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Find out about the annual winners of the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and Pura Belpré Illustrator Award - as well as other children's book awards from the American Library Association and other literacy organizations. Many organizations end the year with a "best of" list of children's books. Here are links to the awards and lists that we like, including selections from the Children's Book Council, School Library Journal, Horn Book, Parent's Choice, The New York Times, and many more.

In this section:

2020 Newbery Medal

The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. One or more Honor books are recognized each year as well.

New Kid
by Jerry Kraft
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2020 Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association to the author of the most distinguished American picture book for children. One or more Honor books are recognized each year as well.

The Undefeated
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
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2020 Coretta Scott King Awards

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are awarded annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. One or more Honor books are recognized each year as well.

2020 Coretta Scott King Author Award

New Kid
by Jerry Kraft
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2020 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

The Undefeated
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
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2020 Pura Belpré Awards

The Pura Belpré is awarded annually by the American Library Association honoring a Latino writer illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience. One or more Honor books are recognized each year as well.

2020 Pura Belpré Author Award

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe
by Carlos Hernandez
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2020 Pura Belpré Illustrator Award

Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln
Illustrated by Rafael López
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Awards from American Library Association Affiliates

Other notable awards

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Find out about the annual winners of the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and Pura Belpré Illustrator Award - as well as other children's book awards from the American Library Association and other literacy organizations. Many organizations end the year with a "best of" list of children's books.

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When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

- The Newbery Medal awards one of the most outstanding children's books of the year.

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We Are Water Protectors illustrated by Michaela Goade

- The Caldecott Medal awards the most outstanding illustrations of the year.

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Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

RESPECT: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul Illustrated by Frank Morrison

- The Coretta Scott King Awards recognize the most outstanding African American authors and illustrators of the year.

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Oliver Jeffers books have wonderful illustrations, with heartfelt themes. Many of his books can be used across the curriculum.

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Oliver Jeffers is a visual artist and author working in painting, bookmaking, illustration, collage, performance and sculpture.

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Mo Willems books contain silly characters that students love and recognize as they move through each book.

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Kevin Henkes books have relatable lessons to the lives of children and allow them to relate to the characters easily.

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Here you'll find videos, teaching resources, book information, interviews, games, articles, and much more. Thanks so much for coming by.

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Jory John creates fun characters with thoughtful messages and reminders for children as they grow up. The illustrations are also detailed and silly.

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"Author Jory John easily handles the dry humor that has taken over children's literature in recent years. Duck's energetic appeals will have even the littlest readers laughing. John's tale offers plenty for readers of all ages. Kids will laugh ... parents will commiserate. From kid-friendly dialogue to ... friendly illustrations, Goodnight Already!

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Find children's books using various filters to fit what you need.

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...to the Guide/Reviews Database!

The authoritative Guide/Reviews Database offers short, critical reviews by trusted professionals of recommended hardcover trade books published in the United States for young people. Gathered here are more than 70,000 reviews.

The reviews are clear and honest, brief and to the point, identifying strengths and weaknesses and rating the books on a scale from 1 to 4, with titles recommended by The Horn Book Magazine receiving the highest ratings 1 ( ) or 2 ( ).

The Guide/Reviews Database is fully searchable by author/illustrator, title, subject, bibliographic data, rating, and keyword. New features include useful booklists-curated by Horn Book editors and updated frequently-as well as the ability to save all your favorite titles to "My Library."

For every teacher, librarian, or parent who has struggled to find just the right book to place in a particular child's hands, help has arrived with the Guide/Reviews Database. Dive in!
This site is a work in progress and we are continuing to update and improve features, so if you encounter any problems or would like to provide us with any feedback, please contact Customer Service. Thank you!

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The Horn Book Magazine and The Horn Book Guide are the most distinguished journals in the field of children's and young adult literature and the core of our company. Founded in 1924 by Bertha Mahony to herald the best in children's literature, more than eighty-five years later, we are still following her lead.

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Too Much Glue is such a fun book and, I love the twist at the end. Kids love to predict what happens if there were to be another book.

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🧴Too Much Glue(Read Aloud) | Storytime by Jason Lifebvre *Miss Jill

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Silly, fun book especially for the first couple weeks of school.

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📚 Kids Book Read Aloud: WE DON'T EAT OUR CLASSMATES by Ryan T. Higgins

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I love the life-like illustrations in this book and that it is written from the crayons perspective. Could do a letter writing lesson/activity with this one.

