We get it. You’re practicing social distancing (or you should be). The kids are home from school. The libraries are closed. You’re looking for some books the kids can read (or that you can read to them)… preferably with repeat reading value. We’ve got you covered.

In this series, we’ll round up and quickly recommend some books that either (a) come cheap on Amazon and are well worth the price or (b) have ebook versions you can quickly and easily download.

When Mo Willems wrapped up his phenomenally successful (and incredible) Elephant & Piggie series, tears were shed from coast to coast. After 25 books, Willems set aside everyone’s favorite best friends.

But the series – in a sense – has continued in two separate beginning-reader series. The humor and sensibility Willems injected into those books live on in Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! and Unlimited Squirrels.

(Listen to our conversation with Mo Willems here.)

In the former, Elephant Gerald and Piggie literally live on and introduce each of the books in the series. Though the books are written and illustrated by other A-list children’s book talent, they nevertheless hit many of the same chords as Willems’s heartfelt Elephant & Piggie books.

Dan Santat’s Harold & Hog Pretend for Real! is a direct play on the Elephant & Piggie books and characters. Santat introduces us to another elephant-and-pig best friend duo who happen to be the opposite of the more familiar pair. Hog is careful; Harold is not. And this discrepancy causes a bit of a psychological dilemma and throws their friendship into doubt.

(Listen to our conversation with Dan Santat here.)

What About Worms!? is the newest entry (out on May 19) in the series and from Ryan T. Higgins (of the adorably awesome Bruce picture books). Tiger is big and furry and strong, but he’s terribly afraid of worms. And when he encounters them, he kind of loses it. But are the worms really all that terrible? Or does his fear of worms just make it seem so?

This one is eerily on point in the current fear-soaked climate.

Unlimited Squirrels is actually Mo Willems’s “replacement” series to Elephant & Piggie… starring a bunch of adorable squirrels. And it’s everything you’ve come to expect from Willems. The first entry was I Lost My Tooth! and the latest is Who Is the Mystery Reader?

This one is longer than what you might be used to in this format, but that’s just more bang for the buck! You get an adorable story of squirrel superpowers, a lesson in phonics and fluency, some groan-worthy dad jokes, and a quick primer on the writing/editing/publishing process.