Bank Street College of Education Educate The Center for Children's Literature 4-14-2020 The Best Children's Books of the Year [2020 edition] Bank Street College of Education. Children's Book Committee Follow this and additional works at: https://educate.bankstreet.edu/ccl Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Bank Street College of Education. Children's Book Committee (2020). The Best Children's Books of the Year [2020 edition]. Bank Street College of Education. Retrieved from https://educate.bankstreet.edu/ccl/ 10 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by Educate. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Center for Children's Literature by an authorized administrator of Educate. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bank Street College of Education Educate The Center for Children's Literature 4-14-2020 The Best Children's Books of the Year [2020 edition] Bank Street College of Education. Children's Book Committee Follow this and additional works at: https://educate.bankstreet.edu/ccl Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Bank Street College of Education. Children's Book Committee (2020). The Best Children's Books of the Year [2020 edition]. Bank Street College of Education. Retrieved from https://educate.bankstreet.edu/ccl/ 10 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by Educate. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Center for Children's Literature by an authorized administrator of Educate. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Best Children’s Books of the Year 2020 Edition Books Published in 2019 BANK STREET COLLEGE OF EDUCATION THE BEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020 EDITION OFBOOKS THE PUBLISHED YEAR IN 2019 SELECTED BY THE CHILDREN’S BOOK COMMITTEE Funding for the print edition of the 2020 edition of The Best Children’s Books of the Year was supported by a generous contribution from the Helping Hands Fund in memory of Rae Lee Thompson THE CHILDREN’S BOOK COMMITTEE Jina Miharu Accardo Caren Leslie Marilyn Ackerman Elizabeth (Liz) Levy Rita Auerbach Muriel Mandell Alice Belgray Roberta Mitchell Jennifer Brown Caitlyn Morrissey Sheila Browning Kathryn Payne Miriam Lang Budin Susan Pine Christie Clark Jaïra Placide Deborah Cohen Ellen Rappaport Laura Cohen Martha Rosen Linda Colarusso Susie Rios Ayanna Coleman Susie Rolander Carmen Colón Caroline Schill Becky Eisenberg Adrienne Schure Gillian Engberg Elizabeth C. Segal Margery Fisher Charissa Sgouros Helen Freidus Dale Singer Alex Grannis Jo Stein Melinda Greenblatt Susan Stires Linda Greengrass Hadassah Tannor Catherine Hong Jane Thompson Todd Jackson Margaret Tice Andee Jorisch Morika Tsujimura Kharissa Kenner Leslie Wagner Gloria Koster Caroline Ward Mollie Welsh Kruger Cynthia Weill Patricia Lakin Mary Anne Wolpert Jeanne Lamb Todd Zinn MEMBERS EMERITI Margaret Cooper Lisa Von Drasek MEMBERS ON LEAVE OR AT LARGE Beryl Bresgi Laurent Linn Ann Levine Rivka Widerman TIPS FOR PARENTS • Share your enjoyment of books with your child. • Talk over your reading. • Continue to read aloud to your child even after they read independently. • Encourage your child to choose a book to read aloud to someone else. • Broaden your child’s horizons by helping to select books from a wide range of subjects • Encourage your child to read whatever they enjoy, even if it appears to be too easy or too hard. • Let your child see your enjoyment of your own reading • Find time for your child to visit and browse in libraries and bookstores. 2020 AWARDS The Josette Frank Award for a work of fiction of outstanding literary merit for young readers in which children or young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties in their world and grow emotionally and morally When the Ground Is Hard by Malla Nunn (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) The Claudia Lewis Award for the best poetry book of the year for young readers Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliott (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers) The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young readers Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II by Andrea Warren (Margaret Ferguson Books) Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace by Ashley Bryan (A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book/Atheneum Books for Young Readers) In evaluating books for their literary merit, the Bank Street Children's Book Committee (CBC) recognizes the importance of diversity in children’s literature and acknowledges and celebrates the voices and cultures of all of our readers. Diversity encompasses the varied and unique identities, experiences, perspectives, and cultural communities of a book’s main and supporting characters, whose attributes include (but are not limited to) race, ethnicity, gender, abilities, sexuality, class, religion, and family structure. All children benefit from seeing themselves reflected in what they read, and from seeing characters with different identities depicted accurately and without stereotypes in texts and/or illustrations. The CBC values representations of characters who are change agents and advocates for social justice, inclusivity, and equity. In accordance with the Committee’s goal of modeling proper sourcing of nonfiction writing, all listed information books for children nine and older must contain supporting references including, at a minimum, sources, quote attributions, and photo credits. Book annotations may also include the term “back matter” to indicate that there is additional reference material provided. KEY Board Book Outstanding Merit Diversity Read Aloud Graphic Format (4–6) Age Range Mature CONTENTS UNDER FIVE ..............................................................................1 Biography and Memoir..........................................................40 Concept Books .......................................................................... 9 Ecology ........................................................................................42 Holidays and Religion ...........................................................10 Health ..........................................................................................42 Poetry ..........................................................................................10 History .........................................................................................42 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) .........10 Religion .......................................................................................43 FIVE TO NINE ......................................................................... 12 Sports ...........................................................................................43 Fiction ........................................................................................ 12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) .........43 Adventure and Mystery ........................................................12 World ...........................................................................................45 Animals ........................................................................................12 TWELVE TO FOURTEEN ...................................................... 46 Beginning Readers ..................................................................13 Fiction ........................................................................................ 46 Coming of Age .........................................................................13 Adventure and Mystery ........................................................46 Concept Books ........................................................................14 Coming of Age ..........................................................................46 Fantasy ........................................................................................14 Fantasy ........................................................................................47 Folklore and Fairy Tales ........................................................15 Historical Fiction ....................................................................48 Historical Fiction ....................................................................15 Magical Realism ......................................................................49 Humor ..........................................................................................16 Science Fiction ..........................................................................50 Magical Realism ......................................................................17 Today ............................................................................................50 Science Fiction .........................................................................17 Poetry ........................................................................................ 51 Today ............................................................................................18 Information Books ................................................................. 51 Poetry ........................................................................................ 22 Biography and Memoir..........................................................51 Information Books ................................................................. 23 Ecology ........................................................................................53