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The Day the crayons quit - Books Alive! Read Aloud book for children

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Scholastics most popular read aloud books. I like the variety on this list and knowing what other teachers are reading to their classes.

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Scholastic is counting down the 100 Best Read-Aloud Books

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This list is sectioned off by different interests and features of the books. I like the organization of this list for finding a quick book.

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It's been such a strange, lost summer. Camps and schools and activities have shut down during the pandemic, leaving kids and caregivers stuck at home and climbing the walls - and sometimes the garden fences.

With that in mind, we decided that this year's summer reader poll should be all about keeping kids occupied. We asked you to tell us about your favorite kids' books, from board books for babies to great read-alouds to early chapter books and even a few books for older readers. And thousands of you answered.

As with all our summer polls, this one isn't a straight-up popularity contest. (Otherwise it would have been nothing but 100 Mo Willems books - and we love Mo Willems, but that wouldn't have been the most useful list.) Rather, it's a curated list built from your recommendations and picks from our expert panel of judges - a fantastic group of authors, librarians, publishers and all-around book nerds. And instead of a ranked list, it's grouped into categories that we hope will help you find just the right books for the kids in your life.

Now, we understand that half the fun of a list is arguing about what didn't make it on - and our judges had to make some hard choices. But there was one easy decision: A few years ago, we did a summer list based on All Things Considered's Backseat Book Club of great reads for kids from 9 to 14. This year's list is focused on younger readers, but we did include a few books for older kids. So if something appeared on the Backseat 100, we didn't include it here. That means no Charlotte's Web, no Matilda and no Little House books (though we've got some wonderful suggestions for Little House fans, like Linda Sue Park's Prairie Lotus).

We want this list to be a tool for discovery, which means we had to walk a delicate path when it comes to books that are undeniable classics - we knew all hell would rain down on us if we left out Where the Wild Things Are or The Very Hungry Caterpillar. But we decided you probably didn't need our help to discover Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry or The Little Engine that Could, so those didn't make it onto the list.

And as always, we had to decide which work to pick from creators who were nominated multiple times. Readers may remember the Nora Roberts Rule, which came about during 2015's romance poll: No one gets on the list twice UNLESS they're as titanic a figure in their field as Roberts is in romance; we included her in that list under both her own name and her pen name, J.D. Robb.

This year brought an interesting twist. Since many books on the list have both authors and illustrators, we eventually decided that authors could appear only once, but we didn't mind seeing illustrators again. (Hello, Christian Robinson and Vashti Harrison!) And generally, when someone appeared more than once in the nominations, we went with whichever title was more popular with voters (so Kevin Henkes' Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse beat out Kitten's First Full Moon).

You'll also see there's a section of books for older readers. We wanted to recognize that a lot of kids read ahead of their age groups - and also, there have been so many great books that came out since we put together the Backseat 100 list in 2013 that it seemed a shame not to include a few of them here.

We hope you and the kids in your life will have as much fun poring through this list as we had putting it together! We had a blast recalling old favorites and discovering new classics (and a shoutout to our gracious judges, who let me sneak in one of my all-time childhood faves, Paul Goble's gorgeous The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses).

To make things easier, we've split up the list into categories: Picture Perfect, Baby's Bookshelf, Conversation Starters, Family Life, Animal (and Monster) Friends, Folktales and Fairy Tales, Fun to Read Out Loud, Nonfiction, Early Chapter Books, and Older Readers. Happy reading!

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Welcome To Story Hour: 100 Favorite Books For Young Readers

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This year we had kids and caregivers in mind when we chose the genre for our summer poll. So here are 100 favorite kids' books, picked by readers and expert judges, to while away the hours at home.

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This list is organized based on student interest. This one is really fun once you get to know your students and are able to target read alouds toward their interests.

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Books for Early Childhood | Summer Reading 2021

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Our top summer reading picks for picture booksand beginning readers.

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I love the illustrations and meaning behind this book. With such an abundance of information this book could be used to teach lessons in any content area.

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Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

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Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

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One of my personal favorite books. I love how imaginative and immersive it is and it is so fun to watch children as they read this.

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The Good Egg by Jory John and Pete Oswald

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The Good Egg by Jory John and Pete Oswald

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This book has a great lesson about how to take care of yourself and work well with others. Good for creating a supportive classroom environment.

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Such a fun book with a surprise twist. Great message about being yourself and younger kids love the make-believe characters.