Here is another of Amazon’s Best Book lists for the year.  This one focuses on the top 20 books for middle grade readers.

  

After Eli by Rebecca Rupp

The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell Boyce

  

Chomp by Carl Hiaasen

Deadweather and Sunrise by Geoff Rodkey

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente

  

Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate by Scott Nash

  

Island of Thieves by Josh Lacey

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny – Detectives Extraordinaire by Polly Horvath, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

  

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Return to the Willows by Jacqueline Kelly, illustrated by Clint Young

See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles

  

The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan

The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

 

Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Here are the books selected by the children’s book editor of the NYT as notable for this year.  They range from teen novels through picture books.  The covers and titles below link to GoodReads so you too can have far too long a reading list, like me!

YOUNG ADULT

  

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

  

Jepp, Who Defied the Stars by Katherine Marsh

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick

Son by Lois Lowry

 

MIDDLE GRADE

  

Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney

  

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

  

The Secret Tree by Natalie Standiford

See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

 

“Who Could That Be at This Hour?” by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Seth

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

 

PICTURE BOOKS

 

Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team by Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Steven Salerno

The Day Louis Got Eaten by John Fardell

 

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

A Gold Star for Zog by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

 

Hello! Hello! by Matthew Cordell

I’m Bored by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

 

King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson by Kenneth Kraegel

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Amazon offers several annual best books lists.  These are their 20 Best Picture Books of 2012:

  

The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare by Sam McBratney

Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead

Big Mean Mike by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Scott Magoon

  

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer and Elizabeth Zunon

The Cloud Spinner by Michael Catchpool, illustrated by Alison Jay

Crafty Chloe by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Heather Ross

  

The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce and Joe Bluhm

  

I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr., illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney

Nightsong by Ari Berk, illustrated by Loren Long

  

Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton

Olivia and the Fairy Princesses by Ian Falconer

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin

 

Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

 

This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers

Those Darn Squirrels Fly South by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

Z Is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky

Library Journal offers a variety of best book lists.  The one I watch for is the Young Adult Literature for Adults list.  Here are the books on the 2012 Best Books: Young Adult Literature for Adults:

  

Ask the Passengers by A. S. King

Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal- the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan

  

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

 

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

Every Day by David Levithan

 

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Publisher’s Weekly has their list of Best Books for the year.  There are categories for Children’s Picture and Children’s Fiction.  The latter includes teen books as well as those for elementary and middle school. 

The list has many of my favorites of the year, and then some surprises too.  Enjoy!

Kirkus has selected 100 books as the best children’s books of the year.  Lots of great books to be thankful for this year and plenty to add to your holiday wish list too. 

Stay tuned for their teen list which will be released on December 10th.

The winner of the 2012 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature went to William Alexander for Goblin Secrets. 

The other finalists for the award were:

   

Carrie Arcos for Out of Reach

Patricia McCormick for Never Fall Down

Eliot Schrefer for Endangered

Steve Sheinkin for Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon

 

You can see the full list of winners on the National Book Foundation website.

Have you read the winner?  I haven’t yet, so I’d love to hear what you think!

The Washington Post has a list of their reviewer’s picks for best kids books of the year.  I was struck by the number of nonfiction books on the list.  Here are the top picks:

  

And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano

Barnum’s Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World by Tracy Fern

Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport

  

Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Clair A. Nivola

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose

  

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny – Detectives Extraordinaire by Polly Horvath

Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue

Son by Lois Lowry

 

Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey by Mini Grey

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

The Kate Greenaway Medal is a British award given annually for distinguished illustration in a book for children.  The longlist for the award has just been announced this week.  Here are the titles on the longlist:

  

The Big Snuggle-Up by Nicola Bayley (illustrator) and Brian Patten
North: The Greatest Animal Journey on Earth by Patrick Benson (illustrator) and Nick Dowson
How Do You Feel? by Anthony Browne

  
The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle
Have You Ever Ever Ever? by Emma Chichester Clark (illustrator) and Colin McNaughton
The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Emma Chichester Clark (illustrator) and Michael Morpurgo

  
Lunchtime by Rebecca Cobb
The Goggle-Eyed Goats by Christopher Corr (illustrator) and Stephen Davies
Croc and Bird by Alexis Deacon

  
Soonchild by Alexis Deacon (illustrator) and Russell Hoban
The Pirates Next Door by Jonny Duddle
Arthur’s Dream Boat by Polly Dunbar

  
Rabbityness by Jo Empson
Friends by Michael Foreman
Wild Child by Lorna Freytag (illustrator) and Jeanne Willis

  
Azzi in Between by Sarah Garland
Robin Hood by Anne Yvonne Gilbert (illustrator) and Nicky Raven
A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham

  
Again! by Emily Gravett
Matilda’s Cat by Emily Gravett
Toys in Space by Mini Grey

  
Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton
Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature by Mark Hearld (illustrator) and Nicola Davies
The Great Snortle Hunt by Kate Hindley (illustrator) and Claire Freedman

  
Goldilocks and Just the One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson
Jonathan & Martha by Petr Horacek
The Hueys in The New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by W.E. Joyce (co-illustrator and writer) and Joe Bluhm (illustrator)

  
Goldilocks on CCTV by Satoshi Kitamura (illustrator) and John Agard
I Want my Hat Back by Jon Klassen
An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales by Kate Leiper (illustrator) and Theresa Breslin

  

Demolition by Brian Lovelock (illustrator) and Sally Sutton

The Skeleton Pirate by David Lucas

The Frank Show by David Mackintosh

  
The Cat and the Fiddle: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Jackie Morris
Pirates ‘n’ Pistols by Chris Mould
The Worst Princess by Sara Ogilvie (illustrator) and Anna Kemp

King Jack and the Dragon by Helen Oxenbury (illustrator) and Peter Bently
My Big Shouting Day by Rebecca Patterson
Black Dog by Levi Pinfold

  
Where is Fred? by Ali Pye (illustrator) and Edward Hardy
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jane Ray
The Yoga Ogre by Simon Rickerty (illustrator) and Peter Bently

One Cool Cat by David Roberts (illustrator) and Susannah Corbett
Who Am I? by Tony Ross (illustrator) and Gervase Phinn
Fly, Chick, Fly! by Tony Ross (illustrator) and Jeanne Willis

 
Just Ducks! by Salvatore Rubbino (illustrator) and Nicola Davies
Just Imagine by Nick Sharratt (illustrator) and Pippa Goodhart
A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton

  
ABC London by Kate Slater (illustrator) and James Dunn
Claude at the Circusby Alex T. Smith
Ella by Alex T. Smith

  
Red Car, Red Bus by Susan Steggall
How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens
Jack and the Baked Beanstalk by Colin Stimpson

  
Naughty Kitty by Adam Stower
The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse by Helen Ward
Leave Me Alone by Lee Wildish (illustrator) and Kes Gray

 
The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems
Eric! by Christopher Wormell

 
Dog Loves Drawing by Louise Yates
Hans and Matilda by Yokococo