I had a good time coming up with this list last year, so I figured I’d give it a shot again. So here you go. If you had a horribly limited library budget and you could only buy 100 children’s books from the year 2011, here are the hundred I would insist you get. Cutting such a list down to this number is painful to the point of insanity, but cut I did. Plus, as I systematically linked each book to the review I wrote for it, I couldn’t help but notice my own gaps. More than once I’ve found myself saying, “I didn’t review that?!?” Well, we still have a couple days left before the end of the year . . .
Picture Books
- Belle, the Last Mule at Gee’s Bend by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud, illustrated by John Holyfield
- Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman
- The Book That Zack Wrote by Ethan Long
- Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan A. Shea
- A Dog Is a Dog by Stephen Shaskan
- Everything Goes on Land by Brian Biggs
- Hot Hot Roti for Dada-Ji by F. Zia, illustrated by Ken Min
- A House in the Woods by Inga Moore
- Hugs from Pearl by Paul Schmid
- I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
- Ice by Arthur Geisert
- Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes
- Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell
- Mitchell’s License by Hallie Durand, illustrated by Tony Fucile
- My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey by Jeanne Walker Harvey, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon
- My Side of the Car by Kate Feiffer, illustrated by Jules Feiffer
- A New Year’s Reunion: A Chinese Story by Li Qiong Yu
- Perfect Square by Michael Hall
- Press Here by Herve Tullet
- The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Poly Bernatene
- Rah, Rah, Radishes!: A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre
- Tell Me the Day Backwards by Albert Lamb, illustrated by David McPhail
- What Animals Really Like by Fiona Robinson
- You WILL Be My Friend! by Peter Brown
Folk and Fairytales
- The Boy from the Dragon Palace by Margaret Read MacDonald, illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa
- The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred by Samantha R. Vamos, illustrated Rafael Lopez
- Gifts from the Gods: Ancient Words and Wisdom from Greek and Roman Mythology by Lise Lunge-Larsen, illustrated by Gareth Hinds
- The Greedy Sparrow: An Armenian Tale by Lucine Kasbarian, illustrated by Maria Zaikina
- How the Leopard God His Claws by Chinua Achebe, illustrated by Mary GrandPre
- The Mouse and the Lion by Rand Burkert, illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert
Poetry
- Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein
- Lemonade: And Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Nancy Doniger
- Never Forgotten by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
- Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw
Early Chapter Books
- Clementine: The Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker
- EllRay Jakes Is Not a Chicken! by Sally Warner, illustrated by Jamie Harper
- The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies, illustrated by Hannah Shaw
- Marty McGuire by Kate Messner, illustrated by Brian Floca
- The No. 1 Car Spotter by Atinuke, illustrated by Warwick Johnson Cadwell
- Spunky Tells All by Ann Cameron, illustrated by Lauren Castillo
- Toys Come Home: Being the Early Experiences of an Intelligent Stingray, a Brave Buffalo, and a Brand-New Someone Called Plastic by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Graphic Novels
- Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity by Dave Roman
- Bad Island by Doug TenNapel
- Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking by Phiippe Coudray
- Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory by George O’Connor
- Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists by various authors with introduction by Leonard Marcus
- Sidekicks by Dan Santat
- Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
Chapter Books
- Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
- The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright, illustrated by Barry Moser
- The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales with an introduction by Lemony Snicket, by Chris Van Allsburg
- Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
- Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac
- The Dragon’s Tooth by N.D. Wilson
- The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier
- Fly Trap by Frances Hardinge
- The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander
- Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri, illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson
- The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, illustrated by Ana Juan
- Hidden by Helen Frost
- Hound Dog True by Linda Urban
- Icefall by Matthew Kirby
- Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
- The Inquisitor’s Apprentice by Chris Moriarty
- Jefferson’s Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
- Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis
- The Luck of the Buttons by Anne Ylvisaker
- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
- The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill
- The Ogre of Oglefort by Eva Ibbotson
- Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
- One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin
- The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall
- The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley
- Six Days by Philip Webb
- Small Persons With Wings by Ellen Booraem
- Tall Story by Candy Gourlay
- The Trouble with May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm
- The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Nonfiction Picture Books
- Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, illustrated by Raul Colon
- All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel by Dan Yaccarino
- 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
- Can We Save the Tiger by Martin Jenkins
- Coral Reefs by Jason Chin
- Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World by Allan Drummond
- The Incredible Life of Balto by Meghan McCarthy
- Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss, illustrated by John Hendrix
- Orani: My Father’s Village by Claire A. Nivola
- Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg
- The Quite Contrary Man: A True American Tale by Patricia Rusch Hyatt
- Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the True Story of an American Feud
Nonfiction Chapter Books
- Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming
- Drawing from Memory by Allen Say
- From Then to Now: A Short History of the World by Christopher Moore
- Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
- The Mysteries of Angkor Wat by Richard Sobol
- Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) by Sue Macy
- Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer
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Tags: Best Books of 2011
I am over the moon that you included my book Tall Story in this list of truly magnificent reads! thank you!
