It’s the most wonderful time of the year! A season of celebrating. A season of giving. A season of year-end book lists – including this one produced by the Soaring ’20s.

In our lists below, we’re sure you’ll find the perfect kidlit book for every book lover in your life. So grab a hot cocoa, cozy up with your favorite blanket, and read on.

Picture Books (Fiction)

A Stone Sat Still by Brendan Wenzel (Chronicle, 2019) Recommended by Susan Kusel

Chicken Break: A Counting Book by Cate Berry, illus. by Charlie Adler (Feiwel & Friends, 2019) Recommended by Candy Wellins

How Do You Dance? by Thyra Heder (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019) Recommended by Shelley Johannes

Hum and Swish by Matt Myers (Neal Porter Books, 2019) Recommended by Hope Lim

Llama Destroys the World by Jonathan Stutzman, illus. by Heather Fox (Henry Holt & Co., 2019) Recommended by Abi Cushman

Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour, illus. by Daniel Egneus (Dial Books, 2019) Recommended by Elisa Boxer

My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, illus. by Zeke Peña (Koklia, 2019) Recommended by Angela Burke Kunkel

Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe (Paula Wiseman Books, 2019) Recommended by Julie Rowan-Zoch, Kjersten Hayes, and Isabella Kung

Saturday by Oge Mora (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2019) Recommended by Carrie Finison

Small in the City by Sydney Smith (Neal Porter Books, 2019) Recommended by Shelley Johannes

Small World by Ishta Mercurio, illus. by Jen Corace (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019) Recommended by Rob Justus

Twins by Mike Ciccotello (Farrar, Straus & Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2019) Recommended by Abi Cushman

When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L.B. Deenihan, illus. by Lorraine Rocha (Sterling Children's Books, 2019) Recommended by Kjersten Hayes 

Picture Books (Informational/Nonfiction)

Birds of a Feather: Bower Birds and Me by Susan L. Roth (Neal Porter Books, 2019) Recommended by Melanie Ellsworth

Dinosaur Feathers by Dennis Nolan (Neal Porter Books, 2019) Recommended by Susan Kusel

Evelyn the Adventurous Entomologist: The True Story of a World-Traveling Bug Hunter by Christine Evans, illus. Yasmin Imamura (Innovation Press, 2019) Recommended by Vicky Fang

Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island by Jennifer Thermes (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019) Recommended by Lindsay Metcalf

Muslim Girls Rise by the Soaring ’20s own Saira Mir, illus. Aaliya Jaleel (Salaam Reads, 2019)

Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist by Julie Leung, illus. Chris Sasaki (Schwartz & Wade, 2019) Recommended by Isabella Kung

What Miss Mitchell Saw by Hayley Barrett, illus. Diana Sudyka (Beach Lane Books, 2019) Recommended by Rajani LaRocca and Kelly Carey

Chapter Books

Beatrice Zinker Upside Down Thinker: Sabotage (Beatrice Zinker #3) (Disney-Hyperion, 2019) by the Soaring ’20s own Shelley Johannes

Diary of an Ice Princess series (Scholastic Paperbacks, 2019) by the Soaring ’20s own Christina Soontornvat

Frank and Bean by Jamie Michalak, illus. by Bob Kolar (Candlewick, 2019) Recommended by Kelly Carey

Yasmin in Charge (Meet Yasmin series) by Saadia Faruqi, illus. by Hatem Aly (Picture Window Books, 2019) Recommended by Saira Mir

Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Go on a Class Trip (Two Dogs in a Trench Coat #3) by Julie Falatko, illus. by Colin Jack (Scholastic, 2019) Recommended by Angela Burke Kunkel

Middle Grade

All the Impossible Things by Lindsey Lackey (Roaring Brook Press, 2019) Recommended by Darshana Khiani and Vicky Fang

Midsummer’s Mayhem by the Soaring ’20s own Rajani LaRocca

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (Balzer + Bray, 2019) Recommended by Angela Kunkel

Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos (Wendy Lamb Books, 2019) Recommended by Jen Malia

Summer of a Thousand Pies by Margaret Dilloway (Balzer + Bray, 2019) Recommended by Kelly Carey

Sweeping Up The Heart by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books, 2019) Recommended by Kelly Carey

This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrew (First Second, 2019) Recommended by Rob Justus

Young Adult

Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein (Charlesbridge Teen, 2019) Recommended by Colleen Paeff

Elon Musk: A Mission to Save the World (Feiwel & Friends, 2019) by the Soaring ’20s own Anna Crowley Redding 

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay (Kokila, 2019) Recommended by Darshana Khiani

The Library of Lost Things by Taylor Namey (Inkyard Press, 2019) Recommended by Joana Pastro

The Truth Is by the Soaring ’20s own NoNieqa Ramos (Carolrhoda Lab, 2019)

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott, illus. by Harmony Becker (Top Shelf Productions, 2019) Recommended by Kirsten W. Larson and Darshana Khiani

Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliott (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2019) Recommended by Kirsten W. Larson

Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds (Katherine Tegen Books, 2019) Recommended by Rajani LaRocca