Best Children’s Books of 2013

3 children's book covers from the list of the best books of 2013
{A few covers from the Best Children’s Books of 2013}

The kick off to holiday shopping season is only a couple weeks away. Are you ready? My head isn’t truly ready for the holidays, but this weekend my group of friends is continuing a new tradition where we all gather together for our own Thanksgiving or as we call it Friendsgiving . It’s a fun evening of amazing food (as it happens we are all good cooks!) and you cannot image how many laughs fill the air. With this event happening tomorrow I’m hoping my holiday spirit will come to life!

Since I know some of you are early bird shoppers, I wanted to share with you Print World’s Top Children’s Book Picks for 2013. PW breaks the books into 3 categories: picture books, fiction, and non-fiction. They select the 50 best books from thousands of publications in 2013. It’s no small task! But they do pride themselves in finding those books whose stories, characters, and in some cases art stay with us long after we finish the book.

The best book lists are too long to list completely here, but I’ll give you a taste of a few of them that caught my eye.

BEST 2013 PICTURE BOOKS
If You Want To See A Whale by Julie Fogliano, illus. by Erin E. Stead
Rosie’s Magic Horse by Russell Hoban, illus. by Quentin Blake
The Dark by Lemony Snicket, illus. by Jon Klassen
Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett, illus. by Matthew Myers

BEST 2013 FICTION NOVELS
Doll Bones by Holly Black, illus. by Eliza Wheeler
Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo, illus. by K.G. Campbell
Better Nate Than Never by Tim Federle
Whistle In The Dark by Susan Hill Long
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

BEST 2013 NON-FICTION BOOKS
Locomotive by Brian Floca
Poems to Learn By Heart Edited by Caroline Kennedy, illus. by Jon J Muth
Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth & Cathy Trumbore, illus. by Susan L. Roth
Lincoln’s Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles,
America’s First Black Paratroopers
by Tanya Lee Stone

I hope this encourages you to gift a book this year!
Happy weekend!