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December 31, 2017 by Betsy Bird

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day Thirty-One – 2017 Picture Books

December 31, 2017 by Betsy Bird   12 comments

31days

And just like that . . . *poof!*

It’s gone!

Not gone, exactly. The 31 Days, 31 Lists series may indeed continue next year. Just so long as the books or my eyesight holds out. In the meantime, it’s been a blast, guys. I appreciate that not a single one of you pointed out to me my atrocious spelling mistakes. When one is finishing blog posts at approximately 1 a.m., something’s gotta give and that something is usually the ability to accurately spelling the word “approximately”.

Why end with picture books? Because they are, in many ways, the bread and butter of the children’s book world. Their sales allow publishers to take a chance on other kinds of books. They hold a kind of sway on the public imagination that novels and comics still only dare dream of attaining. And, happily, they’re short enough that I got to see a nice wide swath this year. Here then are the books I’d bury in a time capsule for the future, if I could. A brief, glorious glimpse of a time that was and a year that, crummy as it was, had a couple bright spots in it for the youngest of readers.

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Thanks for reading, everybody.

2017 Picture Books

ABCs From Space by Adam Voiland

ABCsSpace

Accident! by Andrea Tsurumi

Accident

After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat

AftertheFall

All Around Us by Xelena Gonzalez, ill. Adriana M. Garcia

 AllAroundUs

All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle, ill. Mike Curato

AllWayHavana

The Alphabet Thief by Bill Richardson, ill. Roxanna Bikadoroff

AlphabetThief

The Antlered Ship by Dashka Slater, ill. The Fan Brothers

AntleredShip

Be Quiet! by Ryan T. Higgins

BeQuiet

Bertolt by Jacques Goldstyn

Bertolt

Betty’s Burgled Bakery: An Alliteration Adventure by Travis Nichols

BettysBurgled

Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper

BigCatLittleCat

The Blue Hour by Isabelle Simler

BlueHour

Boat of Dreams by Rogerio Coelho

BoatofDreams COVER_03.cdr

Boo! by Ben Newman

Boo

The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein

 BoyWhale

But I Don’t Eat Ants by Dan Marvin, ill. Kelly Fry

 ButDontEatAnts

Chicken in the Kitchen by Nnedi Okorafor, ill. Mehrdokht Amini

 ChickenKitchen

Chicken Wants a Nap by Tracy Marchini, ill. Monique Felix

ChickenWants

City Mouse, Country Mouse by Maggie Rudy

 CityMouseCountry

Claymates by Dev Petty, ill. Lauren Eldridge

Claymates

Come With Me by Holly M. McGhee, ill. Pascal Lemaitre

ComeWithMe

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, ill. Gordon C. James

Crown

Danny McGee Drinks the Sea by Andy Stanton, ill. Neal Layton

DannyMcGee

A Different Pond by Bao Phi, ill. Thi Bui

DifferentPond

Dog On a Frog? by Kes & Claire Gray, ill. Jim Field

DogOnFrog

Double Take! A New Look at Opposites by Susan Hood, ill. Jay Fleck

 DoubleTake

Find Me: A Hide-and-Seek Book by Anders Arhoj

 Find

Firefighter Duckies! by Frank W. Dormer

FirefighterDuckies

Flowers for Sarajevo by John McCutcheon, ill. Kristy Caldwell

 FlowersSarajevo

Fred & the Lumberjack by Steven Weinberg

 FredLumberjack

Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre

FullFall

Gum by Nancy Willard, ill. Jeff Newman

 Gum

Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari, ill. Patrice Barton

 HelloGoodbyeDog

Here We Are: Notes for Living On Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers

HereWeAre

HIC! by Anushka Ravishankar, ill. Christiane Pieper

HIC

Home in the Rain by Bob Graham

HomeRain

How It Feels to Be a Boat by James Kwan

HowFeels

I Give You My Heart by Pimm van Hest, ill. Sassafras De Bruyn

 IGiveYouHeart

In Your Hands by Carole Boston Weatherford, ill. Brian Pinkney

InYourHands

The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt, ill. Adam Rex

LegendRockPaper

Letters to a Prisoner by Jacques Goldstyn

LettersPrisoner

Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin

LittleFoxForest

Little Iffy Learns to Fly by Aaron Zenz

 LittleIffy

Lucia the Luchadora by Cynthia Leonor Garza, ill. Alyssa Bermudez

lucialuchadora

Mama Lion Wins the Race by Jon J. Muth

 MamaLion

Manjhi Moves a Mountain by Nancy Churnin, ill. Danny Popovici

 ManjhiMoves

Me Tall, You Small by Lilli L’Arronge

MeTallYouSmall

Mighty Moby by Barbara Dacosta, ill. Ed Young

MightyMoby

Mine! by Jeff Mack

Mine

Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament by Anne Renaud, ill. Felicita Sala

