A roundup of the year-end "best of" lists and children's literature prizes. With a few exceptions, the books on these lists were published in 2010. This page will be updated regularly.
See also the big 2009 list of lists.
A
AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prizes for Excellence in Science Books finalists and winnners (AAAS is the American Association for the Advancement of Science.)
AAAS/Science Books & Film Gift Guide
ABC Action News: Holiday books.
Adult Books 4 Teens, a School Library Journal blog
Aesop Prize (folklore)
Agatha Award, children & teen category ("traditional mysteries")
Alex Awards (adult books good for teens)
ALSC (Association for LIbrary Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association) Notable Books 2011 nominees (books considered are from 2010) and final list
Amelia Bloomer Project recommendations. Feminist books for children and teens.
Amazon Editors' Picks: Top 100 Books. List includes a few titles for children and teens.
Amazon Editors' Top Ten: Audiobooks. One YA novel on the list.
Amazon Editors' Top Ten: Gay & Lesbian. One YA novel on the list.
Amazon Editors' Top Ten: Middle Readers
Amazon Editors' Top Ten: Picture Books
Amazon Editors' Top Ten: Teens
Amazon UK Editors' Top Ten: Children's books
Anna Lindh Foundation honor list. Honoring children's books in Arabic.
Apartment Therapy Ohdeedoh: Best Jewish children's books
Arab American Book Awards (including a kids' book category)
Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature. Awards honor books for kids & adults.
Association of Booksellers for Children New Voices list of outstanding debut books by authors for middle-grade and young-adult readers
Atlantic Book Awards (Canada). List includes some children's books.
Audible.com. Audiobooks.
AudioFile. Best audiobooks, including a "Children's and Family Listening" category.
B
Bank Street College Children's Book Committee
Batchelder Award (children's book in translation)
BoingBoing Gift Guide. Includes some books for children & teens.
Bolen Books Children's Book Prize shortlist (Canada)
Bookchat Awards (South Africa)
Booklist: Top ten religious books for youth
Booklist: Top ten sci-tech books for youth
Bookshelves of Doom (at Kirkus Reviews): Favorite books (teens)
Booktrust Early Years Awards shortlist and winners (UK)
Booktrust Teenage Prize shortlist and winner (UK)
Booktrust YoungMinds Book Award shortlist (UK)
Boston Globe. Anita Silvey's picks.
Bruneau Family Children's/Young Adult Literature Award. Honors excellence in Newfoundland and Labrador writing. (Canada)
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: gift guide (PDF file; includes 2009 titles, too)
C
Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards. Winners of and finalists for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and the inaugural John Spray Mystery Award.
Carnegie Medal nominations, shortlist, and winner (UK)
Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video (US)
CCBC Choices Preliminary List, and final list, published by the Cooperative Children's Book Center
Chapters Indigo (Canada)
Charlotte Observer: picture books
Charlotte's Library. Middle-grade steampunk novels.
Children's Book Council of Australia. Book of the Year shortlist, Crichton shortlist (new illustrators), and Notables in five categories
Children's Choice Book Award finalists and winners (PDF file)
Christchurch Kids' Blog: Top five books for young adults (New Zealand)
Christian Science Monitor. Graphic novels.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. Best books list includes a few kids'/YA titles.
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Picture Books
Comic Book Resources, Robot 6 blog: A list of favorite comics includes some children's and YA works. Also, best covers of the year.
Coretta Scott King Book Awards, plus John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Costa Children's Book Award shortlist and winner
Cybils (Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards). Finalists and winners.
D
Daily Beast. Book Beast blog: best YA novels
E
E.B. White Read-Aloud Award: see Indies Choice.
Edgar Award nominations, presented by the Mystery Writers of America. A couple of kids' categories included.
Entertainment Weekly: best comics and graphic novels. Mostly for adults and teens, but a few for children.
Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature longlist
F
First Things: Picture Books
Flashlight Worthy: graphic novels (several kids' and all-ages on list)
A Fuse #8 Production, a School Library Journal blog. 100 "magnificent books." See also The Golden Fuse Awards, a humorous look at the year in kids' books.
G
Galaxy National Book Awards: WHSmith's Children's Book of the Year (UK)
Gawker (includes one YA book)
Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People finalists and winner (Canada)
The Globe and Mail and Susan Perren's Top 10 picks (Canada)
Good Comics for Kids, a School Library Journal blog. Best comics for children.
Goodreads Choice Awards, including the following categories
Governor's General Literary Awards shortlist and winners (Canada)
Grand Rapids Press. Books by Michigan authors.
Graphic Novel Reporter. List includes children's/YA books.
Greenaway Medal. See Kate Greenaway Medal.
Growing Good Kids awards (books on gardening and the environment)
Guardian Children's Fiction Prize shortlist and winner (UK)
H
Hampton Roads (VA).com, via The Virginian-Pilot
Harvard Book Store. Includes some books for kids.
Hockey Book Reviews.com. Not a "best" list, per se, but a good roundup of 2010 hockey books for children and teens.
The Horn Book Fanfare (best of the year books)
The Horn Book: Holiday High Notes
Huffington Post: Best of the Best children's books
Huffington Post: Best 10 Books of 2010 list includes a book for younger readers
Huffington Post: Best Picture Books
Hyphen Magazine: Notable Asian-American books, including a couple of YA titles
I
The Independent: Children's books of the year (UK)
The Independent: Best books for Christmas, including children's books (scroll down on page) UK
Indies Choice/E.B. White Read-Aloud Book Award finalists
The Inkys longlist, shortlist, and winners. Teenage choice book award. (Australia)
INSPYs. Bloggger awards for "faith-driven" literature include a YA category.
