A Year of Children’s Books in Review | 2019

Dear Loyal Reader and Child Literacy Advocate,

How can it be that another year has come to pass? There will never be enough words to thank you for joining me on this ‘Growing Readers’ journey! I believe the gift of reading is one of the most powerful treasures we can bestow upon our children, and it’s so wonderful to be able to share this sentiment with such a special community of readers.

Beyond the opportunities of exploring imaginary worlds and the real world—as well as discovering ourselves and learning to understand others through the characters that we meet upon pages—I caught myself this holiday season marveling at the simple and privileged pleasures reading affords us. I loved seeing my preschooler recognizing his name, as well as family members’ names, on gift packages. I found delight in watching my eight-year-old reading a menu to order a delicious meal for a special family dinner, as well as writing many thank-you cards to her ‘Deer’ relatives. And seeing my teenager snuggled up with cozy socks and a fluffy blanket, chilling in a beanbag with a book—devices discarded to the side—provided some blissful and fulfilling moments.

Not only am I grateful for you, our loyal reader, but also for every single person that contributes their time to The Children’s Book Review in their own special way. Below, you will find some highlights from the year gone by, including plenty of posts from our amazing contributors. And, in case you missed it, be sure to check out my most anticipated picture book of 2020: Don’t Wake the Dragon. Click on over to see why I’m so, so excited, and also wholly biased!

Thank you for continuing to help us with our pursuit of growing readers! When we create readers, we develop thinkers and learners and inspire creativity. Here’s to 2020 and the beautiful books and inspired thinking that it will bring!

Best Wishes,

Bianca Schulze

Founder, The Children’s Book Review

Reviews

This year, we reviewed everything from board books to picture books to book subscription services to educational apps. Take a look at some of the highlights.

Book Lists

Our booklists covered everything from the best children’s books of 2019 to some genuinely stunning picture books from around the world. Here’s a sampling.

Articles of Interest

A highlight from the year was the addition of our monthly Growing Readers column. Thanks to Lizzie Mussoline, M. Ed., we have loads of fun literacy tips to share with you, along with other interesting articles that encourage plenty of reading.

Author and Illustrator Interviews

One of the most fun parts of the book world is chatting with the people that write the stories and create the artwork. We have so many great interviews from this past year. We featured bestselling authors, debut authors, and all the goodness that falls in between.

Book Awareness Tours

The more people we get to share books with, the merrier! That’s why taking authors on virtual book tours is worth all of the effort to us. Here’s a glimpse at a few of the featured authors that toured the internet with us in 2019.

We’d love to hear from you in the comments below on what you’d like to see more or less of in 2020!

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