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This week on NetGalley, you’ll find a preview edition of WHY DO WE SLEEP? by Cathy Evans, illustrated by Polya Plavinskaia, and coming in February from Cicada Books. Why do you want a heads up about this one for your collection? Its clear texts and bright, distinctive illustrations together provide a great introduction to a subject that has fascinated us since ancient times and that, in our age of endless stimulation, has never felt so timely. Written for kids and of interest to adults as well. Check it out this week!

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Our Latest Article

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  Best of the Year Lists Are the Best!
  by FGoldsmith

  This article will be updated as additional lists of best children’s books published in 2025 appear in the coming weeks.

  What’s better than a book award? A list of best books! Why? There are more titles to choose among and to compare and contrast. While judges who determine book awards are looking at lots of competing titles critically, with a list of bests, we get to see more into that process because a list of multiples is always more nuanced than a single title. Every year, we rejoice when a book we love gets an award (of course) and when books we love are recognized by placement on a best of the year list, you’ll hear us cheering just as loudly.

  Our annual roundup of titles we love that have earned placements on a wide array of best of the year lists comes to you thanks to processes in place at book review journals, general interest periodicals, specialists in libraries, children’s literature professionals, and, in at least one case, by children themselves. As ever, we’re putting out this roundup in mid-December and will continue to edit it as new best lists are published in the last weeks of the year. Some titles you will see repeated among lists; in the first instance, we will include author, title, and translation information, as well as the book’s publisher; later list mentions will include only the title and publisher.

  Featured on Professional Review Journal Best Books Lists

  Reviewers and editors at review journals see a lot of books during any year. They are often the first to publicize critical opinions about forthcoming as well as newly published books. They also have years of experience working with books they have never reviewed so their opinions are based on an enormous universe of awareness. We know you will find more than one or two kids’ books new to you and invite you to find it immediately among these.

  

  

  

  Publishers Weekly addresses the interests of publishers, library and bookstore selectors, authors and other publishing creatives, literary agents, and adjacent professionals. The journal creates separate annual best lists of titles that are in various formats and target various ages and stages of readers. This year’s Best Picture Book List includes DOWNPOUR: Splish! Splash! Ker-Splash! by Yuko Ohnari and Koshiro Hata, translated from the Japanese by Emily Balistrieri and published by Red Comet Press.

  The Kirkus Review relies on a stable of librarians and other literary-adjacent professionals for its hundreds of critical reviews. The regularly appearing reviews are lengthier than those published by other journals. In addition to reviews of new and forthcoming titles, Kirkus also selects and publishes focus lists of bests as the year winds down.  Best of 2025: Our Favorite Picture Books includes six we want to make sure you see for yourself: THE SLIGHTLY SPOOKY TALE OF FOX AND MOLE written and illustrated by Cecilia Heikkila and translated by Polly Lawson, and MY HOME IS IN MY BACKPACK, written by Eugenia Perrella, illustrated by Angela Salerno, and translated by Sally Polson, are both published by Floris Books. PENCIL, written and illustrated by Hye-Eun Kim is published by Toon Books. CROCO, written and illustrated by Azul López and translated by Kit Maude, is published by Tapioca Stories. ASTRO, written and illustrated by Manuel Marsol and translated by Lizzie Davis, is published by Transit Children’s Editions. SUNDAY, written and illustrated by Marcelo Tolentino and translated by Rahul Bery, is published by Blue Dot Kids Press. On the Best Middle Grade Books of the Year Kirkus includes OMNIBIRD by Giselle Clarkson, published by Gecko Press; SEABIRD by Michelle Kadarusman, published by Pajama Press; GIANT by Judith McQuoid, published by Little Island Books; and THE EDGE OF THE SILVER SEA by Alex Mullarky, published by Floris Books. SOLO by Gráinne O’Brien and published by Little Island Books features on the Kirkus Best Young Adult Books of the Year list.

