The Best of the Best: Kids' Books '08
The Best of the Best: Kids' Books '08. ©Susan Thomsen, 2008, 2009. All rights reserved.
http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/2009awards/greenaway_shortlist.phpt's that time of year again; here at the end of 2008, everyone is compiling a Best Children's Books of the Year List, including each of the following.
Update 1.26.09: the list continues into 2009 with various prizes given for books published in 2008.
Abilene Reporter News: Top Ten Texas Books (includes a kids' book)
ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Notable Books
Amazon Editors' Picks: Middle Readers, Teens, Picture Books
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Children's Literature Prize 2009 (for a book published in 2008)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) top science books for children and teens (finalists for the AAAS/Suburu SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books). And winners.
AudioFile: Best AudioBooks, including books in Children & Family Listening and Young Adult categories
Austin American-Statesman: "The Best Kids' Books We Didn't Get a Chance to Write About"
Batchelder Award (for children's literature in translation)
Belief.net's Top 5 Spiritual Young Adult Novels
Boneville: Jeff Smith's top comics list (not all for children)
Book Links: Lasting Connections (Picture Books)
Borders "Original Voices" Awards (for adults' and children's books)
Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books: Blue Ribbons, plus BCCB's Guide to Gift Books. (PDF file includes books from the past several years, too.)
Calgary Herald (Canada)
Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video (often an adaptation of a children's book)
CCBC Choices 2009, a preliminary list of the best of '08 from the Cooperative Children's Book Center (PDF)
Choice Literacy: Year's Best Read-Alouds for Intermediate and Middle-School Students
Coretta Scott King Book Awards
Costa Children's Book Award short list; category winner (UK)
The Courier-Mail: Suggested Reading (Australia)
The Cuffies (Publishers Weekly; children's booksellers choose 2008 favorites)
Cuyahoga (Ohio) County Public Library (PDF file)
Cybils (Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards) short lists AND winners
Durham (NC) Independent Weekly: best books list includes a few for children
The Day (New London, CT)
Dr. Tony Ryan Award finalists for books on thoroughbred racing (PDF file)
Edgar Allan Poe Award nominees for Best Juvenile and Best Young Adult novels (PDF file; scroll down on page). Sponsored by Mystery Writers of America.
Financial Times (UK)
Geisel Award for books for beginning readers
Golden Fuse Awards (funny, insider-y look at '08 from a blogger and NYPL librarian)
Golden Kite Awards (from the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators)
Good Comics for Kids (a School Library Journal blog)
Governor General's Literary Awards for Children's Literature. One French and one English winner in two categories, text and illustration. (Canada)
Greenaway Medal shortlist (UK)
The Guardian (UK)
- plus novelty stocking fillers (includes a few books for children)
Guelph Mercury (Canada)
The Herald-Mail (by Karen MacPherson, Scripps Howard News Service), Hagerstown, MD
Hockey Book Reviews.com: Hockey Books for Kids
Hyphen: Best Asian American Books, including one kids' book
The Independent: Best 20 Books of the Year (with one title for kids), UK
Kirkus Reviews (an advertisement-heavy PDF file)
Los Angeles Times
Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation (UK). Short list, and winner.
Michigan Notable Books 2009 (titles published in 2008), with 2 books for younger readers
Minnesota Book Awards (includes one kids' and one YA book)
Moonbeam Children's Book Awards
Morris Award shortlist, for best young-adult book by a first-time author. And winner. Sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
National Book Award for Young People's Literature
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts
National Jewish Book Awards (PDF file; long list of winners in various categories, including children's and YA literature, illustrated children's books)
National Outdoor Book Award, long list of winners, with one book for children
New Orleans Times-Picayune gift guide (includes 2 books for kids); also, revised classics and other new books for children
New York Daily News "Authors Pick Their 2008 Favorite Latino Books" (mostly for grown-ups but choices include two young-adult titles)
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice book award nominees (via the LA Times; scroll down on page)
NPR: Critic Alan Cheuse's picks for holiday gifts (includes 1 book for children); also Nancy Pearl's Books Beneath the Reading Radar (with 1 picture book)
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children (sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English)
Odyssey Award (audiobooks)
"Open Book" show, BBC Radio 4 (audio), plus a printable list (UK)
Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students, K-12
Peggy's Picks. List from Dr. Peggy Sharp.
Press and Journal's best festive reads. Includes books for children at the end. (UK)
Rigoberto Gonzalez's holiday gift list of bilingual (Spanish-English) books from small presses, at the blog Critical Mass
Rocky Mountain News gift guide
Sacramento Bee: holiday books
Salon's "Books We Love," various authors' choices include a few YA novels
San Antonio News Express. Mostly titles for adults, but does include a few for kids.
School Library Journal. Also, SLJ's Holiday Gift Guide is culled from its bigger list.
