The Kojo Nnamdi Show

The Kirkus Review's Vicky Smith, Library of Congress's Young Readers Center Director Jane Gilchrist, and Guys Read founder and children's book author Jon Scieszka offer their suggestions for the best children's books of 2011.

Vicky Smith, Children's & Teen Editor, Kirkus Review

Picture books about animals who find sporting equipment:

Red Sled

by Lita Judge

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Pig Kahuna

by Jennifer Sattler

Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Totally amazing genre-bending illustrated nonfiction:

Coral Reefs

by Gail Gibbons

Holiday House

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards))

by Kadir Nelson

Balzer + Bray

Drawing From Memory

by Allen Say

Scholastic Press

Great graphic novels for middle graders:

Zita the Spacegirl

by Ben Hatke

First Second

Squish #1: Super Amoeba

by Jennifer L. Holm, Matt Holm

Random House Books for Young Readers

Uniquely American fantasies:

Small Persons With Wings

by Ellen Booraem

Dial

The Inquisitor's Apprentice

by Chris Moriarty

Harcourt Children's Books

Kickass urban fantasy for teens:

Anna Dressed in Blood

by Kendare Blake

Tor Teen

Misfit

by Jon Skovron

Amulet Books

Teen romances in two voices:

Winter Town

by Stephen Emond

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Blink & Caution

by Tim Wynne-Jones

Candlewick Press

Vicky's Picks for Book Apps

The Button at the Bottom of the Sea

Van Gogh and the Sunflowers

The Little Mermaid

Bobo Explores Light

The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Jon Scieszka, children's book author and founder of Guys Read

Picture Books for Younger Kids

I Want My Hat Back

by Jon Klassen

Candlewick Press

Stuck

by Oliver Jeffers

Philomel

Picture Books for Older Kids

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards))

by Kadir Nelson

Balzer + Bray

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales / With an Introduction by Lemony Snicket

by Chris Van Allsburg

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade

Non Fiction

Just a Second

by Steve Jenkins

Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert

by Marc Aronson

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Guinness World Records 2012

by Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records

Middle Grade Fiction

It Happened on a Train (Brixton Brothers)

by Mac Barnett

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

The Guys Read Library of Great Reading

Graphic Novels

Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 6)

by Jeff Kinney

Amulet Books

Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book

by Tom Angleberger

Amulet Books

Young Adult

Tighter

by Adele Griffin

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Breadcrumbs

by Anne Ursu

Walden Pond Press

Audio Book

The True Meaning of Smekday

by Adam Rex

Listening Library (Audio)

Jane Gilchrist, Director, Library of Congress Young Readers Center

Picture Books

I Want My Hat Back

by Jon Klassen

Candlewick Press

Me . . . Jane (Mcdonnell, Patrick)

by Patrick McDonnell

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit

by Catherine Rayner

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Blackout

by John Rocco

Hyperion Book CH

Grandpa Green

by Lane Smith

Roaring Brook Press

Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator!

by Mo Willems

Balzer + Bray

Beginning Chapter Books

James and the Giant Peach

by Roald Dahl

Puffin

Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 6)

by Jeff Kinney

Amulet Books

The Flint Heart

by Katherine Paterson, John Paterson

Candlewick

Magic Tree House #47: Abe Lincoln at Last!

by Mary Pope Osborne

Random House Books for Young Readers

A King's Ransom (The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers, Book 2)

by Jude Watson

Scholastic Press

Lincoln and His Boys

by Rosemary Wells

Candlewick

Middle Chapter Books

Small Persons With Wings

by Ellen Booraem

Dial

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

HarperCollins

The Forgotten Warrior: Warriors- Omen of the Stars, No. 5

by Erin Hunter

HarperCollins

Okay for Now

by Gary D. Schmidt

Clarion Books

Wonderstruck

by Brian Selznick

Scholastic Press

The Mozart Season

by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Square Fish

Teen Reads

Chime

by Franny Billingsley

Dial

Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices)

by Cassandra Clare

Margaret K. McElderry Books

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

by Lish McBride

Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Under the Mesquite

by Guadalupe Garcia Mccall

Lee & Low Books

Inheritance (Inheritance Cycle, Book 4)

by Christopher Paolini

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Divergent (Book 1)

by Veronica Roth

Katherine Tegen Books