  

  

  

  Booklist, the review journal of the American Library Association, creates all manner of best lists so that collection development staff and those who provide readers’ advisory services can find just the right titles for their areas of interest. One of these is the Top 10 Debut Graphic Novels for Youth:2025 so you know immediately the format, the number of titles, and a common feature of the authors. SUPA NOVA, written and illustrated by Chanté Timothy and published by Nosy Crow is among them. Then comes Booklist’s spectacular yearend list of Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth, 2025, a list that is helpfully organized by age ranges and whether fiction or nonfiction. Kel Menton’s novel for teens, A FIX OF LIGHT, published by Little Island Press, is featured here, along with THE WHALE’S SONG: Discover the Giants of Our Oceans by Rossana Bossù, translated by Margaret Greenan, published by Post Wave, and CHIDORI: A Story of One Thousand Birds, written by Jennifer Maruno, illustrated  Miki Sato, and published by Pajama Press is featured in the section of middle grade fiction selections.

  

  

  

  School Library Journal addresses the interests of school and public library staff and publishes hundreds of reviews annually; the reviews are written by library and other professionals who have deep experience working with youth. It publishes 10 age- and genre-specific lists of bests each year, with the selections for these lists overseen by 28 librarians and five review editors at the journal. The Best Books 2025 landing page leads to individual lists varying in number of titles from less than 10 to more than 25 apiece for a total of nearly 200 titles. The Poetry List includes HARRIET TUBMAN, FORCE OF NATURE: A Biography in Poems by Caroline Brewer and published by What On Earth, and THIS IS NOT A SMALL VOICE: Poems by Black Poets by Traci N. Todd, illustrated by Jade Orlando, and published by Nosy Crow.

  Shelf Awareness published its annual list for picture book, middle grade, and young adult readers as 2025 Best Children’s and YA Books. THE SLIGHTLY SPOOKY TALE OF FOX AND MOLE by Cecilia Heikkilä, translated by Polly Lawson, published by Floris Books, appears in the picture book section.

  BookPage lists Toon Books’ PENCIL among the Best Picture Books of 2025.

  Featured on Best Lists from General Media That Include Regular Book Coverage

  The next group of list-makers we’ll consider include widely distributed periodicals that feature book coverage year around and rely on experts and a professional book review editorial team. Also in this category are magazines that are given mostly to non-book coverage and yet provide annual notice of best titles they want their more general readership to know.

  The 2025 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books is an annual event as well as a list. It runs to only 10 titles and the list is selected by a panel of three judges. This year’s judges were multi-award-winning illustrator Peter Sis, children’s author Tracey Baptitste, and children’s librarian Amber Moller. And what a gloriously nuanced list they devised! We are proud to See TOON Books’ PENCIL by Hye-Eun Kim featured again on this one, as well as another list appearance by SUNDAY by Marcelo Tolentino, published by Blue Dot Kids Press. And there is another one, too: author Eugenio Fernández Vázquez’s THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER, illustrated by Mariana Villanueva Segovia, published by Tapioca Stories.

  

  

  

  Good Housekeeping’s 2025 Kids’ Book Awards comes via a unique process. This list is selected by 125 children, ages 0-12, including booklovers and those who have previously evidenced little interest in reading. In addition to annotations, as have all of the lists above, each title on this list comes with a “tester note,” quoting a child reader or, in the case of the books for infants and toddlers, the adult who observed and interpreted the child’s interaction with the book. In the Board Book section of this mega-list, we find WHAT’S THAT NOISE? MEOW! by Pui Lee, and LOOK, BABY, LOOK! AT HOME by Louise Lockhart, both published by Nosy Crow; SLIDE AND PEEK SANTA by Hector Dexet, published by Post Wave; SAY CHEESE!: A Lift-the-Flap Book of Farm Photos written by Sophie Aggett and illustrated by Pauline Gregory, published by Tiger Tales. The Graphic Novels section include a title we’ve seen in a list above: SUPA NOVA from Nosy Crow; also included is DUCKY THE SPY by Sean E. Avery and published by Walker Books Australia. The selection of Early Readers and Chapter Books gives the nod to LITTLE MOUSE SAVES THE DAY! by Jeff Smith, published by Toon Books. The Activity Books list includes A IS FOR APPLE: My First Wipe-Clean Book from Tiger Tales and illustrated by Georgie Birkett and Summer Macon, and FOLD OUT + PLAY: HOUSE by Ingela P. Arrhenius and published by Nosy Crow.

