This wonderful list of thirty titles is selected by a committee of NCTE’s Children’s Literature Assembly. Congratulations to all the honored book creators and to the members of this year’s committee for their fine work: Tracy Smiles, Chair; Donalyn Miller, Patricia Bandre, Yoo Kyung Sung, Barbara Ward, Shanetia Clark, and Jean Schroeder.
43 Cemetery Road: the Phantom of the Post Office, by Kate Klise, illustrated by Sarah Klise, published by Houghton Mifflin.
A Leaf Can Be, by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija, published by Lerner.
and then it’s spring, by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin Stead, published by Macmillan.
Bear has a Story to Tell, by Philip Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead, published by Macmillan.
Book of Animal Poetry, edited by J. Patrick Lewis, published by National Geographic.
Cat Tale, by Michael Hall, published by HarperCollins.
Chopsticks, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Scott Magoon, published by Disney/Hyperion.
Each Kindness, by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, published by Penguin.
Encyclopedia of Me, by Karen Rivers, published by Scholastic.
Endangered, by Eliot Schrefer, published by Scholastic.
Forgive Me, I Meant To Do It: False Apology Poems, by Gail Carson Levine, illustrated by Matthew Cordell, published by HarperCollins.
Hades, Lord of the Dead, by George O’Connor, published by Macmillan.
His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg, by Louise Borden, published by Houghton Mifflin.
House Held Up by Trees, by Ted Kooser, illustrated by Jon Klassen, published by Candlewick.
I Have the Right to be a Child, by Alain Serres, illustrated by Aurelia Fronty, published by Groundwood.
I Lay My Stitches Down, by Cynthia Grady, illustrated by Michele Wood, published by Eerdmans.
Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine, published by Penguin.
Moonbird, by Phillip Hoose, published by Macmillan.
No Crystal Stair, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, published by Lerner.
Obstinate Pen, by Frank Dormer, published by Macmillan.
Sadie and Ratz, by Sonya Hartnett, illustrated by Ann James, published by Candlewick.
See You at Harry’s, by Jo Knowles, published by Candlewick.
Snakes, by Nic Bishop, published by Scholastic.
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, published by HarperCollins.
Unbeelievables, by Douglas Florian, published by Simon & Schuster.
Unspoken, by Henry Cole, published by Scholastic.
Walking on Earth & Touching the Sky, by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School, illustrated by S.D. Nelson, published by Abrams.
Water Sings Blue, by Kate Coombs, illustrated by Meilo So, published by Chronicle.
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, published by Random House.
Z is for Moose, by Kelly Bingham, illustrated by Paul Zelinsky, published by HarperCollins.
educating alice 
I want to give a reminder about the wonderful Edwin Tunis books, such as Colonial Craftsmen, that really give a great explanation about how things work. For example, see page 128 to learn why we call capital letters “upper case.” His are wonderful books; buy them whenever you see them in secondhand stores!
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