Finding books for your kids can be hard, especially if you're relying on Amazon to suggest anything beyond the handful of top sellers. In this episode we'll give you some places to look to get a little deeper into all the great children's literature that is out there. We also talk about decolonizing and diversifying our bookshelves.
Transcript
We Do This 'Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba
Shine Bright by Danyel Smith
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
The King of Scars duology by Leigh Bardugo
Make Way for Ducklings written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey
The Polar Express written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall, illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Jumani by Chris Van Allsburg
Holes by Lous Sachar
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Carry on Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Last Stop on Market Street written by Matt de la Pena, illustrated by Christian Robinson
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein
Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen
Award Lists
Association for Library Service for Children (ALSC) Award List Database
Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Book Awards
You can download lists of each of the awards at the pages linked as well as learn more about their criteria.
Caldecott Medal: awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
Newbery Medal: awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
Geisel Award: given annually (beginning in 2006) to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year.
Pura Belpré Award: presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
Sibert Award: honors the most distinguished informational book published in English in the preceding year for its significant contribution to children’s literature.
Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production: annual award will be given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States
Coretta Scott King Book Awards: annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. Further, the Award encourages the artistic expression of the black experience via literature and the graphic arts in biographical, social, and historical treatments by African American authors and illustrators.
Stonewall Book Awards: are presented to English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience.
Mildred L. Batchelder Award: is a citation awarded to an American publisher for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States.
Notable Children's Books: Each year the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best of children's books on the Notable Children's Books list.
Other resources
Series of posts on the state of diversity in the library and in my own personal collection
If you want to know how bad those Columbus book illustrations were here you go:
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