  

  The online general interest literary magazine Literary Hub published a list of 100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025 which included a single board book and one other book for children: WITH A NEEDLE AND THREAD by Jennifer Stempel and Libi Axelrod is a picture book published by Kalaniot Books.

  The Guardian’s The Best Children’s Books of 2025 includes OMNIBIRD published by Gecko Press.

  New York Magazine published its The Best New Books for Kids Published in 2025 list with titles ranging through age group interest from board books through picture books and chapter books. Louise Lockhart’s “Look Baby Look” board board series entry LOOK AT HOME, published by Nosy Crow, and the picture book THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER, published by Tapioca Stories, are featured here.

  Smithsonian Magazine‘s Ten Best Children’s Books of 2025 recognizes THERE ARE NO SILLY QUESTIONS: More Than 200 Weird and Wacky Questions, Expertly Answered! written by Mike Rampton, illustrated by Guilherme Karsten, and published by Nosy Crow.

  Tablet, which publishes daily with a focus on Jewish faith and identity, listed 17 Best Jewish Children’s Books of 2025 spanning various age groups. Two in the Early Elementary category are from from Kalaniot Books: WITH A NEEDLE AND THREAD is joined by SLOW DOWN, SHOSHI! IT’S SHABBAT IN UGANDA written by Shoshana Nambi and illustratecd by Moran Yogev.

  Noteworthy Library Lists

  Year after year each of several large library systems gives attention to creating focused best books lists that address national interests in locating great books for kids. Most of these library lists present titles specific to a single targeted age range, language choice, or genre. Because of their time-tested history and methodology, these lists offer good guidance to families and caregivers as well as to staff in other libraries.

  

  The Chicago Public Library creates a nationally recognized annual list of the Best Informational Books for Younger Readers. This list is tailored specifically for the age range of kindergarten through third grade. RISE UP!: Powerful Protests is American History, by Rachel C. Katz, published by Barefoot Books, is featured on this one.

  

  This is the 25^th year that the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has published a Best Books for Babies for national consultation and use. The introduction to the list explains the who, why, what, and how the 2025 list has been devised and should encourage others to follow this approach when creating local library lists of bests. Leading the list is a series of bilingual board books from Child’s Play: ¿Puedes Cavar Como Un Excavadora?/Can You Dig Like a Digger?; ¿Puedes Hacer Chú Chú a Como Un Tren?/Can You Choo Choo Like a Train?; and ¿Puedes Ladrar Como Un Perro?/Can You Bark Like a Dog? The list also features a second series bilingual from Child’s Play: Cinco Enormes Dinosaurios/Five Enormous Dinosaurs; En La Estación/Down by the Station; and ¡Salta Un Poquito!/Hop a Little! Both series are presented here in their Spanish/English editions. From Barefoot Books, there’s HELLO FACE! by Aya Khalil. One more series is included, this one from Nosy Crow: TUMMY TIME: FARM and TUMMY TIME: SAVANNAH, both by Louise Lockhart.

  Also in Illinois, the Evanston Public Library publishes an annual 101 Best Books for Kids list. The 2025 list is arranged in eight sections: Fiction Picture Books, Nonfiction Picture Books,  Novels for Older Readers, Nonfiction for Older Kids, Folk and Other Tales, Early Chapter Books, Poetry, and Graphics. DOWNPOUR: Splish! Splash! Ker-Splash! from Red Comet Press is featured among the Fiction Picture Books. LICE: How to Survive on Humans, by Berta Páramo, published by Helvetiq, has a place on the list of Nonfiction for Older Children. Frank Cammuso’s THE FIRE-BREATHING DUCKLING, published by TOON Books, is on the Graphic Novels and Comics list.

