The pandemic seems to have hit this category the hardest. Most of the books I read this year were digital rather than in print. I don’t know that board books work particularly well for me in digital format, because so many of them play with textures, flaps and movable elements. Here are the four board books that managed to catch my attention in 2020:
Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi, illustrations by Ashley Lukashevsky
With bright illustrations, this book takes a firm stand of hope and optimism as long as hard work is done and children are raised to see themselves as part of the solution.
Dungeon Critters by Natalie Reiss and Sara Goetter (9781250195463)
Join a band of brave heroes who adventure through dungeons and then take on more sinister threats above ground. There is Rose, the pun-flinging pink cat mage. June is the quieter dog healer who keeps the entire group alive. Goro is the big green creature who serves as the muscle. Finally, Jeremy is the frog with a sharp sword and a vendetta against The Baron. After finding a strange plant, our heroes must figure out how it is being used by The Baron to potentially take over the world. As they work through the threats and puzzles, the group steadily reveal themselves to the reader. Goro misses his boyfriend Horse Boy and Jeremy seems to be far more royal than he first appeared. Meanwhile, there is some romantic heat between Rose and June that plays out throughout the book.
Perfect for anyone who has spent time with Dungeons and Dragons or crawled through video game dungeons like World of Warcraft, this book is captivating. There is plenty of action for those who love that aspect of gaming, but really where this book shines is in the character development, just like any great D&D campaign. The inclusion of LGBT elements and full-on romance is marvelous. It’s a book sure to make everyone feel included in gaming, dungeons and even fancy dances.
The art is bright and dashing while the writing adds the joy of puns as well as moments that will have you laughing out loud. The two together make for a book that is a fast read because the action gallops along and readers will want to know what happens to these characters that they love.
Full of action, romance and humor, this is a dungeon worth crawling for. Appropriate for ages 10-14.
This is one of the categories I do that has a mix of ages, since I don’t read a lot of nonfiction overall. Here are my picks for the best nonfiction of 2020:
“Barton writes with such empathy here. He allows the story to be told in all of its anguish and pain, and yet makes sure that hope has its place there as well.“
“…each step is executed in front of the reader where they can feel the muscle strain, see the skill that Ashima uses, and also use the approach of falling and learning from those falls, to dust off and try again.“
“Burns offers such a merry invitation to readers in this book, making it feel like a true celebration of insects that we often take for granted or don’t even think about. “
This novel in verse tells a harrowing survival story. After losing her mother in a random shooting at her birthday celebration, Nora has been through lots of therapy trying to just survive the loss. Her father has cocooned them both, keeping Nora from returning to school and remaining isolated from everyone. For her birthday a year after the shooting, he takes Nora to a slot canyon in the Arizona desert. The two rappel down into the canyon together, remembering the many times they made similar journeys with her mother. But once again their lives are shattered by the unexpected as a flash flood rips through the canyon, separating Nora from her father and all of her supplies. Her father is washed away with the flood after shoving Nora high enough up the canyon wall to not be swept away. Now Nora must face her doubts and mental demons while also surviving sunburn, starvation, scorpions and dehydration as she searches for her father.
Bowling’s set up for the story alone would make a great tale, a girl surviving the loss of her mother in a shooting incident. Bowling though takes that first tragedy and builds on it, creating a new dangerous challenge for Nora to survive. The way that she uses what Nora learned in therapy, what Nora’s doubts are and her growing resilience is tremendous. She never becomes didactic, instead allowing Nora to steadily grow stronger mentally and know that she is capable of so much. Along the way, she also admits to herself how she has pushed her best friend away too.
The writing here is stellar, the pacing exactly right. Bowling will shock readers as she moves from the quiet of the canyon to the power of the flood. Then they are thrown directly into a survival story, one where Nora is not spared from a variety of injuries even as her mind and resilience grow. There is so much determination and grit in her, so much strength!
Verse novel meets survival story in this book that will carry you away. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
Here are the final lists of finalists (get it?) for the 2020 Cybils Awards. The lists below are focused on books for high school and teens: YA Graphic Novels, Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Speculative Fiction, and High School Nonfiction. Look for the winners of all of the categories on February 14th.
The Cybils are the long-running Bloggers’ Literary Awards given to books for children and teens. I’ll be breaking the finalists into three groupings based on reader age. Here are the finalists in the categories that focus on middle grade books: Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Middle-Grade Fiction and Middle-Grade Nonfiction.
The Costa Book Awards are given in the UK in five categories with an overall winner picked later in January. One of the categories is focused on children’s books. Here is the winner as well as the other finalists:
Waking Brain Cells 