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The Best Children's Books of the Year

Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College

2008

Raleigh's Page by Alan Armstrong; illustrated by Tim Jessell (Ages 12 up)

Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume; illustrated by James Stevenson (Ages 5-9)

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande (Ages 12 up)

The Middle of Somewhere by J.B. Cheaney (Ages 9-12)

Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney (Ages 12 up)

Tall Tales by Karen Day (Ages 12 up)

The Jewel Box Ballerinas by Monique de Varennes; illustrated by Ana Juan (Ages 5-9)

I'd Really Like to Eat a Child by Sylviane Donnio; illustrated by Dorothée De Monfreid (Ages 5-9) - Outstanding Merit

Cover-up by John Feinstein (Ages 12 up)

The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candace Fleming (Ages 9-12)

Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It by Sundee T. Frazier (Ages 9-12) - Outstanding Merit

Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner (Ages 9-12)

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford; photographed by Valorie Fisher (Ages 5-9)

Ginger Bear by Mini Grey (Ages 5-9)

The Wicked Big Toddlah by Kevin Hawkes (Ages 5-9)

Toby Wheeler: Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring (12 up)

Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit

How it Happened in Peach Hill by Marthe Jocelyn (Ages 9-12)

Dr. Sigmundus: The Hollow People by Brian Keaney (Ages 12 up)

A Picture for Marc by Eric Kimmel; illustrated by Matthew Trueman (Ages 5-9)

Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin (Ages 12 up)

Who Will Sing a Lullaby? by Dee Lillegard; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino (Ages 5 and under)

Shining On Foreword by Lois Lowry (Ages 12 up)

Golden Legacy by Leonard S. Marcus (Reference)

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier (Ages 12 up)

At the Firefly Gate by Linda Newbery (Ages 9-12)

17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore by Jenny Offill; illustrated by Nancy Carpenter (Ages 5-9)

Good Sports by Jack Prelutsky; illustrated by Chris Raschka (Poetry) - Outstanding Merit

My, Oh My--A Butterfly! by Tish Rabe; illustrated by Aristides Ruiz and Joe Mathieu (Science)

The Purple Balloon by Chris Raschka (Parents and Children) - Outstanding Merit

Harmless by Dana Reinhardt (Ages 12 up)

The Whole Sky Full of Stars by Reneé Saldanña, Jr. (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit

Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury (Ages 9-12)

Summerhouse Time by Eileen Spinelli; illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff (Ages 9-12)

First Light by Rebecca Stead (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit

Waking Up Wendell by April Stevens; illustrated by Tad Hills (Ages 5-9) - Outstanding Merit

How Many? by Ron Van Der Meer (Activities) - Outstanding Merit

Kat Got Your Tongue by Lee Weatherly (Ages 12 up)

Leap by Jane Breskin Zalben (Ages 9-12)

2007

King of the Creeps by Steven Banks (Ages 12 up)

London Calling by Edward Bloor (Ages 12 up)

Pieces of Georgia by Jennifer Bryant (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit

Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M. M. Blume (Ages 9-12) - Outstanding Merit

Shelter by Beth Cooley (Ages 9-12)

The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau (Ages 9-12)

Vanishing Act by John Feinstein (Ages 9-12)

Water Street by Patricia Reilly Giff (Ages 9-12)

Duck and Goose by Tad Hills (Ages 5 and under) - Outstanding Merit

Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm (Ages 9-12)

Babymouse: Beach Babe by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Ages 5-9)

Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906 by Deborah Hopkinson (Ages 9-12)

Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building by Deborah Hopkinson; illustrated by James Ransome (Ages 5-9)

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (Ages 12 up)

Gemini Summer by Iain Lawrence (Ages 9-12)

Porch Lies by Patricia McKissack; illustrated by André Carrilho (Ages 9-12)

Out of Patience by Brian Meehl (Ages 9-12)

The Pull of the Ocean by Jean-Claude Mourlevat; translated by Y. Maudet (Ages 9-12)