  

  2025 Staff Picks Books for Kids from the Denver Public Library includes CHANGING TIDES by Júlia Moscardó, published by Tiger Tales in its picture book selections, and WE SING FROM THE HEART: How the Slants Took Their Fight to the Supreme Court by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Victor Bizar Gómez, and published by Red Comet Press among its nonfiction selections.

  As noted above, the New York Public Library partners with The New York Times on one noteworthy best list. In addition, they produce more lists of the best, including annual New York Public Library Best Books for Kids which, in 2025, runs to 125 titles arranged in a dozen topics. One of these 12 is Los mejores libros para pequeños de 2025 on which the list description, titles, and annotations are all in Spanish. Two picture books from NubeOcho are included here: MARTIN PALANCHIN por Carmen Mateo y ilustrado por Marisa Morea; and LOS PANTALONES DE LUISA por Susanna Isern y ilustrado por Esther Gili. ¡¿ROPA VIEJA PARA LA CENA?! por Nathalie Alonso y ilustrado por Natalia Rojas Castro, published by Barefoot Books is featured on this list, too as is ¡ES MIO! por Klara Persson, ilustrado por Charlotte Ramel y traducido por Amanda Eda Monjonell Mansten, from Albatros. In addition to these Spanish language titles, the larger New York Public Library Best list includes SLEEP HERE, WAKE THERE, written and illustrated by Caio Zero, published by Floris Books.

  Selected by Professional Children’s Literature Associations and Organizations

  Various professional organizations with missions that include supporting literacy, childhood education, and healthy communities publish lists of recommended kids’ books as part of their work and outreach beyond their membership. Selections may be decided based on a wide array of criteria, including direct reading of a broad number of new books or drawing from other resources such as published reviews. Sometimes the list is composed of recommendations made by award committees for books beyond the winning titles.

  

  The International Literacy Association‘s Recommended Reading List includes WE SING FROM THE HEART: How the Slants Took Their Fight to the Supreme Court  published by Red Comet Press.

  The Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Books of 2025 list carries two picture books from Floris Books: BLUE SKY MORNING by Jihyun Kim and translated by Polly Lawson, and MY HOME IS IN MY BACKPACK. The list also includes DEAR NEW FRIEND written by Taraneh Matloob, illustrated by Alida Massari, and published by Red Comet Press; and KWESI AND NANA RUBY LEARN TO SWIM written by Kobina Commeh, illustrated by Bárbara Quintino, and published by Barefoot Books.

  Lovemybooks, a team of literacy specialists who provide a rich (and free) site providing information about books by title, theme, and age interst all paired with resources for expanding the content at home or at school, published its list of Top 10 New Picture Books. Featured among them is THE ORDINARY LIFE OF JACOMINUS GAINSBOROUGH by Rébecca Dautremer, translated by Charis Ainslie, published by Post Wave.

  The National Science Teaching Association‘s annual Outstanding Science Trade Books list shouts out NEXT TIME YOU SEE A SNOWFLAKE by Emily Morgan and published by NSTA Kids; and SALMON RUN: An Epic Journey to the Ocean and Back written and illustrated by Annie Chen, published by Red Comet Press.

  The Child Mind Institute publicizes the list The Best Kids’ Books about Mental Health of 2025 which is arranged according to such mental health topics as Body Image, Emotions, and Sensory Processing. Such a list from experts can be a boon to families, schools, libraries, and counseling staff. It includes VERA LA VALIENTE IS SCARED, written by Ana Siqueira and illustrated by Teresa Martinez, and THE MEMORY TREE, written by Joanna Rowland and illustrated by Thea Baker, both published by Beaming Books.

