5 Joyful Books for Kids with January Birthdays

January’s Child, by Andrea Alban Gosline and Lisa Burnett Bossi
“January’s child is vibrant as wind/ Whispering dreams as the new year begins,” Gosline’s birthday month-themed book opens. “You whirl like the breeze through the leaves of a tree/ You are lively and hopeful and eager and free.” You and your kids will have fun deciding if the personalities Gosline has assigned to each month apply to them, and enjoy Lisa Burnett Bossi’s adorable animal illustrations.

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest, by Lynne Cherry
Author Lynne Cherry celebrates her sixty-seventh birthday on January 5. The Great Kapok Tree is probably her best-known book, and it offers the perfect story set in the steamy jungle to ward off the chill on a January night. In Cherry’s lushly illustrated book, a man comes to the Brazilian rain forest to chop down a huge Kapok tree. The tree is tough to chop, and the man takes a nap. As he sleeps, all the creatures of the forest that depend on the tree come to whisper in his ear and make a plea for its survival. Cherry traveled to the rainforest to research her illustrations—and while she sketched was visited by a troop of monkeys, a paca, and a hummingbird.

Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution, by Pat Miller and Kathi Ember
January birthday kids are bound to be so enthusiastic about beginning-of-the-year rituals that they throw themselves into making resolutions. But just what are resolutions? Join Squirrel as she struggles to figure out what a resolution is and what hers should be while helping her friends. Bear explains, “A resolution is a promise you make to yourself to be better or to help others.” Squirrel tries to think of one as she goes about her day, helping her sick friend Skunk, assisting Turtle and Mole with their gardening plans, and cheering up dour Porcupine. Squirrel’s friends help her see that she’s been fulfilling a resolution all along.

Shanté Keys and the New Years Peas, by Gail Piernas Davenport and Marion Eldridge
Many cultures eat special foods for luck as they celebrate the New Year—and in Shanté Keys’ family, the party isn’t complete without black-eyed peas. When Shanté’s grandma realizes she forgot this key ingredient, she sends Shanté around the town to ask for some. Piernas Davenport portrays Shanté’s pea quest in joyful, rhyming text, as Shanté learns from her neighbors about their traditions, including Chinese New Year’s dumplings, Scottish haggis, and sweets for Diwali. This book could inspire a lucky menu for your kid’s January birthday party.

Cold Snap, by Eileen Spinelli and Marjorie Priceman
January kids celebrate their birthdays at the coldest time of year. You can practically feel the frost accumulating in your bones as you read Spinelli’s account of a cold snap that strikes a little town called Toby Mills, causing the icicle dangling from the statue of their founder, General Toby, to grow from an inch long all the way to the ground. Priceman’s vibrant pictures will remind kids of all the possibilities for winter fun even on the coldest days, and the winter party the town’s mayor decides to throw to cheer everyone up might inspire ideas for a birthday celebration complete with a bonfire, cider, and maple sugar-on-snow candy.