The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) annually recognizes a list of the best books for children.  The list is a lengthy one, so I’ll break it up by ages, as the committee does.

Here is the list for Middle Readers:

America Is under Attack : September 11, 2001 : the Day the Towers Fell. By Don Brown.

Balloons over Broadway: the True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade. By Melissa Sweet.

Breaking Stalin’s Nose. By Eugene Yelchin.

  

The Cheshire Cheese Cat : a Dickens of a Tale. By Carmen Agra Deedy Illus. by Barry Moser.

Diego Rivera: His World and Ours. By Duncan Tonatiuh.

Dream Something Big : the Story of the Watts Towers. By Dianna Hutts Aston, Illus. by Susan L.Roth.

  

E-mergency. By Tom Lichtenheld, Illus. by Ezra Fields-Meyer.

Emma Dilemma : Big Sister Poems. By Kristine O’Connell George, Illus. by Nancy Carpenter.

The Great Migration : Journey to the North. By Eloise Greenfield, Illus. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist.

  

Inside Out and Back Again. By Thanhha Lai.

Junonia. By Kevin Henkes.

Lemonade, and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word. By Bob Raczka, Illus. by Nancy Doniger.

  

The Lily Pond By Annika Thor. Trans. by Linda Schenck.

The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families. By Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match /Marisol McDonald no combina By Monica Brown, Illus. by Sara Palacios.

  

Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller. By Xavier Garza .

Migrant. By Maxine Trottier, Illus. by Isabelle Arsenault.

Night flight : Amelia Earhart crosses the Atlantic. By Robert Burleigh, Illus. by Wendell Minor

  

No Ordinary Day. By Deborah Ellis.

Nursery rhyme comics: 50 timeless rhymes from 50 celebrated cartoonists. Illus. by Patrick McDonnell … et al.

Soldier Bear By Bibi Dumon Tak, Illus. by by Philip Hopman. Trans. by Laura Watkinson.

  

The third gift. By Linda Sue Park, Illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline.

Thunder birds: nature’s flying predators. By Jim Arnosky.

Treasury of Greek mythology: classic stories of gods, goddesses, heroes & monsters. By Donna Jo Napoli, Illus. by Christina Balit.

  

The trouble with May Amelia. By Jennifer L. Holm.

Underground. By Shane Evans, Illus. by Shane Evans.

The unforgotten coat. By Frank Cottrell Boyce, Illus. by Carl Hunter, and Clare Heney.

  

The watcher : Jane Goodall’s life with the chimps. By Jeanette Winter.

Wonderstruck. By Brian Selznick.

Won-Ton : a cat tale told in haiku. By Lee Wardlaw, Illus. by Eugene Yelchin.

 

Young Fredle. By Cynthia Voigt, Illus. by Louise Yates.

Zita the spacegirl. By Ben Hatke.

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) annually recognizes a list of the best books for children.  Here is their definition of notable: “As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children’s interests in exemplary ways.”

The list is a lengthy one, so I’ll break it up by ages.  Here is the list for Younger Readers:

   

All the Water in the World. By George Ella Lyon, Illus. by Katherine Tillotson

A Ball for Daisy. By Chris Raschka

Blackout. By John Rocco

Bring on the Birds. By Susan Stockdale

  

The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred. By Samantha R. Vamos, Illus. by Rafael López

Chirchir Is Singing. By Kelly Cunnane, Illus. by Jude Daly

Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? By Susan A. Shea, Illus. by Tom Slaughter

  

Dot. By Patricia Intriago

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. By Sherri Duskey Rinker, Illus. by Tom Lichtenheld

Grandpa Green. By Lane Smith

  

Harry and Hopper. By Margaret Wild, Illus. by Freya Blackwood

I Broke My Trunk. By Mo Willems

I Want My Hat Back. By Jon Klassen

  

King Jack and the Dragon. By Peter Bently, Illus. by Helen Oxenbury

Little Treasures : Endearments from around the World. By Jacqueline K. Ogburn. Illus. by Christopher Raschka

Me…Jane. By Patrick McDonnell

  

Mouse & Lion. By Rand Burkert, Illus. by Nancy Ekholm Burkert

Naamah and the Ark at Night. By Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Illus. by Holly Meade

A New Year’s Reunion: A Chinese Story. By Li Qiong Yu, Illus. by Zhu Chen Liang

  

Over and Under the Snow. By Kate Messner, Illus. by Christopher Silas Neal

Prudence Wants a Pet. By Cathleen Daly, Illus. by Stephen Michael King

See Me Run By Paul Meisel

   

Should I Share My Ice Cream? By Mo Willems

Stars. By Mary Lyn Ray, Illus. by Marla Frazee

Tales for Very Picky Eaters By Josh Schneider

  

Tell Me the Day Backwards. By Albert Lamb, Illus. by David McPhail

Ten Little Caterpillars. By Bill Martin, Illus. by Lois Ehlert

These Hands. By Margaret H. Mason, Illus. by Floyd Cooper

  

Tìa Isa Wants a Car. By Meg Medina, Illus. by Claudio Muñoz

Where’s Walrus? By Stephen Savage

Who Has What? : All about Girls’ Bodies and Boys’ Bodies. By Robie H. Harris, Illus. by Nadine Bernard Westcott

The Edgar Award nominees have been announced by the Mystery Writers of America.  Here are the ones for juvenile and teen fiction:

Best Juvenile

  

Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger

Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby

It Happened on a Train by Mac Barnett

 

Vanished by Sheela Chari

The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey

 

Best Young Adult

  

The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines

Kill You Last by Todd Strasser

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

 

Shelter by Harlan Coben

The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall

Honor Books

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (Loved this one!)

Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin (Loved this one!)

 

Winner

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (Hurrah!!)

Honor Books

Blackout by John Rocco

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith

Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell

 

Winner

A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka

Honor Books

I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

See Me Run by Paul Meisel

 

Winner

Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider