100 Magnificent Children’s Books of 2010
Well, what the heck? I read a lot of books in a given year. I fall in love with at least 100 of them. Why not turn them into a list? With the understanding that I am just one person and I have not read everything published in a given year (which is why committee lists have distinct advantages over personal ones) here are 100 of my favorite books published for children in the year of 2010 with links to my reviews of some of them. A tip of the hat to everyone behind their creation. And remember, I had to limit the list to 100, so if your favorite title isn’t on here, that’s probably because I had to bump it at the last minute. Keep telling yourself that, anyway.
100 Magnificent Children’s Books of 2010
PICTURE BOOKS
Mirror by Jeannie Baker
Oh No! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World) by Mac Barnett, illus by Dan Santat
Flora’s Very Windy Day by Jeanne Birdsall, illus by Matt Phelan
A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea by Michael Ian Black, illus. by Kevin Hawkes
Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don’t) by Barbara Bottner, illus by Michael Emberley
Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown
Farm by Elisha Cooper
Jump! by Scott M. Fischer
My Garden by Kevin Henkes
How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills
Big Red Lollipop by Rukshana Khan, illus. by Sophie Blackall
Shadow by Suzy Lee
Henry In Love by Peter McCarty
Spork by Kyo Maclear
Busing Brewster by Richard Michelson
Sneaky Sheep by Chris Monroe
The Boys by Jeff Newman
Subway by Christoph Niemann
Cooking With Henry and Elliebelly by Carolyn Parkhurst, illus by Dan Yaccarino
Todd’s TV by James Proimos
Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead, illus by Erin E. Stead
Cats’ Night Out by Caroline Stutson
The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood, ill. by Renata Liwska
Art & Max by David Wiesner
Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter, ill. Red Nose Studio
Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson, ill. Sophie Blackall
Elsie’s Bird by Jane Yolen, ill. by David Small
FAIRY TALES
The Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Tale by Steven Guarnaccia
Dust Devil by Anne Isaacs, illus by Paul O. Zelinsky
Joha Makes a Wish by Eric A. Kimmel, ill. Omar Rayyan
Pea Boy and Other Stories from Iran by Elizabeth Laird, illus by Shirin Adl
The Rooster Prince of Breslov by Ann Redisch Stampler, ill. Eugene Yelchin
EARLY READERS / EARLY CHAPTER BOOKS
Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke
House of Dolls by Francesca Lia Block, ill. Barbara McClintock
Sophie Simon Solves Them All by Lisa Graff
Guinea Dog by Patrick Jennings
Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin
The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry
Bink and Gollie by Alison McGee and Kate Di Camillo, ill. Tony Fucile
The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Angela Barrett
MIDDLE GRADE FICTION
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Keeper by Kathi Appelt
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes
Crunch by Leslie Connor
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
Home Is With Our Family by Joyce Hansen
Thresholds by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm
The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt
The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow
The Clockwork Three by Matthew Kirby
Departure Time by Truus Matti
Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner
The Boneshaker by Kate Milford
The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O’Connor
A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park
Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai
Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze by Alan Silberberg
The Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R. A. Spratt
The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh
Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
The Mysterious Howling: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #1 by Maryrose Wood
GRAPHIC NOVELS
Trickster: Native American Tales a Graphic Collection edited by Matt Dembicki
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by Greg Neri
Zeus: King of the Gods by George O’Connor
Meanwhile by Jason Shiga
Binky to the Rescue by Ashley Spires
Shake, Rattle, and Turn That Noise Down: How Elvis Shook Up Music, Me and Mom by Mark Alan Stamaty
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
Ghostopolis by Doug Tennapel
Amazing Greek Myths: Wonders and Blunders by Michael Townsend
Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye: Hamster and Cheese by Colleen AF Venable
Thunder from the Sea: Adventure On Board the HMS Defender by Jeff Weigel
POETRY
Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, ill. David Diaz
Poetry Speaks Who I Am: Poems of Discovery, Inspiration, Independence, and Everything Else in Your Amazing Future edited by Elise Paschen and Dominique Raacah
Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka, ill. Peter H. Reynolds
Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivor’s by Joyce Sidman, ill. by Beckie Prange
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer, ill. Josee Masse
NON-FICTION
She Sang Promise: The Story of Betty Mae Jumper, Seminole Tribal Leader by J.G. Annino
Unraveling Freedom by Ann Bausum
Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement by Rick Bowers
Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe by Loree Griffin Burns
The Extraordinary Mark Twain (according to Susy) by Barbara Curley, illus by Edwin Fotheringam
Sparky: The Life and Art of Charles Schulz by Beverly Gherman
Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, ill. Brian Floca
How the Sphinx Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill, illus. Bryan Collier
Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge
Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy
Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter, ill. Matt Phelan
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery
I make one of these lists each year, and they’re a good litmus test for areas where I could make some improvements. I doubt I’m alone in noticing the lamentable lack of books by Hispanic authors and illustrators here (one David Diaz book and one by Jennifer Cervantes and that’s IT?). I should bulk up my poetry reading and non-fiction reading a little more, though I did better this year than I did last.
