Here’s to keeping it interesting. Pushing the envelope. Pushing boundaries. Pushing buttons. Here’s to children’s books that expand our assumptions of what a children’s book can be.
The School Library Journal (SLJ)’s website highlights these (and other) astonishingly unconventional children’s books in a blog post by Tavis Jonker, an elementary school librarian in Michigan.
Astro by Manuel Marsol, translated by Lizzie Davis
Transit Children’s Editions | April 8, 2025
Why It’s Unconventional: A visitor from another world provokes existential questions about life, death, and friendship in this Spanish import. Otherworldly illustrations add to the uniqueness.
The Five Wolves by Peter McCarty
First Second (Macmillan) | October 14, 2025
Why It’s Unconventional: Caldecott Honor winner McCarty is in full departure mode with this format-bending 288-page picture book/graphic novel about art itself. Detailed pencil drawings mix with textual elements that read like chants from another dimension.
This Pirate Needs Your Help! by David LaRochelle and YOU
Candlewick Press | January 7, 2025
Why It’s Unconventional: This cleverly crafted book comes equipped with a dry-erase marker that the reader must use to complete the story.
Ra! Ta! Ma! Cue! by Howie Shia
Annick Press | September 30, 2025
Why It’s Unconventional: A group of children use the power of rhythm to free the Grown-Ups from their captors. The art mixes monotone scenes with colorful abstract interpretations of sound.
Come On Out! by Alberto Lot
Henry Holt | October 28, 2025
Why It’s Unconventional: Pages turn from bottom to top in this unique twist on the concept of book as object. A disembodied hand reaches into the darkness, searching for a furry someone who doesn’t want to come out. Maybe the reader can help?
The blog post also includes links to Jonker’s selection of “unconventional children’s books” from 2016 to 2024, and his choice of the “wildest children’s books” from 2012 to 2015.
May your new year be a fresh chapter!