CLICK HERE for a Google Doc of the list!
Here’s a handy-dandy list for you to enjoy, compiled by your friendly neighborhood children’s librarian. Not every book is for every reader; my reading tastes are pretty dang wide-ranging. Consult your local librarian (or me!) for a personlized recommendation. In the meanwhile, fire up the library cards, and enjoy!
P.S. – don’t over look the non-fiction section! You might not be aware, but we are in the midst of a Golden Age of kids’ & YA nonfiction. A GOLDEN AGE, PEOPLE. My past childhood self is seething with envy that my kids have such superior informational books to read. Seething! My favorite book of 2023 is in that section – don’t miss it!
Picture Books
Body Image Done Right: BIG by Vashti Harrison
In Which a Scaredy Squirrel Gets Brave: Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
Bedtime Book Gets GorgeousEvery Dreaming Creature by Brendan Wenzel
Glorious Tribute to Self-Love and Family: Nesting Dolls by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Best Santa Claus Book in YEARS: How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? By Mac Barnett, illus. Jon Klassen
A Wordless Wonder – one of those books where you spend hours looking at all the tiny details: The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker
Heartfelt Tribute to parental loss and memory: A Walk in the Woods by Nikki Grimes, illus. Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney
Kids Get Hurt and Sick, and here’s one of the best ways to talk about it: The Hospital Book by Lisa Brown
The kind of fantasy-adventure reading tribute I was always looking for as a kid: Once
Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner
Luminous reflection on the grandparent-grandchild bond: My Baba’s Garden by Jordan Scott, illus. Sydney Smith
Most Gorgeous Christmas Book: Lullaby for the King by Nikki Grimes, illus. Michelle Carlos
Fiction
Grief, the AIDS crisis, and being strong enough to survive it: World Made of Glass by Ami Polonsky
A tiny seed goes on a big adventure in a prehistoric ecosystem: Big Tree by Brian Selznick
The craziest, incredible immigration story: Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang
Old-school glamour and an international murder mystery during the golden age of aviation, YES PLEASE: Stateless by Elizabeth Wein
The 2020 pandemic counts as historical fiction now – and also learn about the Ukranian Holodomor – with an amazing hat-trick of a plot: The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh
The 2020 pandemic as high fantasy-adventure: Elf Dog & Owl Head by M. T. Anderson
The funniest book about surviving trauma you’ll ever read: Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
Middle school is tough enough without your history teacher making you (hilariously) perform the Labors of Hercules: The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary Schmidt
Old-School Fantasy/High Adventure (reminds me of Lloyd Alexander!): The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri
Post-Apocalyptic sci-fi done right, with a Latinx twist: Alebrijes by Donna Barba Higuera
The rare *mainstream* novel with an LDS (aka Mormon) pioneer protagonist (and it’s SO
GOOD, pick it up if you loved Hattie Big Sky): Buffalo Flats by Martine Leavitt
Best Feminist Shakespearean Remix: Enter the Body by Joy McCullough
Most insightful novel for kids about the dangers of grudges and escalating violence: Eb & Flow by Kelly J. Baptist
Folklore
In which a rabbit drinks the moon and we can’t blame him because it looks flippin’ delicious: Ancient Night by David Alvarez with David Bowles
Funniest easy reader/picture book of the year, I keep hitting people with it and shouting “JUST READ IT, OKAY?” The Skull: a Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen
Poetry
The power of words and Native resilience: Remember by Joy Harjo, illus. Michaela Goade
The 21st century answer to Shel Silverstein: My Head Has a Bellyache: And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups by Chris Harris, illus. Andrea Tsurumi
Non-Fiction
Powerful, unblinking look at explaining slavery to kids: An American Story by Kwame Alexander, illus. Dare Coulter
The graphic novel that made me cry: Sunshine by Jarett J. Krosoczka
Okay, it’s on this list because this is something I’ve always been dying to know more about: Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods by Grace Lin
In case you’ve ever wondered why the big award for picture books is called the “Caldecott Medal”: Tomfoolery! Randolph Caldecott and the Rambunctious Coming-of-Age of Children’s Books by Michelle Markel, illus. Barbara McClintock
The Best Book of 2023. If you disagree I’ll force you to listen to “Shipoopi” from “The Music Man”: Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martin
The Harlem Renaissance in all its gorgeousness: There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds, illus. Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey
Your Backyard: it’s a jungle out there: Jumper: a Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan
The best road-trip study-abroad coming-of-age story (with a heaping helping of GenX nostalgia): A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat
The rare nonfiction title that works as a read-aloud (it’s just that interesting and funny!): The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, A Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas Day, illus. Bretty Helquist
The master of cinematic narrative nonfiction gives us a WWII nailbiter: Impossible Escape: a True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Germany by Steve Sheinkin
Above the Trenches by Nathan Hale
Casa Camisas 
Thank you. Always look forward to the list.