The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has selected its 2018 list of Notable Children’s Books. The list of titles includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry and picture books of special interest, quality, creativity and value to children 14 years of age and younger.
The titles include:
Younger Readers
“Alfie.” By Thyra Heder. Illus. by the author. Abrams.
“All Around Us.” By Xelena González. Illus. by Adriana M. Garcia. Cinco Puntos.
“All the Way to Havana.” By Margarita Engle. Illus. by Mike Curato. Henry Holt.
“Baby Goes to Market.” By Atinuke. Illus. by Angela Brooksbank. Candlewick.
“Big Cat, Little Cat.” By Elisha Cooper. Illus. by the author. Roaring Brook.
“Blue Sky, White Stars.” By Sarvinder Naberhaus. Illus. by Kadir Nelson. Dial.
“The Book of Mistakes.” By Corinna Luyken. Illus. by the author. Dial.
“The Boy and the Whale.” By Mordicai Gerstein. Illus. by the author. Roaring Brook.
“Charlie & Mouse.” By Laurel Snyder. Illus. by Emily Hughes. Chronicle.
“Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos.” By Monica Brown. Illus. by John Parra. North-South.
“Good Night, Planet.” By Liniers. Illus. by the author. TOON.
“A Greyhound, a Groundhog.” By Emily Jenkins. Illus. by Chris Appelhans. Random/Schwartz & Wade.
“Home in the Rain.” By Bob Graham. Illus. by the author. Candlewick.
“I See a Cat.” By Paul Meisel. Illus. by the author. Holiday.
“Jabari Jumps.” By Gaia Cornwall. Illus. by the author. Candlewick.
“King and Kayla and the Case of the Missing Dog Treats.” By Dori Hillestad Butler. Illus. by Nancy Meyers. Peachtree.
“La Princesa and the Pea.” By Susan Middleton Elya. Illus. by Juana Martinez-Neal. Putnam.
“Life on Mars.” By Jon Agee. Illus. by the author. Dial.
“The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABC’s (the Hard Way).” By Patrick McDonnell. Illus. by the author. Little, Brown.
“My Kite Is Stuck! And Other Stories.” By Salina Yoon. Illus. by the author. Bloomsbury.
“Noodleheads See the Future.” By Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, and Mitch Weiss. Illus. by Tedd Arnold. Holiday.
“Now.” By Antoinette Portis. Illus. by the author. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter.
“The Only Fish in the Sea.” By Philip C. Stead. Illus. by Matthew Cordell. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter.
“A Perfect Day.” By Lane Smith. Illus. by the author. Roaring Brook.
“Professional Crocodile.” By Giovanna Zoboli. Illus. by Mariachiara Di Giorgio. Chronicle.
“The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!” By Carmen Agra Deedy. Illus. by Eugene Yelchin. Scholastic.
“Snail & Worm Again.” By Tina Kügler. Illus. by the author. HMH.
“Stay: A Girl, a Dog, a Bucket List.” By Kate Klise. Illus. by M. Sarah Klise. Feiwel & Friends.
“Town Is by the Sea.” By Joanne Schwartz. Illus. by Sydney Smith. Groundwood.
“Triangle.” By Mac Barnett. Illus. by Jon Klassen. Candlewick.
“Walk with Me.” By Jairo Buitrago. Illus. by Rafael Yockteng. Groundwood.
“When a Wolf Is Hungry.” By Christine Naumann-Villemin. Illus. by Kris Di Giacomo. Eerdmans.
“When’s My Birthday?” By Julie Fogliano. Illus. by Christian Robinson. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter.
“Windows.” By Julia Denos. Illus. by E. B. Goodale. Candlewick.
“Wolf in the Snow.” By Matthew Cordell. Illus. by the author. Feiwel & Friends.
“The Wolf, the Duck & the Mouse.” By Mac Barnett. Illus. by Jon Klassen. Candlewick.
“You Can’t Be Too Careful!” By Roger Mello. Illus. by the author. Tr. by Daniel Hahn. Archipelago/Elsewhere Editions.
“The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist.” By Cynthia Levinson. Illus. by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. Atheneum.
Middle Readers
“All’s Faire in Middle School.” By Victoria Jamieson. Illus. by the author. Dial.
“Bronze and Sunflower.” By Cao Wenxuan. Illus. by Meilo So. Tr. by Helen Wang. Candlewick.
“Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix.” By Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee. Illus. by Man One. Readers to Eaters.
“Clayton Byrd Goes Underground.” By Rita Williams-Garcia. Illus. by Frank Morrison. Amistad.
“A Different Pond.” By Bao Phi. Illus. by Thi Bui. Capstone.