  Featured as Best of the Year by Professionals on Their Own Kids’ Book Blogs

  School Library Journal continues to host several blogs authored year around by influential librarians. Elementary school librarian Travis Jonker’s blog “100 Scope Notes” is a regular feature and it includes his annual The Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books. The 2025 edition of this collection includes a pair of translated picture books from Transit Children’s Editions: ASTRO makes another appearance, and THE EXPEDITION by Tuvalisa Rangstrêm, illustrated by Klara Bartilsson, translated by Saskia Vogel. From Tapioca Stories there’s NO ONE SLEPT by Rafael Sica, translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato, and from Post Wave there’s THE ORDINARY LIFE OF JACOMINUS GAINSBOROUGH.

  

  

  

  Another School Library Journal hosted blogger is public librarian Betsy Bird, author of the regular column “A Fuse 8 Production,” who provides an annual December extravaganza of “31 Days, 31 Lists.” This year, her list of Great Board Books, 2025 includes CUDDLY SHEEP by Ingela Arrhenius, two titles from Pui Lee’s “What’s That Noise?” series in MEOW! and MOO!, TUMMY TIME: PARK by Louise Lockhart, MAKE TRACKS: IN THE SKY by Johnny Dyrander, and IF IT’S PRIDE AND YOU KNOW IT… by Andy Passchier from Nosy Crow; four in the Child’s Play series by Ailie Busby “Together Time,” with ANIMAL RHYMES, BEDTIME RHYMES, PLAYTIME RHYMES, and WEATHER RHYMES; an array from Post Wave starting with a pair in Pascale Estellon’s series “My First Black and White Book,” PLAY! and TOUCH!, then WHO ATE THE LITTLE BUG? by Hector Dexet, Sarah Finan’s BANANA, BANANA, BANANA!, and Elyon Liu’s A SEED IN THE UNIVERSE; GET DRESSED BELLY BUTTON, by Lucie Brunellière, translated by Linda Burgess, and published by Gecko Press; and from Tiger Tales, SAY CHEESE! by Sophie Aggett and illustrated by Pauline Gregory, and a pair in the “Upside Down” series by Danielle McLean and illustrated by Matt Hunt in ANIMALS and OPPOSITES. DOWNPOUR: Splish! Splash! Ker-Splash!, published by Red Comet Press, is the featured title on Betsy Bird’s list of 2025 Picture Book Readalouds.

  Betsy’s “31 Days, 31 Lists” moves along to name her chosen bests of 2025 Transcendent Holiday Children’s Books, which again notes IF IT’S PRIDE AND YOU KNOW IT… from Nosy Crow as well as SLOW DOWN, SHOSHI! IT’S SHABBAT IN UGANDA from Kalaniot Books. Her list of 2025 Funny Picture Books applauds DIGGERS, DOZERS & DUMPERS: Small Stories About Big Machines by Ole Könnecke, translated by Melody Shaw, published by Gecko Press; WHO ATE STEVE? by Susannah Lloyd, illustrated by Kate Hindley, published by Nosy Crow; and FRANK’S RED HAT by Sean E. Avery, published by Walker Books Australia. In the list of 2025 Caldenotts, which celebrate titles ineligible for the American Library Association’s Caldecott Medal due to its publication requirements, she includes THE PAPER BRIDGE by Joelle Veyrenc, illustrated by Seng Soun Ratanavanh, translated by Katy Lockwood-Holmes, and published by Floris Books. PENCIL from TOON Books appears on her 2025 Wordless Children’s Books list. The Child’s Play board book series “Curious Cats / Gatos curiosos” by Airlie Anderson, which includes Numbers / Los números, Shapes / Las formas, Weather / El clima, and Colors / Los colores, finds a place on Betsy’s list of 2025 Bilingual Children’s Books and THE MUSEUM OF SHAPES by Sven Völker and published by Cicada Books is counted among her choices of the year’s best Math Books for Kids. IS IT ASLEEP? by Olivier Tallec, translated by Antony Shugaar, published by Gecko Press is among those she lists as best 2025 Books with a Message (Social & Emotional Learning).

