What is the appeal of dark picture books? Do kids want to read (and re-read) books about tougher topics? How do you make these books kid-friendly?

Julie Hedlund leads our Roundtable discussion about dark picture books, what place they have in children's lives, and why they can be so important.

Books mentioned in this episode:

• The Rough Patch by Brian Lies
• The Longest Letsgoboy by Derick Wilder and Catia Chien
• Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson and Hudson Talbott
• Kamau & ZuZu Find a Way by Aracelis Girmay and Diana Ejaita
• Finding Papa by Angela Pham Krans and Thi Bui
• Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour and Daniel Egnéus
• The House Before Falling into the Sea by Ann Suk Wan and Hanna Cha
• The Skull by Jon Klassen
• The Cat Man of Aleppo by Karim Shamsi-Basha, Irene Latham, Yuko Shimizu
• The Circus Comes to the Village by Yutaka Kobayashi

Let this episode linger and check out a few of these picks as you discover the world of dark picture books.