What? No cover thumbnails? But seriously, this is a labor of love, and I see a lot of “I’ve been meaning to read thats” on the list. Time for me to get cracking!
Just in time for more Christmas shopping for my great-nieces! This will also help me plug holes in my middle school library collection. How did I miss a new book by Frank Cottrell Boyce? Thanks for the great list, Elizabeth!
And Candy, if you’re reading comments, Tall Story hasn’t been on the shelf in my library since I catalogued it. Last Friday, as students flew out the doors for our three week winter break, a girl rushed into the library to grab the copy she’d put on hold. I know middle school girls can be overly dramatic, but her “Thank GOD my book is here!” sounded heartfelt to me!
I’m on vacation at the moment so thumbnails weren’t going to happen this year. Maybe I’ll be better prepared next?
And Candy, as far as I can ascertain, the only reason your book isn’t on everybody’s tongue is because it isn’t eligible for a Newbery. If you lived here in the States *hint hint* Tall Story would be known by one and all.
Great list! I have a lot to catch up on. How do you do it all with a baby?! I too loved Tall Story, and it is featured on our “books we are talking about” list at smcl.org
I also posted a blog about my tip picture books on our ebranch. Good year!
Wow! Just saw that you included our Benjamin Bear TOON Book. SO THRILLED, thank you! It’s been a great year, with that book getting very strong positive feedback. Your list is a wonderful Holiday present to all of us, and gives me a chance to send you our very best wishes for same holidays, and into the New Year. Much love, Françoise
Thank you, Elizabeth, for including Won Ton on your magnificent list! ME-WOW, I’m in fabulous company.
Oh, gosh, that thumbnails comment was a joke! This post is already such a huge effort, and shows incredible productivity during a year that YOU HAD A BABY.
Best Christmas present ever! Thanks, Betsy–such great company you keep (these books)! I know you are enjoying every minute of your first Christmas with your little one. (I just made a donation to Goodwill, and in the pocket of the down jacket I was wearing in Fairbanks in 1986, I found a grocery receipt than included Gerber baby food. Seems like yesterday, in some ways.)
Thank you so much for putting in the time to put together a list like this. I feel spoiled quibbling. I see so many best of the year lists and almost none include a category for early readers or include any early readers. Do you know why this is?
Generally speaking early readers, good ones, are so difficult to find that you can never locate enough of them in a given year to hold up as “the best”. Of course, that’s what the Geisel Award is for. And they do a great job. In my line of work I miss a lot of them, so I tend to leave them off of this list. Even the ones that are fantastic tend to be series (Elephant & Piggy, etc.) and don’t need the leg up. But last year I included Grace Lin’s Ling & Ting, so there are always exceptions to the rule.
Dear Betsy – I’ve been out of town for the holidays and just saw your incredible list of books late last night. I promptly shared it with Rafael Lopez. Both he and I are so thrilled that “The Cazuela That The Farm Maiden Stirred” is included in this magnificent list. It’s an honor and a great gift this holiday season. Thank you. I bought many of the books on your list for holiday gifts. Happy New Year.
hello again! hey so nice to read your lovely comments … geography is tough … I have no idea how to promote my book over the pond! But this list is a great help – so thank you!
The list also shows us over here in the UK what a world of books there are out there … the only things I’ve read in my category is A Monster Calls (which I thought was magnificent … and especially poignant because of the story behind the story)
Thanks for this great list. I would just add SWIRL BY SWIRL to the poetry category and WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE to the chapter books. I am looking forward to reading a few of these that I didn’t get to yet this year!
I’m so honored and happy about this! Thank you, Elizabeth.
Great list! I don’t know how you managed to narrow the list down to just 100. Daunting!
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