MrCrumsPotato

Mr. Fuzzbuster Knows He’s the Favorite by Stacy McAnulty, ill. Edward Hemingway

MrFuzzbuster

Mrs. White Rabbit by Gilles Bachelet

mrswhiterabbit

My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne Del Rizzo

MyBeautifulBirds

My Pictures After the Storm by Eric Veille

MyPicturesAfterSorm

My Valley by Claude Ponti, translated by Alyson Waters

MyValley1 copy

On a Magical Do-Nothing Day by Beatrice Alemagna, translated by Jill Davis

MagicalDoNothing

The One Day House by Julia Durango, ill. Bianca Diaz

 OneDayHouse

The Only Fish in the Sea by Philip C. Stead, ill. Matthew Cordell

OnlyFishSea

Ossiri and the Bala Mengro by Richard O’Neil and Katharine Quarmby, ill. Hannah Tolson

Ossiri

A Perfect Day by Lane Smith

PerfectDay

Pigeon P.I. by Meg McLaren

PigeonPI

Please Please the Bees by Gerald Kelley

PleaseBees

The Pomegranate Witch by Denise Doyen, ill. Eliza Wheeler

PomegranateWitch

Prince Ribbit by Jonathan Emmett, ill. Poly Bernatene

princeribbit

Princess and the Peas by Rachel Himes

 PrincessPeas

Professional Crocodile by Giovanna Zoboli, ill. Mariachiara Di Giorgio

ProfessionalCrocodile

Rabbit Magic by Meg McLaren

RabbitMagic

Red & Lulu by Matt Tavares

RedLulu

The Road Home by Katie Cotton, ill. Sarah Jacoby

RoadHome

The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! by Carmen Agra Deedy, ill. Eugene Yelchin

RoosterKeepQuiet

Rosie and Crayon by Deborah Marcero

Rosie-and-Crayon-Cover

Short Stories for Little Monsters by Marie-Louise Gay

ShortStoriesLittle

Somewhere Else by Gus Gordon

 SomewhereElse

Spring for Sophie by Yael Werber, ill. Jen Hill

 SpringSophie

Spunky Little Monkey by Bill Martin Jr. & Michael Sampson, ill. Brian Won

Spunky

Stack the Cats by Susie Ghahremani

StackCats

Still Stuck by Shinsuke Yoshitake

StillStuck

There Might Be Lobsters by Carolyn Crimi, ill. Laurel Molk

ThereMightLobsters

This Book Will Not Be Fun by Cirocco Dunlap, ill. Olivier Tallec

ThisBookWillNot1

This House, Once by Deborah Freedman

ThisHouseOnce

The Town is By the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, ill. Sydney Smith

TownBySea

Triangle by Mac Barnett, ill. Jon Klassen

Triangle

Trio, the Tale of a Three-Legged Cat by Andrea Wisnewski

 Trio

The 12 Days of Christmas by Greg Pizzoli

12DaysChristmas

The Unexpected Love Story of Alfred Fiddleduckling by Timothy Basil Ering

 UnexpectedLove

Up Up Up Skyscraper! by Anastasia Suen, ill. Ryan O’Rourke

UpUpUp

Waiting for Pumpsie by Barry Wittenstein, ill. London Ladd

waitingpumpsie

The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi

the_way_home_in_the_night

What What What? by Arata Tendo, ill. Ryoji Arai

WhatWhatWhat

What’s My Superpower? by Aviaq Johnston, ill. Tim Mack

 superpower_cover

When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge, ill. Matt James

WhenMoonComes

When the Rain Comes by Alma Fullerton, ill. Kim La Fave

whenraincomes

Where Is Grandma? by Peter Schossow

WhereGrandma

Where, Oh Where, Is Baby Bear? by Ashley Wolff

 WhereOhWhere

Where’s Rodney? by Carmen Bogan, ill. Floyd Cooper

 WheresRodney

Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell

WolfInTheSnow

Yo Soy Muslim: A Father’s Letter to His Daughter by Mark Gonzales, ill. Mehrdokht Amini

 YoSoyMuslim

You Can’t Be Too Careful! by Roger Mello

 YouCantCareful


 

Interested in the other lists of the month? Here’s the schedule of everything covered this month. Enjoy!