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Have you made your own Top 100 2010 books list? If so, send me the link to your blog post and I’ll place it here as well.
Filed under: Best Books of 2010
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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How very pleased I am to see Mirror on your list, Betsy! I think it’s a wonderful book that genuinely encourages empathy and tolerance.
Magnificent list indeed!
Thanks for classifying them – I love that there is poetry on the list as well as non-fiction and even graphic novels!
A tip of the hat from
Read Aloud Dad
For Hispanic titles, what about Dreamer? Definitely one of my favorites this year!
or Flotando en la Cancion de Mama por Laura Lacamara Illustrado por Yuyi Morales
Forgive the lack of proper accents. The English title is Floating on Mama’s Song. It is a Katherine Tegen book. I love it (and so do my first graders).
By the way, Betsy, congratulations on your marvelous June project! Cheers!
Great list! I especially like your title. “Magnificent” is a much better word choice than “Best.” Who can argue?
I love your list – thank you.
I think I would add Scumble to my list as well.
Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for inlcuding TORTILLA SUN on your list. I am honored 🙂 What a fantastic list!!!!
Jen
Thanks so much! This is lovely company for me to find myself in. 🙂
I am so honored to be on this list. Thank you, Ms. Bird!
I too feel honored to be on your list. Time for more cupcakes!
Thanks B.B.
Alan
I liked Muu, Moo: Rimas de Animales and oh crap what was the other? No that’s not a title. Although if I ever write a book I might as well call it that! Habia una vez. Both bilingual titles.
Love this list. Ghostopolis though? With the incongruous Jesus guy in the middle? Really liked that book, but I didn’t think it needed any Jesus.
:paula
I’m thrilled to be betwixt such amazing authors — thanks for the “mention”!
N.H Senzai
Thank you for including my book Palace Beautiful on your list! I’m in some pretty wonderful company–a lot of great new books this year!
-Sarah DeFord Williams
Super list! but where is the Mo? We Are in a Book AND City Dog, Country Frog seem to have been accidentally left off this list. That’s okay though, everyone makes mistakes.
Would you believe I haven’t read Scumble yet? As I say, I am limited by time and what I’ve actually seen. Muu Moo should be on there, but I haven’t had a chance to examine it. But Mo . . . well the dog/frog thing may not be my favorite Mo book. Or Muth book. Thinking about it, I probably should have included an Elephant and Piggie, but he has so many and while they’re brilliant I had to give some other folks space. Next time, Mr. Mo.
Magnificent list! Thanks so much for compiling and sharing it.
Anne Isaacs joins me in expressing great happiness at being on your list of magnificence. I assume she does; I haven’t actually asked her.
Love this list! A couple of my faves from 2010 are on it–Out of My Mind and Origami Yoda. BTW, hope you get a chance to read Scumble soon–loved that one too 🙂
What a great list. I need to add some of these to my pile.
I read The Popularity Papers and One Crazy Summer. Great books. I truly loved Meanwhile by Jason Shiga. What a cool and inventive book. I highly recommend it!
Hey, I’m half Hispanic!
Then that ups my count to 2.5!
This is an awesome and comprehensive list. I’d also like to add Jazz Fly 2 by Matthew Gollub to the list. It’s a great English/Spanish kids book and music CD I recently picked up for my four year old daughter. I’ve found that it’s helped her interest in a post-Dora the Explorer world.
Well, Ms. Bird, while Wiff and Dirty George did not make your esteemed list, I’m still rocking and rolling from that most smashing review you gave my book back in March. You, as they say, rock!
Ah, Mr. Swinburne. If it’s any comfort yours was one of the very last books I was forced to remove. The number 100 is a cruel mistress. Nonetheless, loved your title. A truly enjoyable tale.
I’m constantly mistaken as Hispanic. Abuelas berate me in Spanish for forgetting my mother tongue. Does that count for .1?
Hmmm. Let’s say .05, unless you took some high school Spanish. Then we’ll consider upping your grade.
Great company to swim with!
One third of my name is Hispanic.