Every year I put together a list of my favorite children’s books I read that year.
As in previous years, the books are broken down into age categories. This is definitely to make it easier for you to find appropriate books and not because I’m incapable of whittling the list down to something reasonable.
Books can make a great gift for kids, but with the supply chain delays this year, consider giving a gift card to your local Indie bookstore or bookshop.com.
Babies and Toddlers
Board books have chunky, easy-to-turn pages and short text that works well for babies and toddlers.
Circle Under Berry By Carter Higgins
B is for Baby by Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank
Picture Books
Picture books is often what people think of as “children’s books.” They’re short, fully illustrated, and great for reading aloud.
Fiction Picture books
Something Happened In Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard
Don’t Hug Doug (He Doesn’t Like It) by Carrie Finnison and Daniel Wiseman
On Account of the Gum by Adam Rex
Secret, Secret Agent Guy by Kira Bigwood and Celia Krampien
Nonfiction Picture Books
The Girl Who Named Pluto: The Story of Venetia Burney by Alice B. McGinty and Elizabeth Haidle
Survivor Tree by Marcie Colleen and Aaron Becker
Bartali’s Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy’s Secret Hero by Megan Hoyt and Iacopo Bruno
Let Liberty Rise!: How America’s Schoolchildren Helped Save the Statue of Liberty by Chana Stiefel and Chuck Groenink
Middle Grade
Middle grade is usually what people think of for “children’s novels.”
Middle Grade Novels
Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera
The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family by Sarah Kapit
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos
Middle Grade Graphic Novels
Twins: A Graphic Novel by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright
The Leak by Kate Reed Petty and Andrea Bell
When Stars are Scattered by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson
All Summer Long by Hope Larson
Young Adult
Young adult is written with teen protagonists, but many adults read them too.
The Inheritance Games (series) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Go With the Flow (graphic novel) by Karen Schneemann and Lily Williams
Cemetery Boys by Aidan Thomas
Truly Devious (series) by Maureen Johnson
More Book Recommendations
Want more book recommendations? I have plenty!