  The 2025 Translated Children’s Books for Older and Younger Readers promoted as best by Betsy in her “Fuse 8 Productions” list-making is rich with books we know and love. Floris Books’ BLUE SKY MORNING, translated from Korean; Tapioca Stories’ CROCO and THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER, both translated from Spanish; Red Comet Press’ DOWNPOUR: Splish! Splash! Ker-Splash!, translated from Japanese; THE EXPEDITION published by Transit Children’s Editions, comes to English from Swedish; Gecko Press’ IS IT ASLEEP? and THE MONSTER IN THE LAKE by Leo Timmers, translated by Bill Nagelkerke, both come from the French; another Swedish entry, this one from Lantana, THE PLAYDATE by Uje Brandelius, illustrated by Clara Dackenberg, translated by Nichola Smalley; another from Swedish, and another appearance from Floris Books is THE SLIGHTLY SPOOKY TALE OF FOX AND MOLE all appear among the choices for younger readers. Selected for older readers are MY TRIP WITH DRIP by Josephine Mark, translated from German by Andrew Shields, published by Helvetiq; and Post Wave’s THE ORDINARY LIFE OF JACOMINUS GAINSBOROUGH comes from French.

  The 2025 Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, and Religious Tales list includes THE RUNAWAY PANCAKE by Tiny Fisscher, illustrated by Sophie Pluim, translated by Polly Lawson, and published by Floris Books. Helvetiq’s LICE makes another appearance, this time on the Fuse 8 list of 2025 Gross Books for Kids. Nosy Crow’s THIS IS NOT A SMALL VOICE receives more acclamation on the 2025 Poetry Books for Kids list. Betsy’s list of 2025 Unconventional Children’s Books includes some familiar (and delightful) ones noted above and more: ASTRO and THE EXPEDITION, both from Transit Children’s Editions; THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER from Tapioca Stories; Post Wave’s THE ORDINARY LIFE OF JACOMINUS GAINSBOROUGH as well as that publisher’s ART’BRACADABRA by Raphaël Garnier and A WINTER’S MORNING written by Angélique Leone and illustrated by Grégoire Solotareff; and another appearance of THE PAPER BRIDGE from Floris Books.

  

  We are happy to see that the Fuse 8 list of 2025 Early Chapter Books includes HAVE A GOOD TRIP, MOUSSE! by Claire Lebourg, translated by Sophie Lewis, published by Transit Children’s Editions.

  Her 2025 Comics and Graphic Novels for Kids includes another appearance of MY TRIP WITH DRIP from Helvetiq and Toon Books’ THE FIRE-BREATHING DUCKLING. In her 2025 Funny Books for Older Kids list, Betsy chose to feature another funy one from Walker Books Australia and created by Sean E. Avery: DUCKY THE SPY.

  Growing Book by Book reading specialist and blogger Jodie Rodriguez published a list of 37 Best Books of 2025. Included are SALMON RUN: An Epic Journey to the Ocean and Back, and EMMIE BUILDS SOMETHING NEW written and illustrated by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall, both published by Red Comet Press; THE GRUMPY GHOST UPSTAIRS written and illustrated by Mamiko Shiotani, and translated by Polly Lawson, published by Floris Books; HOW IT WORKS: TREE written by Isabel Otter, illustrated by David Semple, and LITTLE DINO BOO-BOOS! written by Sophie Aggett and illustrated by Jannie Ho, SAY CHEESE! by Sophie Aggett and illustrated by Pauline Gregory, all published by Tiger Tales; and WHO ATE STEVE?, BABY FACES: LITTLE BUNNY, WHERE ARE YOU? by Ekaterina Trukhan, and LET’S GO HOME, BABY PUPPY by Carolina Buzio, all from Nosy Crow.

  What to do with the abundance of riches these best lists suggest? Well, build your to be read stack and then start reading!