December 13, 2025
This week, our Bookstore’s Inventory Manager, Leah Bronstein, shares some of her favorite 2025 books for young readers—spanning board books, chapter books, and middle-grade titles. You’ll also find my selection of picture books on our website.
And be sure to join Leah each month at The Nightlighters, our free in-person reading group for members of The Center for Fiction. January’s pick is Angela Flournoy’s The Wilderness, which we launched at The Center this fall. Not a member yet? Join today.
Happy reading,
Melanie Fleishman
Buyer, The Center for Fiction Bookstore
Featured Books
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The Five Wolves
By Peter McCarty
Published by First Second
Middle Grade Graphic Novel • Caldecott Honor winner Peter McCarty’s graphic novel finds five wolves on an epic journey of art and self-discovery. Led by Don Pedro Lupine, these intrepid heroes confront the twin questions of what it means to make art and, more importantly, to share that art with others. Clever prose is balanced with richly detailed ink drawings, transporting readers to a whimsical land where wolves paint murals and cats lead naval battles. Drawing comparisons to Where the Wild Things Are and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Five Wolves is for readers to whom dreams hold as much power as reality.
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The Treasure of Ocean Parkway
By Sarvenaz Tash
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Middle Grade • Who knew one of the most fun novels about living in Brooklyn and being a young New Yorker in the 2020s would come in the form of a middle-grade novel? But there’s no need to live in NYC to enjoy Tash’s follow-up to last year’s Queen of Ocean Parkway, which reunites us with Roya and Amin—part-time podcasters and amateur detectives, full-time 12-year-olds. When their neighbor, Thea, asks for their help to find a treasure trove hidden in the trio’s apartment building, the pair jumps into action! The result: a cozy mystery novel that is full of heart and will keep you guessing until the end.
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Night Chef
By Mika Song
Published by Random House Graphic
Early Reader Graphic Novel • I’ve been a fan of Song’s since she published her Norma and Belly graphic novel series, and her latest effort, Night Chef, has somehow upped the charming and offbeat energy her writing is known for. When our raccoon protagonist—the titular Night Chef—suddenly becomes a babysitter for a baby crow (which, minutes prior, was going to be the perfect egg for her ramen—whoops!), she sets out to reunite the chick with its parents. Of course, nothing goes quite to plan, and Night Chef finds herself fending off an evil owl, trying cricket kebabs, and even finding a family of her own. Song’s expressive characters, rendered in a mix of ink and watercolor, will captivate everyone from newly independent readers to the more adventurous foodies among us (aged worms, anyone?).
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Too Early
By Nora Ericson
Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers
Board Book • Ericson and MacKay have given readers an ode to mornings that is full of quiet wonder. Told from the perspective of a young child who wakes their parents before the sun has a chance to start its day, Too Early captures the soft moments that happen in the twilight preceding sunrise. MacKay’s illustrations slowly shift from jewel-toned blues and purples to an invigorating yellow as the world opens its eyes. And Ericson’s melodic rhymes, along with onomatopoeic word choices—the low coos of birds, the gentle burble burble of a coffee pot—add to the vibrant sensory journey that the book takes you on.
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A World to Meet
By Katie Harnett
Published by Rise x Penguin Workshop
Board Book • At The Center, we often get the question: What book should I get for a new baby? And while we all have our classic favorites, A World to Meet has become a new go-to. Harnett’s illustrations of bugs, trees, hands, and feet—just a sample of things that babies will meet—are unfussy and sweet. There is a calmness to the text that makes it the perfect library addition for new readers you know.