The Heights, the Depths, and Everything in Between by Sally Nemeth (Ages 12 up)

The Legend of Bass Reeves by Gary Paulsen (Ages 9-12)

Tae Kwon Do! by Terry Pierce; illustrated by Todd Bonita (Ages 5-9)

Play Ball With Me by Lynn Reiser (Ages 5 and under)

Small Steps by Louis Sachar (Ages 12 up)

House of the Red Fish by Graham Salisbury (Ages 9-12) - Outstanding Merit

Mama, I'll Give You the World by Roni Schotter; illustrated by Susan Saelig Gallagher (Ages 5-9)

The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer (Ages 9-12)

Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly-Pie by Judy Sierra; illustrated by Edward Koren (Ages 5-9) - Outstanding Merit

Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton (Ages 9-12)

Voyage of Midnight by Michele Torrey (Ages 9-12)

Pirate Mom by Deborah Underwood; illustrated by Stephen Gilpin (Ages 5-9)

Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit

The First Christmas Stocking by Elizabeth Winthrop; illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit

Small Beauties by Elvira Woodruff; illustrated by Adam Rex (Ages 5-9)

2006

Fold-Out Book of the Body, The: Classic 1906 Edition by Alfred Mason Amadon, M.D. (Paper Engineering Books)

Outbreak! Plagues That Changed History by Bryn Barnard (Special Interests)

A Bear Named Trouble by Marion Dane Bauer (Ages 9-12)

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall  (Ages 9-12)

Cause by Tonya Bolden  (Special Interests)

The Misadventures of Maude March by Audrey Couloumbis (Ages 9-12) - Outstanding Merit

Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff  (Ages 9-12)

Traction Man Is Here! by Mini Grey (Ages 5 and under)

Siberia by Ann Halam (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit

Flush by Carl Hiaasen (Ages 9-12)

The Trouble Begins by Linda Himelblau (Ages 9-12) - Outstanding Merit

The Giant Hug by Sandra Horning; illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev (Ages 5 and under) - Outstanding Merit

I Am the Wallpaper by Mark Peter Hughes (Ages 12 up)

Lucy Rose: Big on Plans by Katy Kelly; illustrated by Adam Rex (Ages 5 and under)

Gooney Bird and the Room Mother by Lois Lowry (Ages 5 and under) - Outstanding Merit

Home Is East by Many Ly (Ages 9-12)

Shackleton's Stowaway by Victoria McKernan (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit

Doña Flor by Pat Mora; illustrated by Raul Colón (Ages 5 and under) - Outstanding Merit

Come, Llamas by Jennifer Morris (Ages 9-12)

The King of Mulberry Street by Donna Jo Napoli (Ages 9-12)

Hurry and the Monarch by Antoine O Flatharta; illustrated by Meilo So (Ages 5 and under)

Season of the Sandstorms by Mary Pope Osborne (Ages 5 and under)

Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park (Ages 9-12) - Outstanding Merit

Crooked River by Shelley Pearsall (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit
The Scarecrow and His Servant by Philip Pullman; illustrated by Peter Bailey (Ages 9-12)

Winter Friends by Mary Quattlebaum; illustrated by Hiroe Nakata (Special Interests)

Sam Katz on the Loose! by Frank Radice and Vida Radice; illustrated by Charles Fazzino (Paper Engineering Books)
Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury (Ages 12 up) - Outstanding Merit

Schoolyard Rhymes selected by Judy Sierra; illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Special Interests)

Central Heating by Marilyn Singer; llustrated by Meilo So (Special Interests) - Outstanding Merit

Quicksilver by Stephanie Spinner (Ages 12 up)

Refugees by Catherine Stine (Ages 12 up)

The Curse of the Gloamglozer by Paul Stewart; illustrated by Chris Riddell (Ages 9-12)

The Search for Belle Prater by Ruth White (Ages 9-12)