📓 backlist notebook

february field notes: backlist picture books from the library

Hello, friends!

A few weeks ago, I discovered something.

My library’s hold limit is fifty books.

Fifty!

In all honesty, I can’t believe I’ve never hit that limit before.

One of my unofficial reading goals this year is to read more backlist picture books. To find the hidden gems that aren’t new releases, aren’t stacked on the front tables, and aren’t circulating all over the internet. The quiet books that have been waiting patiently on library shelves for years.

There are so many of them. And they are free! Just sitting there.

If you’ve ever wondered what to check out at the library, beyond the newest releases, you know the feeling. The shelves are full. The options are endless. And sometimes the best books aren’t the ones being displayed.

So here’s what I’m doing.

Each month, I’m placing a stack of picture books on hold. Sometimes they’re thoughtfully chosen after a deep dive through some of my favorite book-finding sources. Sometimes I click “place hold” simply because a cover caught my eye.

I’ll read them myself. I’ll read them to my kids (if they’ll let me). Some I know immediately I’ll want to reread. Others I won’t.

Enter the Backlist Notebook.

Below, I’m sharing the full February stack, the backlist children’s books I checked out from the library, the ones that surprised me, the ones that didn’t quite land, and the few I can already tell I’ll return to.

If you’ve ever stood in the children’s section wondering what to check out next, this is for you.