By Cyrisse Jaffee

Three light-hearted books about family life reveal deeper meanings.

On Our Way! What a Day! by JaNay Brown-Wood. Illustrated by Tamisha Anthony. Penguin Random House, 2025.

Lola’s Perfect Hideout! by Anna McQuinn. Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw. Charlesbridge, 2026.

The Blue Velvet Chair by Rio Cortez. Pictures by Aaron Marin. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2025.

Six children in a family—of various ages, sizes, and skin colors—are on their way to celebrate Gram’s “special day” in On Our Way! What a Day! Just as they are about to leave, they realize they have no present to bring. As they make their way across town, by bus and on foot, they spot items that perhaps Gram would like. Despite each one’s special qualities (a scritchy-scratchy pine cone, a few jingly-jangly quarters, tippy-tappy pencils, and so on), the children decide that Gram won’t like these ordinary, everyday items. However, the children find them quite appealing and bring them along.

There is a sense of musicality throughout the story. The lively, full-page color drawings feature posters of jazz greats and there are musical notes that float across the page. In one scene, someone plays the sousaphone, in another, a busker plays a banjo. The kids seem to skip, dance, and march their way through the town. Their mom joins in, too. When they arrive at Gram’s, they realize that together, their individual treasures make up a very special family band. In a grand parade, they play their “instruments,” and sing happy birthday. The last page concludes, “Gram does like the things we found, but mostly she LOVES having us around.”

The high-spirited, creative children, the descriptive and rhyming repetitive text, and the underlying message about how love is the best gift of all make this a spirited read-aloud for the preschool set.

Lola, the main character is Lola’s Perfect Hideaway and many other books, is a preschool favorite. In this new adventure, Lola enjoys her independence but also realizes that there can be too much “alone” time. Lola loves playing with her brother Leo and a new baby sister, but once in a while she needs her own space. With an old umbrella, a blue blanket, and some decorations, she fashions a unique hideaway. Her dad helps her make a sign which reads, “No babies, no brothers.” (Her dolls, books, blanket, and Makeda the cat are allowed, though.)

When her cousin Hani arrives, she is also allowed in—because Hani is also a “big girl” like Lola. Mostly, though, Lola enjoys her solitude. At night, Lola decides to sleep in her tent, and everyone crowds in to say goodnight. When she wakes up and rejoins the family at breakfast, she realizes she has missed her noisy, crowded family and rewrites her sign: “Big Girls Only (Except on Sundays).”

In her usual warm and friendly manner, McQuinn perfectly captures the feelings of a child who enjoys her family but also needs a little breathing space. Even children without siblings will understand Lola’s experience. A lovely note on the endpapers explains, “Sometimes the world can be overwhelming for a small person. When big feelings arise, many seek comfort on small and contained spaces.” (Adults do too!) The appealing characters, story, illustrations, and message make this an ideal read-aloud book for sharing and talking—either one-on-one or in a bigger group.

In The Blue Velvet Chair, a little girl wakes up each morning and climbs into the blue velvet chair in her living room. She looks out the window and watches the city outside change with the seasons. In winter, she sees snow in the rooftops and brown leaves on the trees. Or the sky night be gray when it rains. In the spring, pink blossoms fall. Sometimes she sees people or a cat. At bedtime, she checks out the cityscape again: “I can see headlights on the fronts of cars and lamps lit in the garden and light from the moon.”

The text is simple and descriptive, at times thoughtful and poetic. It’s the vivid illustrations by Aaron Marin that really bring the story, the people, and the surroundings to life. Done in a collage-style, the color drenches the pages. The little girl, with brown skin and black curly hair, is very appealing. And the city is an interesting mixture of high-rise buildings and nature, which is a more balanced representation. The inside of the little girl’s house is nice and cozy, filled with family. The information about the changing seasons is well-integrated into everyday life. As the little girl’s mom says–about the outside world and the family itself—“We are always changing.”

Cyrisse Jaffee is a former children’s and YA librarian, children’s book editor, and a creator of educational materials for WGBH. She holds a master’s degree in Library Science from Simmons College and lives in Newton, MA.