This has been an awesome year for picture books!
I have been having a blast reading and writing about picture books this year. I’ve been blown away by the talented authors and illustrators published in the last twelve months. Like so many other sites, I wanted to create my own Top 10 list, but honestly there are so many superb picture books, I can’t limit my 2014 favorites to only 10 so I’ve chosen 25 instead. And even that was difficult!
Let me say right up front that there are many books on other ‘best books’ lists that I have not read, but these are my picks based on the ones I have read and featured on my blog this year. You can go back and look at what I thought about each one individually by following the title link back to my recommendations.
I seriously couldn’t put these in a hierarchy of ‘bestedness’, so I put them in alphabetical order by author’s last name like you would find on the shelves of your favorite bookstore or library.
So, without further ado…
Drumroll, please!
My Top 25 Best Picture Books of 2014
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Best Clumsy Moose Book
DUCK, DUCK, MOOSE! by Sudipta Bardham-Quallen and Noah Z. Jones
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Best Treasure Hunting Adventure
SAM AND DAVE DIG A HOLE by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
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Best Naked Toddler Adventure
NAKED! by Michael Ian Black and Debbie Ridpath Ohi
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Best Light in the Dark Picture Book
FLASHLIGHT by Lizi Boyd
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Best Misunderstood Teacher/Monster Book
MY TEACHER IS A MONSTER, NO I AM NOT by Peter Brown
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Best Believe-in-Yourself and Touch the Moon Story
IMANI’S MOON by JaNay Brown-Wood and Hazel Mitchell
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Best Elephant Friendship Story
LITTLE ELLIOT, BIG CITY by Mike Curato
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Best Cave Boy Book
THIS ORQ HE CAVE BOY by David Elliott and Lori Nichols
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Best Wordless Friendship Picture Book
THE FARMER AND THE CLOWN by Marlee Frazee
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Best Sharing Underwear Counting Book
ONE BIG PAIR OF UNDERWEAR by Laura Gehl and Tom Lichtenheld
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Best Interactive Color Concept Toddler Book
IT’S AN ORANGE AARDVARK by Michael Hall
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Best Polar Bear Miracle Story
SIMON AND THE BEAR by Eric A. Kimmel and Matthew Trueman
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Best Friendship Despite Size Difference Story
PIG AND SMALL by Alex Latimer
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Best Sibling Relationship Book
LOUISE LOVES ART by Kelly Light
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Best Bedtime Bear Book
BEAR HUG by Katharine McEwen
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Best New Baby Storybook
MAPLE by Lori Nichols
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Best Pictureless Picture Book
THE BOOK WITH NO PICTURES by B.J. Novak
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Best Competition for Number One Friend
NUMBER ONE SAM by Gred Pizzoli
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Best Imaginary Friend
THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE THE UNIMAGINARY FRIEND by Dan Santat
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Best Penguin Farting and Forgiving Book
NOT SO PERFECT PENGUIN by Steve Smallman
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Best Chicken with Arms Character
HENNY by Elizabeth Rose Stanton
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Best Cat Disguised as Santa Story
HERE COMES SANTA CAT by Deborah Underwood and Claudia Rueba
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Best Hat Parade
HOORAY FOR HAT by Brian Won
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Best Lost and Found and Loved Book
FOUND by Salina Yoon
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Best PreSchool Sharing Book
EARLY BIRD by Toni Yuly
This looks like a great list! I haven’t read many, I guess it’s time to hit the new releases shelf at the library! Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you Laura. I love my library… that’s where I get most of my books. I support bookstores, but I just can’t buy all the books I love to read!
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Honored to be on the list, Juliana! Thank you!
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Thank you Laura! ONE BIG PAIR OF UNDERWEAR was one big hit in our house!
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That’s one long list. Did you have any books you didn’t like? 🙂 Great choices.
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There actually are Pat. But I never review books I don’t like. It’s just too dismissive and I don’t want to spread that kind of negativity. Besides, just because I don’t care for a book, doesn’t mean someone else won’t like it. My biggest problem in making this list is reviewing all the great books I did read this year and limiting my Best of 2014 list to only 25. There are so many other wonderful books I reviewed on my blog that I truly loved, just needed to make the cut somewhere and I arbitrarily chose 25 as my cut line. I do feel bad for the ones I liked that didn’t get mentioned.
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Understand about not reviewing a book you don’t like. My goal is to share books that heal with parents, so why share something that I don’t think works. Agree with your reasons!
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Juliana, I just tweeted this (several tweets) to a lot of the authors/illustrators here, but only included your handle in one.
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Thanks for helping me share the love!
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What a fantastic list, Juliana! There are only about 4 I hadn’t seen, but the rest I have and agree! 😀
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Thanks again, Donna. Glad you agree, we usually do!
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Reblogged this on My Sweetheart Life and commented:
Here is a great list of books for children from a fellow WordPress blogger, Juliana Lee. Don’t get me started in how important I think reading and a love of books is, especially from an early age. My grandson (15 months old) and I have independent reading time and together reading time every day. Every day. Enjoy!
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So happy you liked the post. You are so right about starting early. I used to teach 2nd grade, and can tell you for sure, the kids who read at home were far ahead of their peers when they got to school. Keep up the great work!
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