50 Favorite Illustrated Children’s Books of 2017

By Louise Lareau, Managing Librarian
December 18, 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.     

Claymates by Dev Petty; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge

The Crane Girl by Curtis Manley; illustrated by Lin Wang

 

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

 

 Lines by Suzy Lee

 

 

 Rain by Sam Usher

 

Round by Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Taeeun Yoo

 

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

 

Tony by Ed Galing; illustrated by Erin E. Stead

 

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

 

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