For many – myself included – a highlight of the ALA Annual Conference is sitting in on meetings of the Notable Children’s Books Committee and listening as they discuss new materials.
This ALSC committee is charged with identifying the best of the best in children’s books. According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. 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.
This year, the committee has 9 hours of meetings which are open to any registered conference attendee interested in listening to the discussions. Their open meetings are in the Morial Convention Center, Rooms 298-299, from 1:30 to 4:30 on Saturday, June 25, Sunday, June 26, and Monday, June 27.
Midway through the year, there are 54 titles on the discussion list. Here is the complete list of books to be discussed at the Annual Conference in New Orleans, grouped in the order they will be discussed.
Fiction (including fiction graphic novels and fiction verse novels)
Bauer, Joan. Close to Famous. Viking Childrens Books
Billingsley, Franny. Chime. Dial Books for Young Readers
Burgis, Stephanie. Kat, Incorrigible. Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Engle, Margarita. Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck. Henry Holt & Co.
Holm, Jennifer L. The Trouble with May Amelia. Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Lai, Thanhha. Inside out and Back Again. HarperCollins
Magoon, Kekla. Camo Girl. Aladdin
Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan. The Secret River. Illus. by Leo and Diane Dillon. Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Reedy, Trent. Words in the Dust. Arthur A. Levine Books
Schmidt, Gary D. Okay for Now. Clarion Books
Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. Philomel Books
Shang, Wendy Wan Long. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu. Scholastic Press
Stephens, John. The Emerald Atlas. Alfred A. Knopf
Picture books
Clement, Nathan. Job Site. Illus. by Nathan Clement. Boyds Mills Press
Compestine, Ying Chang. The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale. Illus. by Sebastií Serra. Dutton Children’s Books
Czekaj, Jef. Cat Secrets. Illus. by Jef Czekaj. Balzer + Bray
Evans, Shane. Underground. Illus. by Shane Evans. Roaring Brook Press
Goodrich, Carter. Say Hello to Zorro! Illus. by Carter Goodrich. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Hall, Michael. Perfect Square. Illus. by Michael Hall. Greenwillow Books
Henkes, Kevin. Little White Rabbit. Illus. by Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow Books
Lamb, Albert. Tell Me the Day Backwards. Illus. by David McPhail Candlewick Press
Latimer, Alex. The Boy Who Cried Ninja. Illus. by Alex Latimer. Peachtree
Maclachlan, Patricia and Emily Maclachlan Charest. Before You Came. Illus. by David Diaz. Katherine Tegen Books
Pearson, Susan. How to Teach a Slug to Read. Illus. by David Slonim. Marshall Cavendish Children’s
Savage, Stephen. Where’s Walrus? Illus. by Stephen Savage. Scholastic
Tan, Shaun. Lost & Found. Illus. by Shaun Tan. Arthur A. Levine Books
Trottier, Maxine. Migrant. Illus. by Isabelle Arsenault. Groundwood Books
Tullet, Hervé and Christopher Franceschelli. Press Here. Illus. by Hervé Tullet. Chronicle Books
Wadham, Tim. The Queen of France. Illus. by Kady MacDonald Denton. Candlewick Press
Wardlaw, Lee. Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. Illus. by Eugene Yelchin. Henry Holt
Wild, Margaret. Harry and Hopper. Illus. by Freya Blackwood. Feiwel & Friends
Informational picture books
Aston, Dianna Hutts. A Butterfly Is Patient. Illus. by Sylvia Long. Chronicle Books
Burleigh, Robert. Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic. Illus. by Wendell Minor Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Drummond, Allan. Energy Island. Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Jenkins, Martin. Can We Save the Tiger? Illus. by Vicky White. Candlewick Press
Lyon, George Ella. All the Water in the World. Illus. by Katherine Tillotson Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Macy, Sue. Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women’s Hoops on the Map. Illus. by Matt Collins. Holiday House
McDonnell, Patrick. Me– Jane. Illus. by Patrick McDonnell. Little, Brown
Stockdale, Susan. Bring on the Birds. Illus. by Susan Stockdale. Peachtree
Peña, Matt De La. A Nation’s Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis. Illus. by Kadir Nelson. Dial Books for young readers
Yezerski, Thomas. Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story. Illus. by Thomas F. Yezerski. Farrar, Straus, Giroux
Nonfiction poetry
George, Kristine O’Connell. Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems. Illus. by Nancy Carpenter. Clarion Books
Greenfield, Eloise. The Great Migration: Journey to the North. Illus. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. HarperCollins Children’s Books
Raczka, Bob. Lemonade, and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word. Illus. by Nancy Doniger. Roaring Brook Press
Yolen, Jane. Birds of a Feather. Illus. by Jason Stemple. Wordsong
Nonfiction biography
Fleming, Candace. Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Schwartz & Wade Books
McClafferty, Carla Killough. The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon. Carolrhoda Books
Sullivan, George. Tom Thumb: The Remarkable True Story of a Man in Miniature. Clarion Books
Nonfiction
Downer, Ann. Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication. Twenty-First Century Books
Galbraith, Kathryn Osebold. Planting the Wild Garden. Illus. by Wendy Anderson Halperin. Peachtree Publishers
Lourie, Peter. The Manatee Scientists: Saving Vulnerable Species. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Marrin, Albert. Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy. Alfred A. Knopf
Ross, Stewart. Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air. Illus. by Stephen Biesty. Candlewick Press
Thompson, Ruth. Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust. Candlewick Press
Lively discussions are almost guaranteed!