The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2017 Edition from the Bank Street Children's Book Committee

On Thursday, April 6, 2017, the Children's Book Committee of Bank Street College held it annual awards ceremony. And despite the heavy rain, it was a wonderful turnout. Authors, illustrators, and editors were all there to accept this years awards for their excellent books. To learn more about these books, see my post of February 4, 2017.

If you weren't able to come to the awards ceremony, you can watch it on Kidlit TV Here

Not only were awards given out, but, once again, the Children's Book Committee has issued their best books guide for parents, teachers, librarians, and everyone else with in interest in children and children's books. Included in the guide are the more than 600 books published in 2016 that have been read by at least two committee members and were found to meet the committee's strict criteria:

"In choosing books for the annual list, reviewers consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes."

You can learn even more about the committee's Review Guidelines HERE

So, curious to know what this year's best books are?

Well, you can access an online PDF version of the list separated by age on the Best Books of the Year website. Book are categorized within each age group, making it easier to find the kind of book you are interested in.

Or you may purchase a print edition by contacting the book committee at bookcom@bankstreet.edu The cost is $10.00 + $3.00 shipping (and well worth it)

Now, it's back to reading since 2018 will be here before you know it.

2017 Bank Street Children's Book Committee Awards are here!

I seem to have lots of news from Bank Street this week. First, it was to announce the finalists for the 2017 Cook Prize and to let teacher, librarians and school administrators know how to register their 3rd and 4th grade class to vote for their favorite.

Now, it is to announce the winning books awarded by the Bank Street Children's Book Committee. As I've said before, we read and read and really, it is always a tough decision.

First up, the Josette Frank Award. This award honors a book or books of outstanding merit in which young people deal in a positive and realistic way with the difficulties in the and grow emotionally and morally. The 2017 Josette Frank Award was given to

The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones by Wendelin Van Draanen

Alfred A. Knopf BFYR, 2016, 272 pages

From the publisher: My secret life is filled with psychic vampires, wheelchair zombies, chain-rattlin' ghosts, and a one-eyed cat. But they're nothing compared to my real-life stalker: a sixth-grade girl named Kandi Kain...

Lincoln Jones is always working on the latest story he's got going in his notebook. Those stories are his refuge. A place where the hero always prevails and the bad guy goes to jail. Real life is messy and complicated, so Lincoln sticks to fiction and keeps to himself. Which works fine until a nosy girl at his new school starts prying into his private business. She wants to know what he's writing, where he disappears to after school, and why he never talks to anybody...

The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones is a terrifically funny and poignant story about a boy finding the courage to get to know the real characters all around him - and to let them know him.

Next, is the Flora Stieglitz Straus Award. This award given to a distinguished work of nonfiction which serves as an inspiration to young people. This year we honored two books. The 2017 Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for Younger Readers was given to 

Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay

by Susan Hood, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport

Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2016, 40 pages

From the publisher: [this is] the extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, an orchestra made up of children playing instruments built from recycled trash.

Ada Ríos grew up in Cateura, a small town in Paraguay built on a landfill. She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the bare essentials, it was never an option...until a music teacher named Favio Chávez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash. It was a crazy idea, but one that would leave Ada - and her town - forever changed. Now, the Recycled Orchestra plays venues around the world, spreading their message of hope and innovation.

The 2017 Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for Older Readers was given to two books this year. They are

March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin,

illustrated by Nate Powell

Top Shelf Productions, 2016, 256 pages

From the publisher: Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the award-winning...March trilogy. Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, joins co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell to bring the lessons of history to vivid life for a new generation, urgently relevant for today's world.

Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story by Caren Stelson

Carolrhoda Books, 2016, 144 pages

From the publisher: This striking work of narrative nonfiction tells the true story of six-year-old Sachiko Yasui's survival of the Nagasaki atomic bomb on August 9, 1945, and the heartbreaking and lifelong aftermath. Have conducted extensive interviews with Sachiko Yasui, Caren Stelson chronicles Sachiko's trauma and loss as well as her long journey to find peace. This book offers readers a remarkable new perspective on the final moments of World War II and their aftermath.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Claudia Lewis Award. This award is given to the best poetry book of the year and the 2017 Claudia Lewis Award was given to

When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons

by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Julie Morstad

Roaring Brook Press, 2016, 56 pages

From the publisher: december 29

                                   and i woke to a morning

                                   that was quiet and white

                                   the first snow

                                   (just like magic0 came on tip toes

                                   overnight

Flowers blooming in sheets of snow make way for happy frogs dancing in the rain. Summer swims mover over for autumn sweaters until the snow comes back again. In Julie Fogliano's skill hand and illustrated by Julie Morstad's charming pictures, the seasons come to life in this gorgeous and comprehensive book of poetry.

Congratulations to all the winners!

It's Official - 2016 Bank Street Children's Book Committee Awards are here!

Each year, the Bank Street Children's Book Committee reads and reads - picture books, realistic fiction, speculative fiction, nonfiction, poetry, if it's published and it's for young readers, the committee reads it.  And at the end of the year, the committee gives three awards - one for outstanding fiction, one for outstanding poetry and on for outstanding nonfiction.

