Are you looking for a great gift to give? Books to fill your classroom, or supplement a lesson? Perhaps all you need is a bed-time tale that can withstand multiple readings in a single night? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

Here you will find links to some of the best lists for young children and teens available on the web. Most of these lists have been vetted by professionals in the book industry—librarians, teachers, writers, publishers and award-winning bloggers.

One thing I advise is that you take your time hunting for just the right title—you never know what will surprise you along the way. It’s the gift of serendipity. Embrace it!

Cheers!

Shutta

(p.s.: If you know of a link that should be included, please let me know! I can’t guarantee it will appear here, but I will check it out.)

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Sites with Lists of Recommended Children’s Books and Media

U.S. Book Awards (Young Adult & Children’s) at Shutta Crum’s site

http://blog.shutta.com/for-teachers/u-s-book-awards-childrens-books-young-adult-books/

 

American Library Association (ALSC): 2011 Children’s Notable Books

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb

 

New York Public Library recommended reading

http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended.cfm

 

Reading Rockets’ booklists by theme

http://www.readingrockets.org/books/booksbytheme/

 

Jane Addams Peace Association Children’s Book Award

http://www.janeaddamspeace.org/jacba/2012ceremony.shtml 

 

CBC Children’s Choice Book Awards

http://www.cbcbooks.org/breaking-news-contents.php?id=356

 

Children’s Choices by the International Reading Assoc.

http://reading.org/Resources/Booklists/ChildrensChoices.aspx

 

Teacher Choices by the International Reading Assoc.

http://reading.org/Resources/Booklists/TeachersChoices.aspx

 

Young Adults’ Choices by the International Reading Assoc.

http://reading.org/Resources/Booklists/YoungAdultsChoices.aspx

 

Themed bibliographies by the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu/bibliographies.html

 

Member recommended themed lists by the Children’s Literature Network

http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/resource/readlist/readlist.php

 

Themed and best of the year lists by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center

(University of Wisconsin-Madison)

http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/

 

Database of Award-Winning Children’s Books (Not updated since 5/11.)

http://www.dawcl.com/

 

Read Aloud Books—Too Good to Miss by the Assoc. of Indiana School Lib. Educators

http://www.ilfonline.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=ReadAloudBooks&category=Programs_Awards

 

Texas Library Association reading lists by age

http://www.txla.org/reading-lists

 

Parents Magazine, Best Children’s Books by Age

http://www.parents.com/fun/book-gallery/

 

100 Favorite Children’s Books, New York Public Library

http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended_favorites.cfm

 

Juvenile Series and Sequels database by Mid-Continent Public Library

http://www.mymcpl.org/books-movies-music/juvenile-series

 

Oprah’s extensive site brings together many vetted lists

http://www.oprah.com/packages/kid-reading-list.html

 

 Bibliographies compiled by award-winning children’s author Cynthia Leitich Smith

http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/bibliographies.html

 

Teachers First (a bit old, but still good)

http://www.teachersfirst.com/100books.cfm

 

VERY extensive list of the year’s best lists online at Chicken Spaghetti blog

http://chickenspaghetti.typepad.com/chicken_spaghetti/the-best-childrens-books-of-2011-a-list-of-lists-and-awards.html

 

National Education Association list: Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children

http://www.nea.org/grants/13154.htm

 

Rainbow List for glbtr teens by The American Library Association

http://glbtrt.ala.org/rainbowbooks/archives/953

 

American Bookseller’s Association: 2011 ABC Best Books for Children Catalog

http://news.bookweb.org/news/2011-abc-best-books-children-catalog-title-list-preview

 

American Library Assoc. (ALSC): Great Early Elementary Reads

http://www.ala.org/alsc/compubs/booklists/greatreads/greatearlyelemreads

 

American Lib. Assoc. (YALSA) 2012 List of Great Graphic Novels

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/ggnt/2012 

 

Themed books for boys at Guys Read blog

http://www.guysread.com/

 

Nat’l Council for the Social Studies: Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People

http://www.socialstudies.org/notable

 

National Science Teacher’s Assoc.: Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12

http://www.nsta.org/publications/ostb/

 

Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books for kids

http://www.chipublib.org/forkids/kidsbooklists/bestofbest_list.php

 

Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books for teens

http://www.chipublib.org/forteens/teenspages/bestofbest_teen.php

 

Michigan Reading Association: 2010-2011 Great Lakes, Great Books Award Winners

http://michiganreading.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=105&Itemid=185

 

Ezra Jack Keats New Author and New Illustrator Awards

http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/ezra-jack-keats-award-winners/

 

Cynthia Leitich Smith’s extensive listing of state awards and winning books

http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/awards/stateawards.html

 

Themed list of “Perfect” Picture Books on author Susanna Leonard Hill’s site

http://susannahill.blogspot.com/p/just-right-books.html

 

Cybils award winners (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards)

http://www.cybils.com/

 

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators: Golden Kite Awards

http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/Golden-Kite-Award 

 

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators: Crystal Kite Awards

http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/2012-Crystal-Kite-Winners

 

Shutta