Spotlight Friday: my favorite 2017 picture books

The coming of the end of a calendar year always surprises me for some reason.  It comes too quickly and with the holidays everything seems so rushed.  I'm always happy to slow down and reflect on the year.  It's always fun to look back on the reading year and reminisce about your favorites!  Here are some of the books I enjoyed this past year.  As I make the lists, I keep noticing books I left off because I forgot to write them down somewhere.  So this may not be a comprehensive list!  They may or may not have been published in the United States.  They may or may not have been published in 2017.  But they were all enjoyed!  Today I'm celebrating some of my favorite picture books.



Wolf in the Snow
by Matthew Cordell


This House, Once
by Deborah Freedman


Not Quite Narwhal
by Jessie Sima


Bob, Nob Bob!
written by Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernik
illustrated by Matthew Cordell


Little Fox in the Forest
by Stephanie Graegin


The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet
written by Carmen Agra Deedy
illustrated by Eugene Yelchin


Moo Moo in a Tutu
by Tim Miller


The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors
written by Drew Daywalt
illustrated by Adam Rex


Be Quiet!
by Ryan T. Higgins


Jabari Jumps
by Gaia Cornwall


Claymates
written by Dev Petty
illustrated by Lauren Eldridge


Nerdy Birdy Tweets
written by Aaron Reynolds
illustrated by Matt Davies


Super Manny Stands Up
written by Kelly DiPucchio
illustrated by Stephanie Graegin


Creepy Pair of Underwear!
written by Aaron Reynolds
illustrated by Peter Brown


The Scariest Book Ever
by Bob Shea


La La La: A Story of Hope
by Kate DiCamillo


Red and Lulu
by Matt Tavares


The Thing Lou Couldn't Do
by Ashley Spires


The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse
written by Mac Barnett
illustrated by Jon Klassen


Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
written by Derrick Barnes
illustrated by Gordon C. James


After the Fall
by Dan Santat


Flashlight Night
written by Matt Forrest Esenwine
illustrated by Fred Koehler


It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk
written by Josh Funk
illustrated by Edwardian Taylor


This is Not a Normal Animal Book
written by Julie Segal Walters
illustrated by Brian Biggs


Malala's Magic Pencil
written by Malala Yousafzai
illustrated by Kerascoët


Winter Dance
written by Marion Dane Bauer
illustrated by Richard Jones


I bet some of these fall in your favorites!  Did I miss others?  What did you love this year?

Did you catch my other favorites posts?
Favorite 2017 early readers/early chapter books/transitional chapter books
Favorite 2017 nonfiction picture books
Favorite 2017 middle grade novels


See you next week when I look ahead to all of the books I am looking forward to in 2018!

Final #mustreadin2017 update 12.28.17

I've participated in different meme days, different communities... and there are benefits to all of them.  I am so grateful to be participating in the #mustread community because it encourages me to:

• be mindful about what I want to read
• have a community to help me stay on track of my reading
• have a community that gives me feedback and encouragement
• get to books I keep meaning to read, but....

As I take this time to reflect on my reading, I see I read at least one book each month that was on my list.  I, yet again, did not finish all of my reading, but I got closer this year!  I think with all of my reading that I do each year, it's sometimes hard to fit in that book that I keep putting off, so sticking with one book a month is helpful.  Something I'll do for next year!

Here's my update since September:

The Testing

by Joelle Charbonneau

Wow, I really enjoyed this one!  It's perfect for fans of Hunger Games who are looking for something similar, yet different.  I devoured this one, still need to get to the next two in the series.

Six of Crows

by Leigh Bardugo

This is one of those books that I had heard a lot of buzz over but I'm not sure if it lived up to it for me.  As I said in my review, it started out as a 3.  I didn't love any of the characters at first, I did not understand the Grisha world and I just wasn't falling into the book.  By the time I finished the book, it was a 5.  I got invested in the characters and the plot was nonstop and exciting.  I may just need to put book 2 on my 2018 list!

All Fall Down

by Ally Carter

This one had been on my radar for a long time too.  I enjoyed it, didn't love it.  What I was happy to see was how clean it is - can be placed in middle grade libraries and it will feel like a YA book without any issues.  


I am currently reading:


Truly Madly Guilty
by Lianne Moriarty
Oh gosh, I've read many by this author and have loved most of them.  I'm having a real hard time falling into this one.  I have to read about 200 pages each day in order to finish before January 1st, but that's my goal!


How did you do with your list?  Looking forward to seeing what you've read!

Be sure to check back next week to see what I'll be reading in 2018!

Favorite 2017 Middle Grade

The coming of the end of a calendar year always surprises me for some reason.  It comes too quickly and with the holidays everything seems so rushed.  I'm always happy to slow down and reflect on the year.  It's always fun to look back on the reading year and reminisce about your favorites!  Here are some of the books I enjoyed this past year.  As I make the lists, I keep noticing books I left off because I forgot to write them down somewhere.  So this may not be a comprehensive list!  They may or may not have been published in the United States.  They may or may not have been published in 2017.  But they were all enjoyed!  Today I'm celebrating some of my favorite middle grade reads.


Bubbles
by Abby Cooper


Amina's Voice
by Hena Khan


The Ethan I Was Before
by Ali Standish


Braced
by Alyson Gerber


Cilla Lee-Jenkins Future Author Extraordinaire
by Susan Tan


Georgia Rules
by Nanci Turner Steveson


14 Hollow Road
by Jenn Bishop


Halfway Normal
by Barbara Dee


The Explorer
by Katherine Rundell


Walking With Miss Millie
by Tamara Bundy


Wishtree
by Katherine Applegate


Tumble and Blue
by Cassie Beasley


Patina
by Jason Reynolds


Spirit Hunters
by Ellen Oh


The Countdown Conspiracy
by Katie Slivensky


The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street
by Lindsay Currie


Refugee
by Alan Gratz


Things That Surprise You
by Jennifer Maschari


Forget Me Not
by Ellie Terry


Gamer Squad: Attack of the Not-S0-Virtual Monsters
by Kim Harrington


The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City 
by Jodi Kendall


The Losers Club
by Andrew Clements


The First Rule of Punk
by Celia Perez


Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
by Dusti Bowling


Posted
by John David Anderson


Cyclone
by Doreen Cronin


The Way to BEA
by Kat Yeh


Greetings From Witness Protection
by Jake Burt


EngiNerds
by Jarrett Lerner


and don't miss in 2018:


Smart Cookie
by Elly Swartz
1.30.18


Wizardmatch
by Lauren Magaziner
3.06.18


The Problim Children
by Natalie Lloyd
1.30.18


Aru Shah and the End of Time
by Roshani Chokshi
3.27.18


Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble
by Anna Meriano
1.02.18


Checked
by Cynthia Kadohata
2.06.18


Fenway and Hattie: Up to New Tricks
by Victoria Coe
1.02.18


What were your favorite middle grade reads?  There were some great books this year, and as you can see, even more in 2018!

Did you catch my other favorites posts?
Favorite 2017 early readers/early chapter books/transitional chapter books
Favorite 2017 nonfiction picture books
Favorite 2017 picture books 


See you next week when I look ahead to all of the books I am looking forward to in 2018!