WORLD Children’s Books of the Year: A Report

The ALA isn’t the only organization that rewards excellence in children’s books! Since 2014, WORLD News Group has recognized outstanding literature for kids in its annual children’s book issue, published in print and online each February. Throughout the year, selection committees for picture books, middle-grade fiction, and nonfiction read and evaluate as many notable books as we can. (Full disclosure: I serve on two of those committees and chair one of them.) In December, we winnow our nominations down to a shortlist of 10-12 titles, then spend the month of January catching up and rereading. Selections are made at the end of January after some debating and eliminating. The winners in each category are almost always unanimous choices—that was certainly true this year.

So now it can be told: the online edition of the WORLD children’s book section went live yesterday. In the picture-book category, the winner is

Saving the Countryside: The Story of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit by Linda Elovitz Marshall

Runners-up in this category are

• Playing Possum by Jennifer Reinhardt
• One Little Bag: An Amazing Journey by Henry Cole
• Beautiful Shades of Brown by Nancy Churnin
• Where Is Wisdom? by Scott James

Redeemed Reader has reviewed Saving the Countryside although we haven’t reviewed any of the runners up. Be sure to check out the summaries and recommendations on the WORLD website: “Beatrix and Her Books.”

This year, the nonfiction committee did not settle on a “Book of the Year,” but rather chose five outstanding examples of in the fields of science/tech, true adventure, memoir, biography, and history. They are

• How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure by John Rocco (This was the committee’s favorite.)
• All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat
• On the Horizon: World War II Reflections by Lois Lowry
• Through the Wardrobe: How C.S. Lewis Created Narnia by Lina Maslo
• When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohammed

Follow the links above to go to our Redeemed Reader reviews. Here’s the short version wrap-up at WORLD: “Notable Nonfiction.”

Finally, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story) by Daniel Nayeri was the unanimous choice for Children’s Book of the Year. At Redeemed Reader, we’ve reviewed it, talked about it, and interviewed the author. But we also love these runners-up:

• Here in the Real World by Sara Pennypacker (All six committee members voted for this one.)
• Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
• Leaving Lymon by Lesa Ransome
• Things Seen from Above by Shelley Pearsall

Read the article, “Culture Clash” at wng.org.

There’s plenty of bad news in the children’s publishing industry, but every year we’re surprised at the number of excellent books we get to choose from. Perhaps we shouldn’t be; no matter how bleak the cultural scene, God’s common grace is always at work, and we’re grateful.

Also at Redeemed Reader

• What were some other top choices for WORLD Books of the Year? Andrew Peterson’s The Warden and the Wolf King was the very first. Others were Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley, The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart, and Ugly: a Memoir by Robert Hoge.