All-Star Kids Books – My 2021 Favorites

December 27, 20214 Comments

This year I’ve read 179 books for kids! Most were not published this year, but that okay.

63 non-fiction picture books

45 fiction picture books

36 non-fiction kids books

35 fiction books

Here are the ones I especially loved and recommend. I do not apologize for the length of this post 🙂

Non-Fiction Picture Books

55707533. sx318 — Begin with a Bee by Liza Ketchum, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, Phyllis Root, Claudia McGehee

32912246. sx318 — Creekfinding: A True Story by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and Claudia McGehee

53218576. sx318 — Plants on the Move by Emilie Vast

28588162. sx318 — Journey: Based on the True Story of OR7, the Most Famous Wolf in the West by Emma Bland Smith and Robin James.

Whale Fall Café — Whale Fall Cafe by Jacquie Sewell and Dan Tavis

Art From Her Heart: Folk Artist Clementine Hunter — Art From Her Heart: Folk Artist Clementine Hunter by Kathy Whitehead and Shane W. Evans

Jean Laffite: The Pirate Who Saved America — Jean Laffitte: The Pirate Who Saved America by Susan Goldman Rubin and Jeff Himmelman

4798742 — The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby by Crystal Hubbard and Robert McGuire

Becoming Babe Ruth — Becoming Babe Ruth by Matt Tavares

Dark Was the Night: Blind Willie Johnson's Journey to the Stars — Dark Was the Night: Blind Willie Johnson’s Journey to the Stars by Gary Golio and E.B. Lewis

Feed Your Mind: A Story of August Wilson — Feed Your Mind: A Story of August Wilson by Jen Bryant and Cannaday Chapman

14843166 — Hey, Charleston!: The True Story of the Jenkins Orphanage Band by Anne Rockwell and Colin Bootman

Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier — Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld and Matt Tavares

What Miss Mitchell Saw — What Miss Mitchell Saw by Hayley Barrett and Diana Sudyka

A Dream of Flight: Alberto Santos-Dumont's Race Around the Eiffel Tower — A Dream of Flight: Alberto Santos-Dumont’s Race Around the Eiffel Tower by Rob Polivka and Jef Polivka

Read! Read! Read! — Read! Read! Read! by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and Ryan O’Rourke

Fiction Picture Books

Sulwe — Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o & Vashti Harrison

783963 — The Girl Who Spun Gold by Virginia Hamilton and Leo & Diane Dillon

Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl — Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl by Virginia Hamilton & James Ransome

The Legend of the Bluebonnet — The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie DePaolo

John Henry — John Henry by Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney

The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South — The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South by Robert D. San Souci & Jerry Pinkney

Ramadan Moon — Ramadan Moon by Na’ima B. Robert and Shirin Adl

A Different Pond — A Different Pond by Bao Phi & Thi Bui

53398482. sx318 — Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Puna & Christian Robinson

Non-Fiction Kids Books

Infinite Hope: A Black Artist's Journey from World War II to Peace — Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace by Ashley Bryan

Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z — Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Antecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham, Charles Waters & Mehrdokht Amini

It Came From Ohio: My Life As A Writer — It Came from Ohio: My Life As a Writer by R.L. Stine

Six Million Paper Clips: The Making of a Children's Holocaust Memorial — Six Million Paper Clips: The Making of a Children’s Holocaust Memorial by Peter and Dagmar Schroeder

We are Explorers: Extraordinary Women Who Discovered the World — We Are Explorers: Extraordinary Women Who Discovered the World by Kari Herbert

Albert Einstein Was a Dope? — Albert Einstein Was a Dope? by Dan Gutman

Fiction Kids Books

37190 — The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall — The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Fudge, #1) — Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume