Notable Children’s Books Discussion – July 2023

This year the 2024 Notable Children’s Book Committee will be meeting on July 25, July 26, and July 27 beginning at 1:00 pm CT for its July 2023 discussions. Register to observe the discussions here:

• July 25, 2023, 1 p.m. CT | REGISTER 
• July 26, 2023, 1 p.m. CT | REGISTER
• July 27, 2023, 1 p.m. CT | REGISTER

Here is the list of titles which will be discussed:

Fiction

• A Work in Progress written and illustrated by Jarrett Lerner
• Bea Wolf written by Zach Weinersmith and illustrated by Boulet
• Big Tree written and illustrated by Brian Selznick
• Elena Rides written and illustrated by Juana Medina
• Finally Seen by Kelly Yang
• Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt
• Half Moon Summer by Elaine Vickers
• Hands by Torrey Maldonado
• The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt
• The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh
• Mirror to Mirror by Rajana LaRocca
• Nat the Cat takes a Nap written and illustrated by Jarrett Lerner
• Not an Easy Win by Chrystal D. Giles
• Parachute Kids written and illustrated by Betty C. Tang
• Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
• The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels written by Beth Lincoln and illustrated by Claire Powell
• What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski
• When Sea Becomes Sky by Gillian McDunn
• The Windeby Puzzle written by Lois Lowry and illustrated by Johnathan Stroh
• World Made of Glass by Ami Polonsky
• The Worlds We Leave Behind written by A.F. Harrold and illustrated by Levi Pinfold

Nonfiction

• A First Time for Everything written and illustrated by Dan Santat
• An American Story written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Dare Coulter
• The Astronaut’s Guide to Leaving the Planet written by Terry Virts and illustrated by Andrés Lozano
• Can I Recycle This?: A Kid’s Guide to Better Recycling and how to Reduce Single-Use Plastics written by Jennie Romer and illustrated by Christie Young 
• Eat Your Superpowers!: How Colorful Food Keep You Healthy and Strong written by Toni Buzzeo and illustrated by Serge Bloch
• The Fire of Stars: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made written by Kirsten W. Larson and illustrated by Katherine Roy
• The Indestructible Tom Crean: Heroic Explorer of the Antarctic written and illustrated by Jennifer Thermes
• Indigenous Ingenuity: A Celebration of Traditional North American Knowledge by Deidre Havrelock and Edward Kay
• Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider written and illustrated by Jessica Lanan
• Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
• The Last Plastic Straw: a Plastic Problem and Finding Ways to Fix It written by Dee Romito and illustrated by Ziyue Chen
• Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll written and illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
• Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge
• Search for a Giant Squid: Pick Your Path written by Amy Seto Forrester and illustrated by Andy Chou Musser
• Stars of the Night: the courageous children of the Czech Kindertransport written by Caren Stelson and illustrated by Selina Alko
• We Go Way Back written by Idan Ben-Barak and and illustrated by Philip Bunting
• Whale Fall: Exploring an Ocean-Floor Ecosystem written by Melissa Stewart and and illustrated by Rob Dunlavey

Picture Book

• Babajoon’s Treasure written by Farnaz Esnaashari and illustrated by Nabi H. Ali
• Beneath written and illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld
• Bibi written and illustrated by Jo Weaver
• BIG written and illustrated by Vashti Harrison 
• Evergreen written and illustrated by Matthew Cordell
• Finding Papa written by Angela Pham Krans and illustrated by Thi Bui
• Friends Beyond Measure: A Story Told with Infographics written and illustrated by Lalena Fisher
• In Between written and illustrated by April Pulley Sayre with Jeff Sayre
• In Every Life written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
• In the Night Garden written and illustrated by Carin Berger
• My Baba’s Garden written by Jordan Scott and illustrated by Sydney Smith
• Nell Plants a Tree written by Anne Wynter and illustrated by Daniel Miyares
• Once Upon a Book written by Grace Lin & Kate Messner and illustrated by Grace Lin
• Our Pool written and illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins
• Papa’s Magical Water-Jug Clock written by Jesus Trejo and illustrated by Eliza Kinkz
• Ramen for Everyone written by Patricia Tanumihardja and illustrated by Shiho Pate
• Remember written by Joy Harjo and illustrated by Michaela Goade
• Spicy, Spicy, Hot! written and illustrated by Lenny Wen
• This is a Story written by John Schu and illustrated by Lauren Castillo
• The Tree and the River written and illustrated by Aaron Becker
• Tumble written and illustrated by Adriana Hernandez Bergstrom
• Twenty Questions written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Christian Robinson
• When You Can Swim written and illustrated by Jack Wong

April Roy, chair, and the entire 2024 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 summer discussions; all are welcome.