December 1 – Board Books

December 2 – Board Book Reprints & Adaptations

December 3 – Wordless Picture Books

December 4 – Picture Book Readalouds

December 5 – Rhyming Picture Books

December 6 – Alphabet Books

December 7 – Funny Picture Books

December 8 – CaldeNotts

December 9 – Picture Book Reprints

December 10 – Math Picture Books

December 11 – Bilingual Books

December 12 – Translated Picture Books

December 13 – Books with a Message

December 14 – Fabulous Photography

December 15 – Fairy Tales / Folktales

December 16 – Oddest Books of the Year

December 17 – Poetry Books

December 18 – Easy Books

December 19 – Early Chapter Books

December 20 – Comics for Kids

December 21 – Older Funny Books

December 22 – Fictionalized Nonfiction

December 23 – American History

December 24 – Science & Nature Books

December 25 – Transcendent Holiday Picture Books

December 26 – Unique Biographies

December 27 – Nonfiction Picture Books

December 28 – Nonfiction Chapter Books

December 29 – Fiction Reprints

December 30 – Middle Grade Novels

December 31 – Picture Books

Filed under: Best Books, Best Books of 2017

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2017 picture books31 days 31 listsBest Books of 2017picture books

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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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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. PiMM van Hest says

    December 31, 2017 at 5:17 am

    Hello Elizabeth/Betsy,
    Thank you so much for putting our book “I give you my heart ❤️” into the spotlight in your last blog post of 2017. That means a lot to MMe and Sassafras. It is so wonderful to see and read that this book reaches so many children ánd adults all over the world. Warm greetzz from MMe – PiMM van Hest (author of this book) from the Netherlands ánd I wish you a magical and enchanting new (book) year ???? PiMM ????

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      December 31, 2017 at 8:27 am

      My sole regret is that I wasn’t able to give it the full attention it deserved. It’s a remarkably beautiful book. I only received it last week in the mail, otherwise I would have promoted it more widely. You should be proud.

  2. PiMM van Hest says

    December 31, 2017 at 9:42 am

    Good afternoon Betsy,

    Is it too late to give the book some extra attention/the attention you think it deserves?

    We would be extremely honoured and it would mean the world to us if you would review our book in 2018 (we are almost there already)…. #timeisrelative

    We keep our fingers crossed and hope to hear from you ánd we hope “I give you my heart ❤️” will magically enchant you once more in 2018 ❤️

    Happy New Year from MMe from the Netherlands,

    PiMM

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      December 31, 2017 at 3:56 pm

      Alas, my rules are that all official reviews are to be completed in the publication year of the book being examined. That said, I have something up my sleeve. Stay tuned.

  3. Dana Frank says

    December 31, 2017 at 11:36 am

    Thank you for these wonderful lists all month! I has been fun!

  4. MAGGIE RUDY says

    December 31, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    Hi Betsy,
    It’s an honor to be on your list! And thank you for recognizing photographic books, among all the other wonderful ones.
    Happy New Year to you.

    Maggie

  5. Peggy Sure says

    January 1, 2018 at 12:44 am

    Betsy,. I have just spent a very enjoyable New Year’s Eve reading , among other things, your 31 Days, 31 Lists. What fun. Happy New Year and thanks for the memories.

  6. Vivian Kirkfield says

    January 2, 2018 at 11:22 pm

    I’m a list lover from way back, Betsy! And book lists are the very best kind! What’s lovely is that I see books by author friends…and I’m discovering books I hadn’t seen before. Here’s to a new year filled with infiiite possibilities…and lots of beautiful new books!

  7. Megan says

    January 3, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    Hi Betsy. You reviewed The Antlered Ship and included it in this list. I’m curious, because you know books, if you’ve read The Friend Ship by Kat Yeh (published in 2016) and noticed how very similar The Antlered Ship is to The Friend Ship. I read The Friend Ship first and fell in love. I’m just dropping this here to see what you think because your opinion of books is trusted.

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      January 4, 2018 at 9:45 am

      An interesting comparison. I’m rather intrigued by the variety of books in which animals board a ship in search of something ineffable, only to find they’ve had it all along. Quests are easier to pull off when animals rather than children are involved. I think the goal and the art are dissimilar enough that the comparisons between the two books can be considered minimal but thank you for the keen idea!

  8. Lauren Eldridge says

    January 4, 2018 at 1:21 pm

    Wow, thank you so much for including Claymates – and for all of the book love throughout the year! What an awesome year it’s been for picture books!

Trackbacks

  1. PUMPSIE makes Betsy Bird’s top picture books of 2017! – BARRY'S BLOG says:
    January 26, 2018 at 12:31 pm

    […] “Here then are the books I’d bury in a time capsule for the future, if I could.” Betsy Bird […]

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