The Integrated Catholic Life (list includes two children's books)
i09: speculative fiction (includes a couple of YA titles)
Irish Book Awards, including the Dublin Airport Authority Irish Children's Book of the Year
J
Jane Addams Children's Book Award
K
Kansas City Star. Top 100 list includes a children's book category.
Kate Greenaway Medal nominations, shortlist, and winner (UK)
Kiddo Awards nominees at James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead.com
Kirkus Reviews: Best books for children and teens (Also, PDF version)
L
Largehearted Boy: Online "Best 2010" Book Lists. All genres. The list of lists.
Lehigh Valley (PA) Express Times. Holiday books.
Latina Magazine. 5 best books list includes a middle grade/YA title.
Library Journal: Best YA list for adults
Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field. Gwenda Bond's Top Ten.
M
Manga Report: Manga Gift Guide (for teens and grown-ups)
Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award finalists and winner (Canada)
Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation shortlist and winner (UK)
Montreal Gazette. Holiday books. (Canada)
Moonbeam Children's Book Awards. Books published in '09 and '10.
Morris Award shortlist and winner. Honors debut YA authors.
MSNBC.com. Comic Log's best science books for children and teens
Mythopoeic Award for Children's Literature (scroll down on page)
N
NAACP Image Award nominations & winners in literature for children and for youth/teens
National Book Award for Young People's Literature
National Outdoor Book Award. Includes a children's book category.
National Parenting Publications Awards for books (and magazines)
National Science Teachers Association: Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12
New West Best Books in the West. List mentions one all-ages graphic novel.
New York Public Library: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing (PDF file)
The New Yorker: The Book Bench blog's Holiday Gift Guide: "For the Precocious Child"
New York Times Book Review: Best Illustrated Children's Books
New York Times Book Review: Notable children's books
New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards
Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction finalists and winner (Canada)
NPR: Indie bookseller favorites include several kids' books.
NPR: Speculative fiction. Includes one YA book.
O
Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production
Omaha World-Herald holiday books
Orbis Pictus Award (nonfiction), sponsored by National Council of Teachers of English
Oregon Book Awards finalists (awards include categories for books for kids & teens)
100 Scope Notes. Top 5 books, with links to 15 more.
Ottawa Citizen. List includes books for children. (Canada)
P
Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse (for French-language Canadian books). Finalists and winner.
Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Shortlists for children's fiction and young adult fiction. And winners. (Australia)
Purple Dragonfly Book Awards (list includes older titles, too)
Q
Quill and Quire (Canada)
R
Read Alert (Australia)
Read Kutub Kids. Favorite 2010 kids' books translated into Arabic.
Readings bookseller (Australia)
The Record (of Troy, Michigan). Holiday books by local authors and others.
Riverrun Bookstore (Portsmouth, NH). Includes some kids' books.
R.J. Julia (Madison, CT, bookstore)
Romantic Times. YA nominees at the end of a long list.
Royal Mail Scottish Children's Book Award shortlist
S
Salon: Graphic novels. Mostly for adults but a couple of kids' books on there.
San Francisco Chronicle: Books for Hanukkah and Christmas
School Library Journal: Fiction
School Library Journal: Nonfiction
School Library Journal: Picture Books
Scottish Children's Book Award. See Royal Mail Scottish Children's Book Award.
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Siebert Informational Book Medal
Sisters in Crime Davitt Awards. Including a YA category. (Australia)
Skipping Stones Honor Award. Includes some books from 2009.
Smithsonian Magazine: children's books about food
Smithsonian Magazine: Notable Books
Spur Awards, sponsored by the Western Writers of America. Scroll down on a larger list for the children's book honors.
Surprising Science, a Smithsonian Magazine blog: Great science books/
Sydney Taylor Book Awards, presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries
T
Tablet Magazine: Best Jewish books for older kids
Tablet Magazine. Best Jewish picture books.
The Takeaway (radio show). List includes a book for kids.
TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
Teens' Top Ten. Books voted on by teenagers, in a contest sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA)
The Telegraph: Toby Clements' picks (UK)
The Telegraph: Dinah Hall's picks (UK)
The Telegraph: Lucy Davies' picture pook picks (UK)
Toronto Book Award (includes a book for children on the shortlist)
Toronto Public Library: First and Best (for kids under 5)
Toronto Star: Parent Central.ca: Best children's books based in Toronto
U
V
Vancouver Sun. Top ten list of Canadian books includes one for teens. (Canada)
Victoria/Vancouver Island Times Colonist (Canada)
W
Washington Post (warning: contains ad with audio)
Writers League of Texas Book Award finalists (larger list with a children's/YA category)
Y
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults (YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, is a division of ALA, the American Library Association.)
YALSA: Best fiction for young adults
YALSA: Great graphic novels for teens
YALSA: Quick picks for reluctant young adult readers and Top Ten quick picks
Z
Zooglobble. Best kids' music, not books. Hey, we needed a Z!
THE BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS 2010. Copyright © by Susan Thomsen, 2010. All rights reserved.
Many thanks to the following blogs and web sites for sharing lists and announcements of prizes and awards: Largehearted Boy, A Fuse #8 Production, Anabel's Children's Literature Blog, Inside a Dog, the Cooperative Children's Book Center, Science Fiction Awards Watch, MangaBlog, SCC English (the English Dept. at St. Columba's College, Ireland) and Kids Lit. Also incredibly helpful are Twitter and all the book people there.
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