I’m not much of a picture book reader, but every year, some gems come my way, gems that I love revisiting before I start a new year of reading. Most of these books were sent to me as review copies, but of course, that doesn’t affect my opinion in any way. In fact, if a book doesn’t work for me, I simply don’t review it.
In no particular order, here are eight picture books I loved in 2025.
What Feelings Like Best
What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking was one of my favourite picture books in 2023; What Feelings Like Best is one I loved reading last year. Whimsical and tender, this beautifully illustrated picture book is one I could keep returning to. Targeted at older readers, this is one of those picture books that I believe adults may enjoy more than children do!
1 2 3 Idlis in a Sambar Sea
1 2 3 Idlis in a Sambar Sea is such a delightful picture book! Told in rhyme, it introduces numbers through food from places all over India. It takes the reader on multiple journeys all at once—culinary, geographic and numeric!
I Am Quiet: A Story for the Introvert in All of Us
I Am Quiet is a story that is very close to my heart. It’s the lovely tale of a quiet boy—one who is not shy, but just quiet. All kinds of things go on inside his head, things that the wider world isn’t privy to. From the design of the book to the story it tells, I loved everything about it!
Rosa in a Rush
Rosa in a Rush is one of the many Hook Books I read and loved in 2025. Poetic language, a feisty protagonist and a mystery come together in this pacy, joyous story that has you whizzing through its pages, wondering where Rosa will take you next!
What Could It Be?
What Could It Be? is a Hook Book that made me chuckle right through. When pictures add another layer to a story, I enjoy reading the book all the more, and that was how it was with this fun picture book. The story of two children and a lizard, it’s one that I think a lot of young readers will thoroughly enjoy!
Manvinder’s Medu Vada
Medu vadas have to be round. And they must have a hole in the middle. How hard is it to understand that? Manvinder’s Medu Vada is a heartwarming story of a boy’s quest for the perfect medu vada, and the way his entire family gets into the act to get that medu vada to him. This Hook Book is a wholesome read that makes you fall in love with its stubborn protagonist!
The Wish Fish
A charming story set in a village in Bengal, The Wish Fish spoke to the child in me. Told with gentleness and empathy, it is a story that reminds you to do the right thing. The best part is that even as it delivers its message, it steers clear of being a preachy story with a clear moral!
Everything Changes and That’s Ok
Everything Changes and That’s Ok is one of those gorgeous picture books that make you stop and admire each page. Stunning illustrations make you slow down and pay attention, and that is what the book is about–that things change, but that doesn’t make them any less beautiful. Like dawn comes after a dark night, change carries the promise of something equally beautiful, if not more so.
Have I listed any of your favourites? I would love to know what picture books you read and loved recently. Tomorrow, I will share my favourite chapter books from last year!
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