The Josette Frank Award for Fiction honors a book or books of outstanding merit in which children or young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties in their world and grow emotionally and morally. This year the Josette Frank Award was given to

The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Dial BFYR, 2015 320 pages (age 9+)

From the Publisher: Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.

 So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?

The Claudia Lewis Award is honors the best poetry book of the year for young readers.  This year the Claudia Lewis Award was given to

My Seneca Village by Marilyn Nelson

namelos, 2015, 112 pages (age 10+)

From the publisher:  This exquisite collection [of poems] takes readers back in time and deep into the mind's eye of Marilyn Nelson.  A girl ponders being free-but-not-free. Orphaned brothers get gold fever. A conjurer sees past his time and into ours. The voices of a multi-ethnic, multi-racial 19th century Manhattan neighborhood are rising again.  One of America's most honored writers - a Newbery Honor medalist, Coretta Scott King Medalist and National Book Award nominee -draws upon history, and her astonishing imagination, to revive the long lost community of Seneca Village. 

The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award honors an information book that serves as an inspiration to young readers.  This year's Flora Stieglitz Straus Award was given to 

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement 

by Carol Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Ekua Holmes

Candlewick, 2015, 56 pages (age 9+)

From the publisher:  Despite fierce prejudice and abuse, even being beaten to within an inch of her life, Fannie Lou Hamer was a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her death in 1977. Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Ms. Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson’s interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats. Featuring luminous mixed-media art both vibrant and full of intricate detail, Voice of Freedom celebrates Fannie Lou Hamer’s life and legacy with an inspiring message of hope, determination, and strength.

Congratulations to the winners!

The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2015 edition from Bank Street CBC

Besides choosing which books should receive the three Bank Street Children's Book awards each year, the Bank Street Children's Book Committee also publishes a list of best books for young readers age infant to 16 years old.

You can find past lists in PDF form from 2010-2014 on their website HERE.

The Best Book lists are divided by age and includes both fiction and nonfiction.  Within age groups, books are further subdivided by genre, e.g. Fantasy, Coming of Age, Sports etc and each book listed is annotated.  And while every book on the list is considered a best book, there are some extraordinary books marked with a star. 

The 2015 Edition of the Best Children's Books of the Year, 2015 can be found HERE.  This year there is even a print edition that can be purchased for $10.00 (plus $3.00 shipping) by contacting us at

bookcom@bankstreet.edu

You can also read about the committee's guidelines for choosing the best books each year HERE

I know I posted about the 2015 winners of the Bank Street Children's Book Committee awards, but in case you missed it, here they are again: 

2015 Josette Frank Award for Fiction

For older readers::

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Dial Books, 2014, 384 pages

For younger readers:

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

Feiwel and Friends, 2014, 240 pages

2015 Claudia Lewis Award for poetry

For older readers:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014, 336 pages

For younger readers:

Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, 32 pages

2015 Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for nonfiction

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin

Candlewick Press, 2014, 192 pages

Happy Valentine's Day and I'm back!

I've been battling a respiratory infection since the beginning of February and it finally got the best of me.  Now, as I emerge from my Robitussin haze, I see that February is already half way over and it's Valentines Day.  And so from me to you

But the last two weeks were all sleep and Robitussin for me.  First, last week, the Bank Street Children's Book Committee announced the 2015 Children's Book Committee Awards.  They are

2015 Josette Frank Award for fiction:

For older readers::

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Dial Books, 2014, 384 pages

For younger readers:

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

Feiwel and Friends, 2014, 240 pages

2015 Claudia Lewis Award for poetry

For older readers:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014, 336 pages

For younger readers:

Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, 32 pages

2015 Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for nonfiction

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin

Candlewick Press, 2014, 192 pages

Congratulations to all the winners!

Next up - the Cybils!

The 2013 Bank Street Children's Book Committee Awards

Well, this is award season and now that the Newbery's have been selected, I would like to announce the next most important awards (ahem! ahem!).  They are the 2013 Bank Street Children's Book Committee Awards.  Each year the committee awards three awards: one for outstanding fiction, one for outstanding poetry and one for outstanding non-fiction.

And the 2013 winners are:

2013 Josette Frank Award (Fiction) 
Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive,  goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.

2013 Flora Stieglizt Straus Award (Non-Fiction)
Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport

Twenty-one brilliantly detailed accounts illuminates the defiance of tens of thousands of Jews across eleven Nazi-occupied countries during Word War II. In answer to genocidal madness that was Hitler's Holocaust, the only response they could abide was resistance, and their greatest weapons were courage, ingenuity, the will to survive and the resolve to save others or to die trying.

2013 Claudia Lewis Award (Poetry)
National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs that Speak, Soar, and Roar! Edited by J. Patrick Lewis

Beautiful photography compliments and extends the 200 enchanting poems about animals written by some of your favorite poets, such as Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Carl Sandburg, our old favorite Anonymous, even Vita Sackville West (who knew!) and of course, our Children's Poet Laureate and editor of this lovely volume, J Patrick Lewis.

Congratulations to the winners!