At last, our editors have made their choices for the best children's books of the year, from picture books to middle grade to young adult titles. It wasn't easy to decide, but after we roared our terrible roars, and gnashed our terrible teeth, we settled down long enough to agree on 30 excellent books.
Picture Books
- Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet
- Blackout by John Rocco
- Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman
- Brother Sun, Sister Moon by Katherine Paterson
- Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld
- Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
- I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
- Me . . . Jane by Patrick McDonnell
- Stars by Mary Lyn Ray
- Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman
Middle Grade
- The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine
- Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
- Drawing From Memory by Allen Say
- The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
- Hidden by Helen Frost
- Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
- Jefferson’s Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
- Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
- Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier
- Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Young Adult
- All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin
- Badd by Tim Tharp
- Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
- Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
- Chime by Franny Billingsley
- The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier
- The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
- Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
- Trapped by Michael Northrop
- What We Keep Is Not Always What Will Stay by Amanda Cockrell
What are your favorite children's books of the year? Chime in on our blog. And don't miss the rest of our Best of 2011 coverage.
