Looking at the Lists:  A round-up of the “Best Children’s Books of the Year” lists

We’re getting ready for a busy few weeks here on Heavy Medal:

• We’ll reveal our Heavy Medal Book List (HMBL) in a couple days. That consists of the 15 (okay, maybe 16) titles that we’ll be discussing to death in January, then voting on at the end of that month.
• We’re still looking for volunteers for our Heavy Medal Award Committee (HMAC). Information about that is on this post, and the sign-up form is here. We still have plenty of open spots. The sign-up deadline is Friday, December 16 at 5 pm EST.
• Our Mock Newbery Zoom Event is scheduled for Friday, January 27^th, at 1:00 pm EST. This is where HMAC members will discuss five final books via Zoom. Attendees observe the discussion, ask questions, and vote for a Mock Newbery winner. Sign up for the free event through School Library Journal here.

Meanwhile, it’s a good time to look around and see what others are thinking about the best children’s books of the year. Some of the review publications have released their annual lists; others will come soon. Several newspapers, bloggers, and libraries compile their own “best of the year” content. Here’s a list of links we have so far. We’ll update as more come out in the coming weeks, and if you spot a list we should know about, please pass it on, either in the comments below or via email.

Review Journals

• School Library Journal Best Books
• Publisher’s Weekly Best Books
• Kirkus Best Books
• Booklist Editor’s Choice: coming soon
• Horn Book Fanfare: added Dec 13
• Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbons

Other Best of the Year Lists

• Besty Bird’s “31 Days, 31 Lists”:  still in progress, with a new one every day in December!
• Chicago Public Library: Best of the Best Books
• Evanston Public Library: 101 Great Books for Kids
• New York Public Library: Best Books for Kids
• New York Times: Best Children’s Books
• Washington Post: Best Children’s and YA Books

It’s important to remember that lists have different purposes.  On Heavy Medal, we’re specifically looking at the year’s books through the lens of the Newbery Criteria. Other lists might look at overall literary quality, potential popularity, and/or a balance of genres, ages, and content. Even so, it’s fun to compare.

Of the 12 lists above, I looked at some numbers from seven: The four review journals that were published by mid-December (SLJ, PW, HB, K) and the three public library lists. I left out the newspapers (much shorter lists) and Besty B’s (still in progress, but fascinating as always). I took a look at the 68 titles on our Heavy Medal Nomination list to see how they fared on the other lists. That chart is below. Some observations:

• Only one of our nominated titles, BERRY SONG, appeared on all seven lists.
• Two nominated books appeared on six of the seven:
  • HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN
  • VICTORY, STAND
• 21 of our 69 nominated titles did not appear on any of the six lists. Including several that received some decent support here on Heavy Medal:
  • ANYBODY HERE SEEN FRENCHIE
  • HEALER AND WITCH
  • MY OWN LIGHTNING
  • NEW FROM HERE
  • ODDER
• Here are some titles that appeared on at least four of the seven lists, but did not receive any nominations on Heavy Medal (I didn’t do a complete search for this…these are the ones that caught my attention).
  •  MAYA’S SONG by Renee Watson (5 of 7)
  • THE WORLD BELONGED TO US by Jacqueline Woodson (6 of 7)
  • THE SHEEP, THE ROOSTER, AND THE DUCK by Matt Phelan (4 of 7)
  • THE TRYOUT by Christina Soontornvat (4 of 7)

I was especially surprised by the absence of HEALER AND WITCH and ODDER on the lists [ODDER made BCCB’s Blue Ribbons after this post was published]. And disappointed to see BUZZKILL only show up once (nice job, SLJ!). I’m intrigued by the broad support for THE LAST MAPMAKER, which I like quite a bit, but it’s not among the top group of my contenders list…maybe it should be? Glad to see SEEN AND UNSEEN making so many lists…it’s a tricky one in Newbery terms because the visuals are so impactful, but a truly excellent presentation. Do any surprises stand out for you from these lists? Or do they mostly confirm what you were thinking about the year’s books?

Filed under: Nominations