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Sunburst Award (Canada's "literature of the fantastic"): young-adult category
Sydney Taylor Book Awards 2009 (for books published in 2008), Jewish children's literature
Sylvia Vardell's best poetry books of 2008
Timaru, New Zealand, Extreme Readers at the Timaru children's library (via the Timaru Herald)
The Times Christmas Books 2008 (UK)
- Audio Books for Children
- Children 2-10 (compiled by critic Amanda Craig)
- Children 11+ (by Amanda Craig again)
Toronto Public Library's Best Canadian Children's Books for kids up to 5 (Canada)
Village Voice (one young-adult novel made the cut; rest are adult books)
- Gift Books: Visual Feasts (slide show of covers), includes some children's books
Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2009 (UK) shortlist (covers books published in 2008); and winner
Western Heritage Awards (including a children's book prize)
The Working Waterfront: Maine Books
Ypulse: Best (and worst) books for young adults
Reading other blogs is a tremendous help in compiling this big list. Thanks to all my fellow bloggers, including Largehearted Boy, A Fuse #8 Production, Read Roger, Paper Cuts, Read Alert, Mo Willems Doodles, Confessions of a Science Librarian, Elizabeth Bunce's Mirth & Matter, The Miss Rumphius Effect, Achockablog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and Wild Rose Reader. More to be added as the list grows!
Great list. Thanks for the info. I will be coming back to check for more lists. I'm especially interested in the Science lists.
Posted by: caribookscoops | December 06, 2008 at 11:37 PM
What a great idea to post all these lists in one place. Thank you so much!
Posted by: jama | December 07, 2008 at 09:25 AM
Oh thank you for the links! :o)
Posted by: Tarie | December 07, 2008 at 01:01 PM
You're welcome, everyone. I can't resist a good list!
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | December 07, 2008 at 07:32 PM
Wow! This was more helpful than Google (although Google did lead me here). Thank you!
Posted by: Emma Jane | December 19, 2008 at 12:27 PM
You're so welcome. Thanks for stopping by!
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | December 19, 2008 at 01:14 PM
wow! what an amazing compilation! bravo Susan! thanks for sharing!
Posted by: stella | December 27, 2008 at 06:49 PM
Stella, you're welcome! I've had a great time scanning the I'net for resources.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | December 28, 2008 at 05:55 PM
OMG, I'm exhausted just from thinking about how long it must have taken you to do this.
Thankyousoverymuch!!!
Posted by: Lisa Yee | January 03, 2009 at 07:38 PM
You're so welcome, Lisa! I work on it a little every day, so the project is really not burdensome at all.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | January 03, 2009 at 08:22 PM
Great site, and very helpful lists. I am a new author myself of a children's book and take great interest in all children's material.
I will check your site often.
Many thanks,
Irene Harvey
[edited to remove email, etc.]
Posted by: Irene J Harvey | January 08, 2009 at 09:46 AM
Thanks for the nice words.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | January 08, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Hi Susan,
Here's one that's new to me. It's called the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards.
http://www.moonbeamawards.com/winners/2008/winners2008.php
Lots of *interesting* titles.
Posted by: Tricia | January 09, 2009 at 03:45 PM
Thanks, Tricia. I added the Moonbeam awards; looks like they're for independently published books.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | January 09, 2009 at 03:50 PM
Hi Susan,
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books has published their blue ribbon awards for books published in 2008.
http://bccb.lis.uiuc.edu/blue08.html
Thanks for maintaining this comprehensive list.
Posted by: Tricia | January 10, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Okay, in my neverending quest to find additional science titles, I've come across one more. It is the Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth, 2008.
http://www.booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=show_product&pid=3245317
Posted by: Tricia | January 10, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Tricia, you are the Bouquet of Awesomeness this morning. thank you. I'd seen the BCCB at your blog. Will add the others. I LOVE the science books, too. Have you ever been on a panel of the NSTA awards? Love those!
For people who are looking for good books fast, the awards and the year-end best lists can be helpful, I hope.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | January 10, 2009 at 12:00 PM
A couple that are on different calendars (announcing their awards the following summer) but excellent choices for multicultural and/or nature books are the Skipping Stones Honor Awards (www.skippingstones.org/honors_98.htm) for multicultural and environmental books and teaching resources, and the Americas Award, given to outstanding books about Latin America and the Latino experience (www4.uwm.edu/clacs/aa/index.cfm).
Posted by: Lyn Miller-Lachmann | January 10, 2009 at 12:45 PM
Thank you, Susan, for this AMAZINGLY comprehensive collection of lists, and for the great honor of having my poetry list included! I'm tickled e-pink! :-) Sylvia
Posted by: Sylvia | January 10, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Lyn, thank you for mentioning those; when the committees announce the winners later in the year, I will add them to this list. I'm going to need a calendar marked with announcement dates!
Sylvia, you have a great list! I HAD to add it-- too good a resource to pass up.
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | January 10, 2009 at 01:58 PM