"Esme's Birthday Conga Line" Inspired Reading list

Esme’s Birthday Conga Line by Lourdes Heuer was a fun book for our Budding Readers kids to read and discuss. Each chapter is full of vibrant and colorful illustrations for readers to enjoy and repetition text that aid early reading.

Esme is celebrating her birthday, and when Mimi and Pipo don’t through her a birthday party she decides to plan her own party, all by herself, until of course she enlists the help of all her neighbors in the topmost best building and her cat El Toro. Together they through the upmost best birthday bash for Esme. It is a charming story about family, friendships, and fiesta!

For our inspired reading list, we focused mainly on the themes of birthday party celebrations and intergenerational family. The characters include Esme and her grandparents, her cat El Toro, and all their friends in the apartment building. We also included a picture book written by the same author and with the same theme of family.

Here is a short list of suggestions on what to read next:

Starla Jean Takes the Cake

by Elana K. Arnold, illustrations by A. N. Kang (Macmillan)

Starla Jean is working together with her parents to make her little sister’s first birthday just right. She has also enlisted the help of her pet chicken, Opal Egg. Will they all be able to work together to pull this party off? A charming and funny early chapter book for early readers.

How it relates: Birthday party, similar format, family, pets

The Secret of the Plátano

by Luz Maria Mack, illustrations by Stephany Mesa (Soaring Kite Books)

A picture book story that celebrates the bonds between a grandparent and grandchild through music, culture, and dance.

How it relates: Intergenerational family, music, Latinx, celebration

When’s My Birthday?

by Julie Fogliano, illustrations by Christian Robinson (Roaring Brook Press)

Through rhyming text and playful illustrations, this joyful story shares the many questions kids ask leading up to their big day. “When’s my birthday? Where’s my birthday? How many days until my birthday?”

How it relates: Birthday celebration, female lead

Moira’s Birthday

by Robert Munsch, illustrations by Michael Martchenko (Annick Press)

Moira is eager to celebrate her birthday with a huge bash, which to her parent's concern may include grades 1 through 6, annnnnd Kindergarten.

How it relates: Birthday planning and celebration

The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess party

by Shannon & Dean Hale, illustrations by LeUyen Pham (Candlewick Press)

Princess Magnolia is thrilled to be celebrating her birthday with her best friends but when their party games are constantly interrupted by monster sightings, she worries that her secret identity may accidentally be revealed.

How it relates: Party planning, birthday celebration, female lead

Happy Birthday to Me

by Thao Lam (Groundwood Books)

A wonderfully playful picture book that shares all the different emotions kids may feel on their birthday and growing up, and that ultimately, it’s okay to have all those feelings. To be yourself on the big day!

How it relates: Birthday celebration

I Don’t Like Birthday Parties

by Maureen Gaspari, illustrations by Siski Kalla (Welbeck)

A charming story about a boy who doesn’t like traditional birthday parties because they are too loud, too crowded, and too chaotic! Instead of trying to fit in, he decides to celebrate his birthday in his own special way.

How it relates: Birthday parties, celebration

How to Have a Birthday

by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrations Cindy Derby (Candlewick)

A beautiful picture book with simple text that celebrates the wonder and magic of what a birthday, whether it’s your first or your 90th, the anticipation of the big day can be special and exciting.

How it relates: Female lead, birthday celebration

You Be Grandma

by Karla Clark, illustrations by Addy Rivera Sonda (Macmillan)

A clever rhyming picture book that tells the story of one exhausted grandma and what happens when she asks her granddaughter to take over and "be" grandma.

How it relates: Intergenerational family, Latinx

On This Airplane

by Lourdes Heuer, illustrations by Sara Palacios (Tundra Books)

A child and her family travel by airplane to their new home. The story shares the people they meet and their experiences on the plane, leading them to somewhere special.

How it relates: Same author, family, Latinx