
It’s here!
A Recommended List of picture books published during this very crazy year…2020
You know…that year when there were no in-store events, or story times & book signings, no school visits or in-person conferences…
*Please note that many of the wonderful titles herein fit into multiple categories. Feel free to mix and match, and click the links to learn more!
Animals:
Dinosong –Tim McCanna / Richard Smythe / S&S Paula Wiseman
Five Fuzzy Chicks –Diana Murray / Sydney Hansen / Imprint/ Macmillan
Little Hippo –Julie Abery / Suzi Mason / Amicus
Little Monkey –Julie Abery / Suzi Mason / Amicus
This Old Dog –Martha Brockenbrough / Gabriel Alborozo/ Levine Querido
We Will Live in this Forest Again –Gianna Marino/ Neal Porter Books
Wild About Dads –Diana Murray/ Amber Alvarez/ Imprint/ MacMillan
Wild Style –Jenna Grodzicki –a nonfiction Photo book/ Millbrook
Bedtime and Boats!
Arithmechicks Takeaway –Ann Marie Stephens / Jia Liu / Boyds Mill Press
Boats Will Float –Andria W. Rosenbaum / Brett Curzon / Sleeping Bear
Goodnight, Veggies –Diana Murray/ Zachariah OHora / HMH
Rosie the Dragon and Charlie Say Good Night –Lauren Kerstein / Nate Wragg / Two Lions
Bios & Narrative Nonfiction
A New Green Day –Antoinette Portis / Neal Porter Books
Breaking The Ice: The true story of the first woman to play in the National Hockey League –Angie Bularro / C.F. Payne / Paula Wiseman / Simon & Schuster
Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe –Vivian Kirkfield / Alleana Harris / Little Bee Books
Nonsense! The Curious Story of Edward Gorey –Lori Mortensen / Chloe Bristol / Versify / HMH
Saving Granddaddy’s Stories: Ray Hicks, the Voice of Appalachia –Shannon Hitchcock / Sophie Page/ Reycraft
The Dragonfly Aimée Bissonette / Catherine Pearson/ Albert Whitman
The Old Man and the Penguin –Julie Abery / Pierre Pratt / Kids Can Press
The Tinaja Tonight Aimée Bissonette / Syd Weiler / Albert Whitman
Emotions
God Blesses Me –Della Ross Ferreri / Worthy Kids
Meditation Station –Susan B. Katz / Anait Semirdzhyan / Bala Kids
Mootilda’s Bad Mood –Corey Rosen Schwartz & Kirsti Call / Claudia Ranucci / Little Bee
The Memory Book: a grief journal for Children and Families –Joanna Rowland / Thea Baker / Beaming Books
Family
Love by Sophia –Jim Averbeck/ Yasmeen Ismail / Margaret K. McElderry Books
My Maddy –Gayle E. Pitman / Violet Tobacco / Magination
Sadie’s Shabbat Stories –Melissa Stoller / Lisa Goldberg / Spork
When Winter Comes: Discovering Wildlife in our Snowy Woods — Aimée Bissonette / Sasquatch/ Little BigFoot
Friendship
Cow Boy is NOT a Cowboy –Gregory Barrington / Harper Collins
Extraordinary Ordinary Ella –Amber Hendricks / Luciana Navarro Powell / Amicus
NO Party Poopers! Gretchen McLellan / Lucy Semple / Little Bee
Rosie the Dragon and Charlie Say Good Night –Lauren Kerstein / Nate Wragg / Two Lions
The Old Man and The Penguin –Julie Abery / Pierre Pratt /Kids Can Press
This Old Dog –Martha Brockenbrough / Gabriel Alborozo/ Levine Querido
Two Trucks Get Lost –Corey Rosen Schwartz & Rebecca J Gomez / Hillary Leung / Scholastic
When Pencil Met The Markers –Karen Kilpatrick & Luis O. Ramos Jr. / German Blanco / Imprint
Holidays
Christmas Cheer –Sue Fliess / Jay Fleck / Scholastic/ Cartwheel
DEAR EARTH…From Your Friends in Room 5 –Erin Dealey / Luisa Uribe / Harper Collins (New Year’s/ Earth Day)
Eenie Meenie Halloweenie –Susan Eaddy / Lucy Fleming / Harper Collins
Felíz New Year, Ava Gabriela! — Alexandra Alessandri / Addy Rivera Sonda / Albert Whitman
Nian, The Chinese New Year Dragon –Virginia Loh-Hagan / Timothy Banks / Sleeping Bear
Wild About Dads –Diana Murray/ Amber Alvarez/ Imprint/ MacMillan (Father’s Day)
Imagination and Whimsy
Do Not Rake Your Garden in a Party Dress –Aimée Bissonette / Kelly Pousette / Cameron Kids
Gurple and Preen: a Broken Crayon Cosmic Adventure –-Linda Sue Park / Debbie Ridpath Ohi / S&S
How to Find a Unicorn –Sue Fliess / Simona Sanfilippo / Sky Pony Press
How to Meet a Mermaid –Sue Fliess / Simona Sanfilippo / Sky Pony Press
Hugsby –Dow Phumiruk / Viking
Travel Guide for Monsters –Lori Degman / Dave Szalay / Sleeping Bear
Math
Arithmechicks Takeaway –Ann Marie Stephens / Jia Liu / Boyds Mill Press
Double the Dinosaurs: a Math Reader –Diana Murray / Mette Engel / RH Books for Young Readers
Five Fuzzy Chicks –Diana Murray / Sydney Hansen/ Imprint/ Macmillan
Lia & Luís: Who Has More? (Storytelling Math) –Ana Crespo / Giovana Medeiros / Charlesbridge
Poetry
Construction People –edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins / Ellen Shi / Wordsong
Friends and Anemones: Ocean Poems for Children – Authors and Illustrators of The Writer’s Loft / Writer’s Loft
#STEM
DEAR EARTH…From Your Friends in Room 5 –Erin Dealey / Luisa Uribe / Harper Collins
Dream Big, Little Scientists –Michelle Schaub / Alice Potter / Charlesbridge
Flash and Gleam: Light In Our World –Sue Fliess / Khoa Le / Lerner/ Millbrook
In a Garden –Tim McCanna / Aimée Sicuro / S&S Paula Wiseman
The Princess and the Petri Dish –Sue Fliess / Petros Bouloubasis / Albert Whitman
The Farm That Feeds Us –Nancy Castaldo / Ginny Hsu / Quarto
The Old Man and the Penguin –Julie Abery / Pierre Pratt / Kids Can Press
We encourage you to consider these books for your holiday gifts.
And if possible, #ShopIndie #indiecember.
Last but not least, this post is a heartfelt thank you to our wonderful author & illustrator #kidlit community, for coming together this year even stronger and more determined to help get each other’s books on the radar of young readers and their families. Special shout-outs to #2020BookLook, bloggers everywhere, @2021derfuls (who started early!) and my amazing @EastWestLit family. It definitely takes a village and I wouldn’t want to “live” anywhere else.
Cheers to 2021–
and Stay safe
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