FINALLY after months of work I am over the moon to finally be sharing our #bookstagang_bestof2020 picture books WINNERS with you. This year we had submissions from 43 publishers and had an outstanding crop of incredible books to choose from. Our 13 judges, including myself, had our work cut out for us. We have been busy reading, scoring, and jamming formulas into excel before finally placing the winners into their respective categories. The years winners are OUTSTANDING – thoughtful, representative, works of picture book art that deserve a standing ovation. So I will not keep you scrolling any longer (it’s not like I have to tell you my life story before we get to that brownie recipe or anything, right?!). Jump to the very end to hear more about what went into this whole award process!
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a tiny commission (at no cost to you!) when you buy a book through one of my links. This helps support the free content that I put out for Inclusive Story Time – each and every click and purchase is meaningful to me and my family, and shows that you value the work that I do. Thank YOU!
International Friends: Many of these can be purchased through Blackwells with free-all-the-time international shipping!
Canadian Friends: All of these can be purchased through Indigo, using this link to shop does earn me a small affiliate commission on your purchase at no cost to you.
American Friends: I have set up full shoppable lists for both Amazon and Bookshop.org
Best Board Books
Baby Medical School: Vaccines
Cara Florance / Jon Florance – ScourceBooks Kids
A Very Busy Board Book: Unicorns And Rainbows
Rusty Finch / Ela Smietanka – Cottage Door Press
You’re The Cheese In My Blintz
Leslie Kimmelman / Ramona Kaultzki – Kar-Ben Publishing
Best Biography
Born Curious, 20 Girls Who Grew Up To Be Awesome Scientists
Martha Freeman / Katy Wu – Paula Wiseman Books
The Power Of Her Pen
Lesa Cline-Ransome / John Parra – Paula Wiseman Books
She Was The First
Katheryn Russell-Brown / Eric Velazquez – Lee & Low Books
Canadian Women Now + Then
Elizabeth Macleod / Mala Faddoul – Kids Can Press
The Teachers March!
S. Neil Wallace & Rich Wallace / Charly Palmer – Boyds Mills & Kane
Innovative Non-Fiction
I Ate Sunshine For Breakfast
Michael Holland / Philip Giordano – Flying Eye Books
Teatime Around The World
Denyse Waissbluth / Chelsea O’Byrne – Greystone Books
Professor Astro Cat’s Deep-Sea Voyage
Dominic Walliman / Ben Newman – Flying eye Books
FUture Classics
When We Were Alone (Dual Language Swampy Cree/English)
David A. Robinson / Julie Flett – Highwater Press
When Grandpa Gives You A Toolbox
Jamie L.B. Dennihan / Lorraine Rocha – Sterling Publishing
Bedtime For Sweet Creatures
Nikki Grimes / Elizabeth Zunon – Sourcebooks Kids
Best Illustration
Best Read Aloud
Izzy Gizmo And The Invention Convention
Pip Jones / Sara Ogilvie – Peachtree Publishing
Our Favourite Day Of The Year
A. E. Ali / Rahele Jomepour Bell – Salaam Reads
Fussy Flamingo
Shelley Vaughan James / Mathew Rivera – Sourcebooks Jaberwocky
Feature Category – Best Food Books
I Really Want The Cake
Simon Philip / Lucia Gaggiotti – Orchard Books (Scholastic)
Tokyo
Cheryl Yau Chepusova / Isabel Foo – Big Ctities Little Foodies
Featured Category – Best Animal Books
Kits, Cubs, And Calves
Suzie Napayak-Short / Tamara Campeau – Inhabit Media
….PHEW!
As you can see, some pretty incredible book came out on top. This year we had 43 publishers participate and submit books to our panel of 13 Judges. Each year, we reach out to every publisher we can *think* of to invite them to participate – the process of planning this begins in the summer time with building website forms, query letters, and contact spreadsheets. Many publishers choose not to participate, which is why some of your favourites could be missing from this list. The publishers – big and small – who choose to participate start sending their submissions and the judging process begins after that! MORE spreadsheets are built, and each and every book is ranked out of 10 by the judges. We listen to our kids, our classes, and look at each book critically in our individual analysis. Because of the diverse range of our backgrounds there is some huge differences in opinions on some titles, which brings huge value to this approach. Only the best really make it to the top!
We do this because it’s a labour of love. I’ve invested hundreds of hours into this and I cannot wait to do the same again next year. We aren’t compensated, there is no entry fee, we don’t guarantee coverage to anyone. Our aim is to do the legwork of finding the very best of the best new release books to help you choose the perfect gift, or perfect addition to your bookshelf and give a spotlight to these amazing works of art. Picture books are an incredible medium for storytelling and deserve the spotlight!
2020 has been incredibly hard for all of us – certainly difficult for me especially on a mental health level. Inclusive Story Time has been my driving force keeping me going and the over 60,000 wonderful new humans that joined this community this year are something I am forever grateful for. I am *thrilled* to finally be sharing this labour of love with all of you.
Every Share, Like, Comment, and Save is SO meaningful to me. Every click and swipe up means even more. Thank you. I hope you enjoy these wonderful books and heres to Raising Readers Who Raise Up Others.
-Kelly
Inclusive Story Time 