Hi friends!
I discovered the other day that I have now written over one-hundred newsletters for The Kids Are All Right. I love writing these newsletters, and I’m grateful for all of you subscribers for reading these emails twice a week and for your many notes and book suggestions.
Sponsored by P Is for Pterodactyl by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter
Turning the traditional idea of an alphabet book on its head, P is for Pterodactyl is perfect for anyone who has ever been stumped by silent letters or confused by absurd homophones. This whimsical, unique book takes silent letter entries like “K is for Knight” a step further with “The noble knight’s knife nicked the knave’s knee.” Lively illustrations provide context clues, and alliterative words help readers navigate text like “a bright white gnat is gnawing on my gnocchi” with ease. Everyone from early learners to grown-up grammarians will love this wacky book where “A is for Aisle” but “Y is definitely not for Why.”
I have read a lot of books this year. So many books! And in honor of my one-hundredth post, I thought I would give you a list of the top 100 children’s books I read in 2018. Most of these books published in 2018, but some of them did not (like, when I went on a Mildred D. Taylor reading spree).
You might be wondering how I decided on this list. I tried to pick books based on whether my heart gave a squeeze when I thought about the story. All of these books made my heart happy in some way, whether it be that it opened my eyes to something I didn’t know about before, or because the author’s language was so beautiful, or because the illustrations left me breathless.
There were so many books that I wanted to read that I didn’t get to… I will hopefully get to some of the books on my TBR stack over the holidays!
This list in not in any type of order, but I have grouped them into four categories: picture books, chapter books/early middle grade, older middle grade, and graphic novels. Happy reading!
Picture Books
- Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
- Everything You Need for a Treehouse by Carter Higgins, illustrated by Emily Hughes
- Drawn Together by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat
- Polka Dot Parade: A Book About Bill Cummingham by Deborah Blumenthal, illustrated by Masha D’yans
- Llamaphones by Janik Coat
- Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse by Marcy Campbell, illustrated by Corinna Luyken
- The Dress and the Girl by Camille Andros, illustrated by Julie Morstad
- Aquarium by Cynthia Alonso
- Business Pig by Andrea Zuill
- Zola’s Elephant by Randall de Seve, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
- The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonker, illustrated by Mark Pett
- We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
- I Hate My Cats (A Love Story) by Davide Cali, illustrated by Anna Pirolli
- Great Dog by Davide Cali, illustrated by Miguel Tanco
- Florette by Anna Walker
- Grandma Gatewood Hikes the Appalachian Trail by Jennifer Thermes
- Hawk Rising by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Brian Floca
- The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs by Kate Messner, illustrated by Matthew Forsythe
- Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Melissa Iwai
- Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
- Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
- Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World by Vashti Harrison
- They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki
- Forever or a Day by Sarah Jacoby
- All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
- Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera, illustrated by Lauren Castillo
- The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael Lopez
- The Rough Patch by Brian Lies
- Whales: An Illustrated Celebration by Kelsey Oseid
- Adventures to School by Baptiste Paul and Miranda Paul, illustrated by Isabel Munoz
- Hello Hello by Brendan Wenzel
- Lucy and the String by Vanessa Roeder
- My Heart by Corinna Luyken (Dial Books, 1/8/19)
- A Tower of Giraffes: Animals in Groups by Anna Wright
- Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper
- A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins
- Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier
- Look by Fiona Woodcock
Chapter Books/Lower Middle Grade Books
- Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Go to School by Julie Falatko, illustrated by Colin Jack
- Upside Down Magic: Weather or Not by Sarah Mylnowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins
- Jasmine Toguchi, Drummer Girl by Debbi Michiko Florence, illustrated by Elizabet Vukovic
- Power Forward: Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream by Hena Khan
- Cilla Lee-Jenkins: This Book Is A Classic by Susan Tan
- Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker, Book 2: Incognito
- Meet Yasmin! By Saadia Faruqi
- Stella Diaz Has Something to Say By Angela Dominquez
- Bat and the Waiting Game by Elana K. Arnold
- I’m Just No Good at Rhyming by Chris Harris, illustrated by Lane Smith
Upper Middle Grade Books
- Nowhere Boy by Katharine Marsh
- Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Sweep by Jonathan Auxier
- Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
- Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
- Tight by Torrey Maldonado
- The Night Diary by Veera Hirandani
- Inkling by Kenneth Oppel
- The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
- Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages
- Louisana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
- The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
- Checked by Cynthia Kadohata
- Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen
- Just Like Jackie by Lindsay Stoddard
- So Done by Paula Chase
- Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
- Blended by Sharon Draper
- Enginerds by Jarrett Lerner
- Stanley Will Probably Be Fine by Sally J. Pla, illustrated by Steve Wolfhard
- Knock Out by K.A. Holt
- Rebound by Kwame Alexander
- Class Action by Steven B. Frank
- Takedown by Laura Shovan
- Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
- Mascot by Antony John
- The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
- The Heart and Mind of Frances Pauley by April Stevens
- Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
- The Girl Who Drew Butterflies by Joyce Sidman
- The Alcatraz Escape by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
- The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
- The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
- The Assasination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson
- Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor
- Winnie’s Great War by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
- Restart by Gordon Korman
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (3rd time rereading)
- The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (4th time rereading)
- Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (4th time rereading)
- The Land by Mildred D. Taylor
- The Not-So-Boring Letters of Private Nobody by Matthew Landis
- The Well by Mildred D. Taylor
- The Unteachables by Gordon Korman (Balzer + Bray, 1/8/19)
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
- Tru and Nelle: A Christmas Tale by G. Neri
Graphic Novels
96. The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell
97. New Kid by Jerry Craft (HarperCollins, 2/5/19)
98. All Summer Long by Hope Larson
99. Amulet 8: Supernova by Kazu Kibuishi
100. Narwhal’s Otter Friend by Ben Clanton (Tundra Books, 2/5/19)
Well, that’s a wrap on 2018! As I mentioned before, Book Riot is taking a break from December 25 to January 1, so I’ll see you again on January 6. As always, I’m reachable on Twitter at @KarinaYanGlaser, on Instagram at @KarinaIsReadingAndWriting, or email at karina@bookriot.com.
Wishing you a very happy holiday season and a joyful new year!
See you in 2019!
Karina
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