Each year the ALSC Notable Children’s Books Committee identifies 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 2023 Notable Children’s Books committee will be meeting on Tuesday, Nov 29, 2022 and Wednesday, Nov 30, 2022. Each session will begin at 1:00 PM (Central Time) and will be approximately four hours long. Register to watch the online discussions here.
Here is the list of titles which will be discussed:
Picture Books
● Alone Like Me by Rebecca Evans. Anne Schwartz Books / Random House
● Also by E.B. Goodale. Clarion Books / HarperCollins
● Berry Song by Michaela Goade. Little, Brown
● Brown Is Warm, Black Is Bright by Sarah L. Thomson. Illustrated by Keith Mallett. Little, Brown
● Endlessly Ever After: Pick Your Path to Countless Fairy Tale Endings by Laurel Snyder. Illustrated by Dan Santat. Chronicle Books
● Every Dog in the Neighborhood by Philip C. Stead. Illustrated by Matthew Cordell. Neal Porter Books / Holiday House
● Everything in Its Place: A Story of Books and Belonging by Pauline David-Sax. Illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow. Doubleday Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House
● Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall. Little, Brown
● Francis Discovers Possible by Ashlee Latimer. Illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani. Abrams
● How to Say Hello to a Worm: A First Guide to the Outside by Kari Percival. Rise x Penguin Workshop
● Kitty by Rebecca Jordan-Glum. Roaring Brook Press
● Knight Owl by Christopher Denise. Christy Ottaviano Books / Little, Brown
● Loujain Dreams of Sunflowers by Lina AlHathloul and Uma Mishra-Newbery. Illustrated by Rebecca Green. mineditionUS
● Luli and the Language of Tea by Andrea Wang. Illustrated by Hyewon Yum. Neal Porter Books / Holiday House
● Music Is a Rainbow by Bryan Collier. Little, Brown
● My Parents Won’t Stop Talking by Emma Hunsinger and Tillie Walden. Roaring Brook Press
● The Notebook Keeper: A Story of Kindness from the Border by Stephen Briseño. Illustrated by Magdalena Mora. Random House Studio
● Not Enough Lollipops by Megan Maynor. Illustrated by Micah Player. Knopf / Penguin Random House
● Poopsie Gets Lost by Hannah E. Harrison. Dial / Penguin Random House
● Sal Boat: A Boat by Sal by Thyra Heder. Abrams
● The World Belonged to Us by Jacqueline Woodson. Illustrated by Leo Espinosa. Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin Random House
Fiction
● Answers in the Pages by David Levithan. Knopf / Penguin Random House
● Anybody Here Seen Frenchie? by Leslie Connor. Katherine Tegen Books / HarperCollins
● The Bluest Sky by Christina Diaz Gonzalez. Knopf / Penguin Random House
● Caprice by Coe Booth. Scholastic
● The Civil War of Amos Abernathy by Michael Leali. HarperCollins
● The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander. Little, Brown
● A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser. Clarion Books / HarperCollins
● The Flamingo by Guojing. Random House Studio
● Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson. Little, Brown
● In the Key of Us by Mariama J. Lockington. Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan
● Isla to Island by Alexis Castellanos. Atheneum / Simon & Schuster
● Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone by Tae Keller. Random House
● Little Monarchs by Jonathan Case. Margaret Ferguson Books / Holiday House
● Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee. Random House
● The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart. Henry Holt / Macmillan
● Odder by Katherine Applegate. Illustrated by Charles Santoso. Feiwel & Friends / Macmillan
● The Patron Thief of Bread by Lindsay Eagar. Candlewick
● The Road to After by Rebekah Lowell. Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin Random House
● The Secret Battle of Evan Pao by Wendy Wan-Long Shang. Scholastic Press
● Smaller Sister by Maggie Edkins Willis. Roaring Brook Press
● Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas. HarperAlley / HarperCollins
● Thirst by Varsha Bajaj. Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin Random House
● Those Kids from Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly. Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins
● Tumble by Celia C. Perez. Kokila / Penguin Random House
● Violet and Jobie in the Wild by Lynne Rae Perkins. Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins
● Yonder by Ali Standish. Harper / HarperCollins
● Zia Erases the World by Bree Barton. Viking / Penguin Random House
Nonfiction
● American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South by Gail Jarrow. Calkins Creek
● Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond. Illustrated by Daniel Minter. Knopf / Random House
● Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy. Illustrated by Janelle Washington. Roaring Brook
● H Is for Harlem by Dinah Johnson. Illustrated by April Harrison. Christy Ottaviano Books / Little, Brown
● How to Build a Human: In Seven Evolutionary Steps by Pamela S. Turner. Illustrated by John Gurche. Charlesbridge
● Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion by Shannon Stocker. Illustrated by Devon Holzwarth. Dial / Penguin Random House
● Mushroom Rain by Laura K. Zimmerman. Illustrated by Jamie Green. Sleeping Bear Press
● My Big Book of Outdoors by Tim Hopgood. Candlewick Studio
● Out of the Shadows: How Lotte Reiniger Made the First Animated Fairytale Movie by Fiona Robinson. Abrams
● The Overground Railroad (The Young Adult Adaptation): The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy Taylor. Abrams
● Seeking Freedom: The Untold Story of Fortress Monroe and the Ending of Slavery in America by Selene Castrovilla. Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. Calkins Creek
● Solitary Animals: Introverts of the Wild by Joshua David Stein. Illustrated by Dominique Ramsey. Rise x Penguin Workshop
● The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs by Chana Stiefel. Illustrated by Susan Gal. Scholastic Press
● Wait–and See by Helen Frost. Illustrated by Rick Lieder. Candlewick
● Washed Ashore: Making Art from Ocean Plastic by Kelly Krull. Millbrook Press
● The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner by Marissa Moss. Abrams
● Yes We Will: Asian Americans Who Shaped This Country by Kelly Yang. Illustrated by multiple contributors. Dial / Penguin Random House
● Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle’s Incredible Journey Home by Lindsay Moore. Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins
Poetry
● Marshmallow Clouds: Two Poets at Play Among Figures of Speech by Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek. Illustrated by Richard Jones. Candlewick
Madeline Tyner, chair, and the entire 2023 Notable Children’s Books committee, are excited to share this opportunity to learn more about critical evaluation of children’s books and listen to their December discussions. All are welcome.