31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Fabulous Photography Books for Kids
I don’t know if you know this, but each year I reserve the right to cancel a topic on this 31 Days, 31 Lists list and replace it with a wholly new one, should my mood dictate such a switcheroo. For example, this year, due to the sad downtick in gross books for kids, I replaced that topic with Bilingual Books for Kids. And, to be perfectly honest with you, I considered getting rid of this year’s Photography list. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE photography. I was a photography major in college, after all. I feel it’s the great unsung, untapped genre of children’s books and is vastly deserving of more attention. That said, I had the distinct impression that there wouldn’t be enough notable photography books for my list. I tend to eschew Getty/Shutterstock image photography books, you see. Nothing against them personally, but their stock photography simply can’t compare with the dedicated photographers you’ll find working to make the best possible books. Fortunately, I miscalculated. 2024 had some true photographic beauties and we’re going to experience them firsthand, right now!
So with that in mind, please put your hands together and help me celebrate the great works of children’s literature photography to come out in 2024!
If you’d like a full PDF of today’s list you can find one here.
Curious about the previous years’ collections? Then take a gander!
2024 Fabulous Photography for Kids
Clouds in Space: Nebulae, Stardust, and Us by Teresa Robeson, ill. Diāna Renžina
Nebulae finally get their time to shine (literally, I suppose). You can tell kids all day long that they’re made out of spacedust, but aside from it sounding particularly poetic, it’s kind of a vague term. This book personifies a nebula and explains why it both is and is not like the clouds in our skies. The books does a great job of integrating photographs of the universe alongside the illustrations of Renžina, giving the whole enterprise a fun and otherworldly feel. I thought Robeson did a darned decent job explaining the origins of a nebulae in fairly poetic but still scientific terms: “Sometimes, I am the last burst of breath expelled by a star or a supernova lofting elements into space like dandelion seeds on the wind.” Or, later, “You are grown from scattered stardust sprouted in a stellar nursery. I AM the stardust AND the nursery.” Beautiful backmatter (literally, these photos are jaw-dropping), a bibliography, websites to explore, and more abound. This one’s a keeper.
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A Meerkat Diary: My Journey Into the Wild World of a Meerkat Mob by Suzi Eszterhas
Wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas takes you up close and very personal with a meerkat family and their various trials and tribulations. Adorable and informative. I regret to inform you that Suzi Eszterhas does it yet again. To my mind she’s too darn reliable. Every book she creates is just chock full of great research and amazing photography. Now what’s so strange about this book is that this particular mob of meerkats has been specifically groomed, so to speak, to be comfortable around humans. That doesn’t mean the humans intervene and I do wish there were more explanation for why this has occurred, but if I were to hazard a guess it’s for research purposes, so as to study them more closely. The photographs in this book are, as you might imagine, extraordinary. You simply will not find better meerkat images anywhere else. It’s the perfect length and chock full of facts. Resist if you can.
The Mighty Pollinators by Helen Frost, ill. Rick Lieder
“Here come the pollinators, / small and mighty, / holding the world together.” Get up close and personal with the tiny critters that pollinate our world. Breathtaking photography coupled with beautiful verse. I mean, should we just reserve a permanent slot on our annual lists that says something like [Enter Helen Frost Poetry/Photography Book Here] or something along those lines? Who can compete with her when she pairs with Rick Lieder? No one, that’s who! As visual deep dives into pollination go, I dare say this has no equal. Lieder took the time to make sure that every bug in this book isn’t just showing its good side to the camera, but has copious specks of pollen on its body as well. And, bonus, the poetry itself is pretty darn good (no small thing). Nature at its most beautiful.
Nature Spy Guide by Shelley Rotner
What does it take to be a nature spy? Well, you’ve got to get outside and listen and taste and look and feel. There’s a whole world out there ready to explore, and this book with its vibrant photographs will help get you excited to do so! So I was quickly scanning the publication page here to try and see if Shelley Rotner utilized any Getty images or Shutterstock photos for her book. And insofar as I can tell, the answer is NOPE! Not a jot! This is pure Rotner goodness, all the way. I like very much the hook of turning kids into “nature spies”. Gives observations outdoors a sort of extra oomph, don’t you think? This book reads young, encompasses a wide range of seasons, and really makes you want to get outside and observing. If we’re looking for books that inculcate a love of nature in young readers, I can hardly think of a better selection.
Quill the Forest Keeper by Marije Tolman, translated by David Colmer
A lovely little title about a small hedgehog who gives WAY more than it should. In this story, Quill is a hedgehog who wants to keep his corner of his world clean. Yet every time he cleans one area, another one gets dirty. Exhausted by his Sisyphean efforts, he goes to sleep and his friends try to pick up the slack. Here’s the funny thing about the book. Its original title is apparently a portmanteau of the Dutch word for hedgehog along with an ending designated for gods in Dutch mythology. How the heck do you translate a title like that into English? Long story short, you don’t, you find something equally good. From what I can understand, this book was actually created for Children’s Book Week, and using Marije’s signature style it uses a Pantone 5th color to bring out this marvelous bright bright orange in all of the spreads. Marije was apparently with her family on a trip to the Scottish Highlands when she photographed all those beautiful images you’re seeing in her landscapes. Combine that with some gouache for the little animals and you have yourself a book. And is there anything better than fuzzy woodland creatures paired with jaw-dropping landscape art? A lovely follow-up to the beautiful picture book Little Fox (released in the U.S. in 2020)
Rumie Goes Rafting by Meghan Marentette
When we talk about photographic picture books, we too often end up just talking about nature photography. And that’s all well and good but far more dangerous, delicate, and difficult than any book slapped together with Getty Images is a fictional story told with models and photographed in a realistic way. That’s why I was delighted to stumble across Meghan Marentette’s Rumie. So the real danger with models is movement, right? How do you make static figures look like they’re moving on a page? Marentette jumps right in from the title page. There you see Rumie running down a hill towards the water. If there’s any digital trickery at work here, I can’t see it. Then you open the book and boy, it’s lovely. You just can’t fake natural sunlight in the woods, can you? The book tells the story of impatient Rumie and her desire to take a raft for a ride with disastrous consequences. It does a rather delightful job of showing action in a seemingly static form, and I loved how Marentette handled the expressions on the characters’ faces. This one’s a keeper.
Starlight Symphony by Buffy Silverman
Silverman’s books with Lerner always tend to contain a fair amount of stock photography, but whatta gorgeous collection of it there is. This book takes the reader to the moment when the sun sets and the sounds of nighttime nature come into their own. Each animal has its own particular sound, which is fun to say. Things like “Eee-oh-lay!” for the wood thrush or my personal favorite, the bittern. “Oong-KA-chunk!”. You can hear the readaloud potential here already, can’t you? Imagine a nature-based storytime where you get all the kids to make the sounds with you. Oo! It could be a jammie time in the evening! Or an outdoors evening storytime in the woods! Lots of possibilities here. The text is nice and simple but introduces a whole slew of different animals. And the photography is interesting because it has to confer the idea of taking place at night. I did read this wondering if there was some work done on the edges of some of these photographs. If so, it’s well done. No one would be able to tell. The end result is a fairly consistent visual feel for nighttime critters and their sounds. Previously Seen On: The Readaloud List
So with all that in mind, here are the other lists for 2024:
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
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Kirkus, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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