074 - The Appeal of Dark Picture Books

11/02/2025 30 min
074 - The Appeal of Dark Picture Books

Listen "074 - The Appeal of Dark Picture Books"

Episode Synopsis

What is the appeal of dark picture books? Do kids want to read (and re-read) books about tougher topics? How do you make these books kid-friendly?  Julie Hedlund leads our Roundtable discussion about dark picture books, what place they have in children's lives, and why they can be so important.  Books mentioned in this episode: The Rough Patch by Brian Lies The Longest Letsgoboy by Derick Wilder and Catia Chien Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson and Hudson Talbott Kamau & ZuZu Find a Way by Aracelis Girmay and Diana Ejaita Finding Papa by Angela Pham Krans and Thi Bui Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour and Daniel Egnéus The House Before Falling into the Sea by Ann Suk Wan and Hanna Cha The Skull by Jon Klassen The Cat Man of Aleppo by Karim Shamsi-Basha, Irene Latham, Yuko Shimizu The Circus Comes to the Village by Yutaka Kobayashi Let this episode linger and check out a few of these picks as you discover the world of dark picture books.