50 Favorite Illustrated Children’s Books of 2017
This year, I had the great honor of being a judge for the 2017 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award. On a morning in early October, my fellow judges and I met in a large conference room in the New York Times building. There were two rows of tables just overflowing with 1000+ books. In the months prior to selection day, I had tried to prepare myself by reading more than 500 illustrated titles. All this reading did not fully ready me for the piles of books in that conference room. By the end of the day, we had narrowed the field down to the 10 winners. We were thrilled with our choices and a bit sad for some of our favorites that were abandoned along the way.
There were lots of wonderful books published in 2017. Not all of them are going to make the “best of” lists, but here are 50 of my favorites. As a librarian, I believe that each child should have a personal library at home with lots of library books mixed in. If you are looking for gift ideas or would like a booklist to use at your local public library, here are some titles to get you started.


Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome; illustrated by James E. Ransome



Blue Sky White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus; illustrated by Kadir Nelson


Bravo! : Poems about Amazing Hispanics by Margarita Engle; illustrated by Rafael López


Claymates by Dev Petty; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge

The Crane Girl by Curtis Manley; illustrated by Lin Wang



Dazzle Ships : World War I and the Art of Confusion by Chris Barton; illustrated by Victo Ngai

A Different Pond by Bao Phi; illustrated by Thi Bui


The Fog by Kyo Maclear; illustrated by Kenard Pak

The Fox Wish by Kimiko Aman; illustrated by Komako Sakai



King of the Sky by Nicola Davies; illustrated by Laura Carlin
Winner - New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award

A Letter to My Teacher by Deborah Hopkinson; illustrated by Nancy Carpenter








Priscilla Gorilla by Barbara Bottner; illustrated by Michael Emberley




Round by Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Taeeun Yoo


Schomburg: the Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Eric Velasquez


That is My Dream! by Langston Hughes; illustrated by Daniel Miyares




Tony by Ed Galing; illustrated by Erin E. Stead

Trees by Lemniscates

Town is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz; illustrated by Sydney Smith
Winner - New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award


When's My Birthday? by Julie Fogliano; illustrated by Christian Robinson

Where's Rodney? by Carmen Bogan; illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Why Am I Me? by Paige Britt; illustrated by Sean Qualls & Selina Alko

Windows by Julia Denos; illustrated by E.B. Goodale


The Wolf, the Duck & the Mouse by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Jon Klassen