forced cadences. Just a gentle, lilting story of a neighborhood of people in their homes (hence me thinking about the shutdown) hanging out their windows to play music together. Of course Gopal lucked out when some clever editor paired her with Sonia Sánchez. Ms. Sánchez can elevate stories above and beyond the text to something warm, winning, and often quite beautiful. A title that might even make you a bit envious of city living. “One sweet song for heart and soul. / One sweet song to make us whole.” 

Peach and Plum: Double Trouble by Tim McCanna

I guess if I’m going to be honest, this was my first “Peach and Plum” read, and I liked it! It’s an excellent example of a series being three things at once: easy book, graphic novel, and rhyme title. The rhymes work too. It can be exceedingly difficult to stick to an all-rhyme-all-the-time format like the one you find here, but McCanna clearly has a knack for it. Even more impressive to me, though, was the fact that he’s capable of creating these little short stories so adeptly on the page. Personally, my favorite story in here was about three fruits starting a band in their garage since it literally has nothing to do with Peach and Plum and their various adventures. It also contains the line, “Oh wow. So dark,” about the hardcore music they play. Rhyming is a natural pair with easy books that help you to read, so color me a fan. 

Rocket Ship, Solo Trip by Chiara Colombi, ill. Scott Magoon

Previously seen on the Picture Book Readaloud list. I’m a softy. There are just some images I encounter in picture books that win me over, simply because they manage to strike the dual winning combo of my never having seen them before AND they melt my cold cold heart with a sweet original image. Take this sweet rhyming tale about a little rocket making its first solo voyage to the stars. Colombi works in a lot of really clever science in what, with another author, could have been half-assed and entirely fictional. She is joined by the ever clever Scott Magoon, who isn’t afraid to put a little accuracy into his seemingly simple images as well. But the thing that delighted me so much? The rocket isn’t just held by its Ground Control building but hugged as well, which is SO SWEET! Now the book rhymes on top of all of this, and that’s a difficult business. It can be exceedingly difficult to rhyme a science-related title, but by gum Colombi manages it. Then, along the way, you learn about the rockets that drop satellites into space, space stations, the Northern lights, boosters, and then a little you-gotta-believe-in-yourself-when-you-try-new-things chutzpah to round it all out. It’s one of those books you’d discount without a thought if you didn’t pick it up. Don’t be that person. Pick it up and incorporate it into your preschooler STEM/space storytime.

Round and Round the Year We Go by Carter Higgins

I dunno, man. If you had never read a lot of picture books and you said to yourself, “I’m going to write an original book that goes through the months of the year AND I’m going to make it rhyme” it would be a difficult move. But if you HAD read a lot of picture books, wouldn’t the experience of trying to write this one be completely nerve wracking? I mean, first and foremost, month books are incredibly difficult. They’re necessary, since all kinds have to learn the months and months are hard to memorize, but concept books without storylines are tricky in and of themselves. The fact that Higgins decided to make the book rhyme as well, though, just floors me. Now her solution to the general lack-of-plot problem is to break the months into seasons. She’ll go about three months at a time then break it all up with one season or another. On a personal note, I was grateful to the August section. My sister has her birthday then and this year I sent her a photo of the August pages. “All the days feel like the longest icky sticky awful hottest / nothing left to do in August / … it’s your birthday? / oops, i’m wrongest.” Not a lot of elementary school librarians are also Emmy winners for their visual effects and motion graphics, but that’s no guarantee of good rhymes. Happily, she apparently has that talent under her belt as well. Seems a bit unfair to be quite so gifted, but whatchagonnado?  

Tales from Muggleswick Wood by Vicky Cowie, ill. Charlie Mackesy

A show of hands, Yanks. Any of y’all familiar with Muggleswick Wood? This was an entirely new series to my old eyes, but had you given it to me blind and told me it had originally come out 100 years ago, I almost would have believed you. Almost. See, this is the book you hand to those grandparents that come into your library/bookstore and ask for something that feels like (forgive me) “a modern day classic”. I mean, you know what they’re talking about. Basically they want the 100 acre woods without the loquaciousness. This series (described by the publisher as “five gorgeous stories to read at bedtime” is that. But see, here’s the deal. These stories? They are legitimately good. Charming? Yeah, of course. And they rhyme, so be prepared for that as you decide whether or not to read a child down with them. They are rather tailor-made for bedtime reading, you know. The five stories are sort of A.A. Milne by way of Roald Dahl if you replaced the mean spiritedness of the Dahl with a bit of Milne’s earned sweetness (not the cutesy stuff). My personal favorite of the tales is “The Secret of Snittington Hall” which is very much a story of a man being told what not to do, doing it, and getting adequately (but not overly) punished for his hubris. Hubris beware! The book is full-color. There’s a little place for a child to put their name. It’s just a class act all around. A modern day classic actually deserving of the outdated term. 

A Treasure of Measures by Mike Downs, ill. Joy Hwang Ruiz

I’m so grateful to my time when I served on the Mathical Book Prize committee. I came into that work with a good knowledge of what made a successful picture book, and came away from it with a much more expansive understanding of what can be called a “math book”. It’s not just enough to show counting or shapes. A good math book takes into consideration the best ways to instill a love of math. Take units of measurement, for example. Mike Downs, in his uniquely playful way, considers all the different things that one CAN measure, and then considers the other ways in which those same measurements can be calculated. For example, you can measure rain in decibels (lots of nice definitions of terms appear at the back of the book) but also by counting the drops, or measuring the puddles “with skips and with hops”. Oh, and he’s also rhyming this entire time, which sort of feels like he was setting himself up for extra homework. Whatever the reason, the book works, and is a wonderful introduction to math concepts at a really basic level. 

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That’s it for today! Be sure to stay tuned for more lists on 2024 titles. The full roster is here:

December 1 – Great Board Books

December 2 – Picture Book Readalouds

December 3 – Simple Picture Book Texts

December 4 – Transcendent Holiday Picture Books

December 5 – Rhyming Picture Books

December 6 – Funny Picture Books

December 7 – CaldeNotts

December 8 – Picture Book Reprints

December 9 – Bilingual Books for Kids

December 10 – Math Books for Kids

December 11 – Books with a Message / Social Emotional Learning

December 12 – Fabulous Photography

December 13 – Translated Picture Books

December 14 – Fairy Tales / Folktales / Religious Tales

December 15 – Wordless Picture Books

December 16 – Poetry Books

December 17 – Unconventional Children’s Books

December 18 – Easy Books & Early Chapter Books

December 19 – Comics & Graphic Novels

December 20 – Older Funny Books

December 21 – Science Fiction Books

December 22 – Fantasy Books

December 23 – Informational Fiction

December 24 – Gross Books

December 25 – Science & Nature Books

December 26 – Unique Biographies

December 27 – Blueberry Award Contenders (Celebrating the Environment)

December 28 – Nonfiction Picture Books

December 29 – Nonfiction Books for Older Readers

December 30 – Middle Grade Novels

December 31 – Picture Books

Filed under: 31 Days 31 Lists, Best Books, Best Books of 2024