“How to Be an Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild.” By Katherine Roy. Illus. by the author. Roaring Brook/David Macaulay.
“Impact! Asteroids and the Science of Saving the World.” By Elizabeth Rusch. Illus. by Karin Anderson. HMH.
“Malala: Activist for Girls’ Education.” By Raphaële Frier. Illus. by Auréia Fronty. Charlesbridge.
“Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song.” By Kathryn Erskine. Illus. by Charly Palmer. Farrar.
“Older than Dirt: A Wild but True History of Earth.” By Don Brown and Mike Perfit. Illus. by Don Brown. HMH.
“Princess Cora and the Crocodile.” By Laura Amy Schlitz. Illus. by Brian Floca. Candlewick.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality.” By Jonah Winter. Illus. by Stacy Innerst. Abrams.
“Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem.” By Patricia Newman. Illus. Lerner/Millbrook.
“Trudy’s Big Swim: How Gertrude Ederle Swam the English Channel and Took the World by Storm.” By Sue Macy. Illus. by Matt Collins. Holiday.
“Wishtree.” By Katherine Applegate. Illus. by Charles Santoso. Feiwel and Friends.
Older Readers
“Amina’s Voice.” By Hena Khan. Simon & Schuster/Salaam Reads.
“Armstrong and Charlie.” By Steven B. Frank. HMH.
“Ashes to Asheville.” By Sarah Dooley. Putnam.
“Beyond the Bright Sea.” By Lauren Wolk. Dutton.
“Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion.” By Chris Barton. Illus. by Victo Ngai. Lerner/Millbrook.
“The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora.” By Pablo Cartaya. Viking.
“A Face Like Glass.” By Frances Hardinge. Abrams/Amulet.
“Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today.” By Cynthia Levinson and Sanford Levinson. Illus. Peachtree.
“The First Rule of Punk.” By Celia C. Pérez. Viking.
“Flying Lessons & Other Stories.” Ed. by Ellen Oh. Crown.
“Forever, or a Long, Long Time.” By Caela Carter. Harper.
“Hello, Universe.” By Erin Entrada Kelly. Greenwillow.
“Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal’d.” By Mary Losure. Illus. Candlewick.
“Life on Surtsey: Iceland’s Upstart Island.” By Loree Griffin Burns. Illus. HMH.
“The List.” By Patricia Forde. Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky.
“Long Way Down.” By Jason Reynolds. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy.
“Louis Undercover.” By Fanny Britt. Illus. by Isabelle Arsenault. Tr. by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou. Groundwood.
“Lucky Broken Girl.” By Ruth Behar. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen.
“Midnight without a Moon.” By Linda Williams Jackson. HMH.
“The Murderer’s Ape.” By Jakob Wegelius. Tr. by Peter Graves. Delacorte.
“Orphan Island.” By Laurel Snyder. HarperCollins/Walden Pond.
“Patina.” By Jason Reynolds. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy.
“Piecing Me Together.” By Renée Watson. Bloomsbury.
“Posted.” By John David Anderson. HarperCollins/Walden Pond.
“Quicksand Pond.” By Janet Taylor Lisle. Atheneum.
“Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library.” By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illus. by Eric Velasquez. Candlewick.
“Sidetracked.” By Diana Harmon Asher. Abrams/Amulet.
“Silent Days, Silent Dreams.” By Allen Say. Illus. by the author. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine.
“The Stars beneath Our Feet.” By David Barclay Moore. Knopf.
“Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song.” By Gary Golio. Illus. by Charlotte Riley-Webb. Lerner/Millbrook.
“Thornhill.” By Pam Smy. Illus. by the author. Roaring Brook.
“Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961.” By Larry Dane Brimner. Illus. Boyds Mills/Calkins Creek.
“Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team.” By Steve Sheinkin. Illus. Roaring Brook.
“The War I Finally Won.” By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Dial.
“The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid.” By Colin Meloy. Illus. by Carson Ellis. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray.
“The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked & Found.” By Martin W. Sandler. Illus. Candlewick.
All Ages
“Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut.” By Derrick Barnes. Illus. by Gordon C. James. Agate.
“Grand Canyon.” By Jason Chin. Illus. by the author. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter.
“Her Right Foot.” By Dave Eggers. Illus. by Shawn Harris. Chronicle.
“I’m Just No Good at Rhyming and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups.” By Chris Harris. Illus. by Lane Smith. Little, Brown.
“Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Having a Disability.” By Shane Burcaw. Illus. by Matt Carr. Roaring Brook.
“Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets.” By Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth. Illus. by Ekua Holmes. Candlewick.
“The Street beneath My Feet.” By Charlotte Guillain. Illus. by Yuval Zommer. Quarto/words & pictures.
