The New York Times
Notable Children’s Picture Books of 2014
December 3, 2014 The best in picture books, selected by the children’s book editor of The New York Times
Book Review.
BABY BEAR. Written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson. (Balzer &
Bray/HarperCollins, $17.99; ages 2 to 6.) A young bear, lost in the forest, is guided
home by kind, wise advice from other animals in this wonderfully reassuring story
from the two-time Caldecott Honor--winning Nelson.
THE BABY TREE. Written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. (Nancy
Paulsen/Penguin, $17.99; ages 4 to 8.) This New York Times Best Illustrated award
winner sweetly and comically separates fact and fiction as a little boy learns about
the birds and the bees.
THE FARMER AND THE CLOWN. Written and illustrated by Marla Frazee.
(Beach Lane, $17.99; ages 3 to 9.) In this visually poetic wordless book by Frazee,
a two-time Caldecott Honor winner, a child clown falls from a train and is rescued
by a farmer.
HANNAH’S NIGHT. Written and illustrated by Komako Sakai. (Gecko, $17.95;
ages 2 and up.) This warm, respectful story features a toddler who wakes in the
night and enjoys the quiet of her home, using her own resourcefulness to pass the
time.
HANSEL & GRETEL. By Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Lorenzo Mattotti. (Toon
Graphic/Toon Books, $16.95; large-format edition, $29.95; ages 6 and up.) With
devastatingly spare prose and fearsome illustrations, Gaiman and Mattotti bring
freshness and majesty to the fairy tale, setting it during wartime.
THE JACKET. By Kirsten Hall. Illustrated by Dasha Tolstikova. (Enchanted
Lion, $17.95; ages 4 to 8.) A character named Book is distraught when his jacket is
ruined by his owner’s dog, but she makes him a new one in this ingenious and
poignant tale.
THE RIGHT WORD: Roget and His Thesaurus. By Jen Bryant. Illustrated by
Melissa Sweet. (Eerdmans, $17.50; ages 7 and up.) This picture-book biography
offers a spirited portrait of Peter Mark Roget, the word-loving Victorian who found
a way to help people say what they mean.
SAM AND DAVE DIG A HOLE. By Mac Barnett. Illustrated by Jon Klassen.
(Candlewick, $16.99; ages 2 to 8.) Two brothers wielding shovels are determined to
find “something spectacular” in this clever second collaboration between the
Caldecott -Honor-winning team of Barnett and Klassen.
THE STORM WHALE. Written and illustrated by Benji Davies. (Holt, $16.99;
ages 3 to 8.) This charmingly illustrated picture book tells a simple but powerful
story about a lonely boy, his hard-working single dad and a stranded baby whale
that helps parent and child grow closer.