Because of a Shoe by Fogliano, Julie

Everybody has tantrums (kids and moms) in this tender yet funny picture book about an especially impossible-to-put-on pair of shoes--from New York Times bestselling author Julie Fogliano and three-time Caldecott Honor winner Marla Frazee, creator of The Boss Baby.

Even when it's time to put on our favorite shoes and leave the house, and even when that time turns into a tantrum where someone can't stop screaming, or flopping on the floor, or throwing a shoe across the room, and someone is making their maddest face and everyone else is waiting . . . Even then, nothing can come between the loving bond of a mother and their child. Not even a shoe.

With expressive text from bestselling author Julie Fogliano and timeless art from three-time Caldecott honor medalist Marla Frazee, here is a story that takes readers through a downward spiral of a shoe-inspired tantrum and is a reminder that even in moments of frustration, we are always our most loveable selves.

Author: Julie Fogliano
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published: 02/03/2026
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.09lbs
Size: 11.38h x 9.09w x 0.43d
ISBN: 9780593707401
Audience: Ages 4-8

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 02/01/2026
School Library Journal 01/16/2026 pg. 1
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2025
Publishers Weekly 11/03/2025
Horn Book Magazine 01/01/2026 pg. 58

About the Author
Julie Fogliano is the New York Times bestselling author of And Then It's Spring and If You Want to See a Whale and several other picture books including Just In Case You Want to Fly, When's My Birthday, and If I Was the Sunshine. Recipient of the 2013 the Ezra Jack Keats award, her books have been translated into more than ten languages. Julie lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and three children.

Marla Frazee is the recipient of a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Picture Book and a three-time Caldecott Honor winner. She has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, including All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, and Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, as well as her own Farmer Books trilogy, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, and The Boss Baby, which inspired the DreamWorks Animation film. She is also the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Clementine chapter books by Sara Pennypacker.