Autumn is a season of changes. At our home, as the leaves yellowed and the days shortened, my youngest child started middle school. That means picture books have me feeling a little nostalgia for the past these days, right alongside a lot of excitement for new things to come.
Many of these books are about big changes and adjusting to them, like living with a new baby, moving to a new place, or finding a new heart in Christ’s kingdom. But some are also about the little changes happening around us every day, like laughter over a fleeting moment of childhood imagination or settling down to sleep to prepare for a new day.
With all these experiences arriving on the horizon and then flying past like interstate billboards, it’s sweet to remember that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).
As you hand one of these brand-new books to a young reader or curl up to enjoy it together, let these stories remind you to enjoy the goodness of the moment, even as it is changing to something new, and that God’s goodness is everlasting.
1. God Gives Sleep by Betsy Childs Howard, illustrated by Bethan Welby (TGC Store | Amazon)
When our family was exhausted and planning a big move with four children ages 6 and under, I really could have used this little book from Betsy Childs Howard. God Gives Sleep is a rhyming board book with illustrations of adorable animals (sleeping ladybugs!) and two simple refrains that even very young listeners can repeat or “read” for themselves: “God gives sleep” and “God will keep.”
Both reflect promises from God that feel vital to the early days of parenting filled with sweet, sleepy snuggles and long, sleepless nights. The last picture shows the entire family asleep and includes Isaiah 40:31 (“Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength,” NIV). God Gives Sleep is engaging, gentle, funny, and wise, and I’ve already given it to parents of new babies.
2. Winnie-the-Pooh: The Graphic Novel by A. A. Milne, adapted by Kevan Chandler and Joe Sutphin (Amazon)
Full disclosure: I’m a huge Pooh fan. I’ve probably read the original Milne book dozens of times, and I can be a little sniffy about adaptations. But I loved this one. While I missed Milne’s distinctive narration in parts of the storytelling, this graphic novel retains enough of the original language and has such beautiful artwork that it easily justifies its existence.
Parents of young independent readers often ask me for recommendations for books complex enough to be engaging but with content and formatting suitable for early elementary school. This version perfectly fits that space where 6-to-9-year-olds can track the story through the pictures but also enjoy the challenge of some complex vocabulary (“Sudden and Temporary Immersion”) and jokes that reward context research (“An ambush is a sort of Surprise.” “So is a gorse-bush sometimes.”).
Winnie-the-Pooh: The Graphic Novel is a sweet and worthy tribute to this classic celebration of early childhood in all its imaginative wonder.
3. The Upside-Down, Inside-Out, Can’t-Believe-It Kingdom by Jonathan Landry Cruse, illustrated by Joe Hox (Amazon)
The adventure begins with a son begging his father to tell him an exciting bedtime story with dragons and knights. The result is this retelling of the gospel as a quest with a king and a prince and a reminder of our humble place in the kingdom.
Joe Hox’s illustrations stand out for being traditional and bright, with a dragon that isn’t too fierce for younger readers but also enough detail within the pictures to engage older readers. The story tells us that the good King will “make us be strong with the strength of His might,” a powerful message for young knights who want to do great things for the kingdom.
4. Doing Something New: A Prayer for Beginnings by Mitali Perkins, illustrated by Andrés Landazábal (Amazon)
Mitali Perkins includes a note in the back of Doing Something New about how she moved many times in childhood: “By the time we settled in California for seventh grade, we had lived in India, Ghana, Cameroon, England, Mexico, and New York.”
Changes often come with both losses and gains, and Perkins writes with sympathy and encouragement for children walking through all sorts of new experiences. The text reminds readers to live like Jesus—showing love, courage, and kindness—with the knowledge that Jesus also walked through hard experiences and that he’s with us now, wherever we go.
The pictures include what appear to be a new school, new friends, new seasons, and the potential loss of or separation from a loved one. The rhyming words offer this prayer to Christ as a resource for others experiencing changes—“You trusted God and God helped you / Here I am, Lord—help me too.”
Also check out these books:
Jude and the Extraordinary, Spectacular, Miraculous Day: A Creative Retelling of the Feeding of the 5,000 by Jessica Dennis Bush features beautiful mosaic illustrations that look refreshingly like real art rather than AI and a message about offering Jesus what we have. (TGC Store | Amazon)
Made like Me: A True Story from the Beginning of Everything by Jen Wilkin (with illustrations by Rommel Ruiz) tells the story of the creation of the world with vibrant, kinetic illustrations and an emphasis on how we were designed for community from the beginning of time. (TGC Store | Amazon)
The Mansoul Chronicles, Book 2: The Schemes and Snares of Diabolus by Tyler Van Halteren (with illustrations by Uyen Nguyen and Aleksander Jasinski) is an illustrated chapter book retelling a John Bunyan story from the 1600s with surprisingly relevant themes for Christians today. (Amazon)
The Sweetest of Lemons by Daniel Nayeri (with illustrations by Rahele Jomepour Bell) is both a true story and a fairy tale about “a lemon so perfectly sweet it cured sadness itself.” Like the best fairy stories, it carries themes of courage, perseverance, longing, and—most importantly—hope, acknowledging hardship but resting in the certainty of goodness on the horizon. (Amazon)
Where Wonder Leads: An Adventure in God’s Wild and Wonderful World by Eryn Lynum (with illustrations by Chiara Fedele) is from the host of the Nat Theo podcast and somehow manages to touch on grief, nature activities, profound theology, and fascinating scientific facts in just over 100 illustrated pages. (Amazon)
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