I love picture books.
They are the perfect marriage of text and art.
Throw in a bit of heart, or humor, or invention, and it becomes something truly special.
I read 1032 picture books in 2018. Most of them were very good. But with so many picture books out there, it is hard to stand out. For me, a stand-out is usually the one I remember. The one I find myself thinking about long after it’s been read.
The following are those books. The titles that are bolded are my top 11 favorites. (All books are listed in the order I read them last year.) The second column is the author, the third is the illustrator.
| MY FRIENDS MAKE ME HAPPY | Thomas, Jan | Thomas, Jan |
| THE RABBIT LISTENED | Doerrfeld, Cori | Doerrfeld, Cori |
| THE BOO-BOO THAT CHANGED THE WORLD | Wittenstein, Barry | Hsu, Chris |
| THE WORD COLLECTOR | Reynolds, Peter | Reynolds, Peter |
| THE TIPTOEING TIGER | Leathers, Philippa | Leathers, Philippa |
| HONK! SPLAT! VROOM! | Gott, Barry | Gott, Barry |
| IT’S SPRINGTIME, MR. SQUIRREL! | Meschenmoser, Sebastian | Meschenmoser, Sebastian |
| THE BIG UMBRELLA | June, Amy | Bates, Juniper |
| THE LITTLE RED FORT | Maier, Brenda | Sanchez, Sonia |
| A FIRE TRUCK FOR CHUCK | Dunklee, Annika | Cathon |
| MARY HAD A LITTLE LAB | Fliess, Sue | Bouloubasis, Petros |
| DON’T BLINK | Rosenthal, Amy Krouse & Paris | Roberts, David |
| VINCENT COMES HOME | Bagley, Jessixa & Aaron | Bagley, Jessixa & Aaron |
| IF WENDELL HAD A WALRUS | Mortensen, Lori | Phelan, Matt |
| GROW | Platt, Cynthia | Holden, Olivia |
| LITTLE BROTHERS & LITTLE SISTERS | Arnaldo, Monica | Arnaldo, Monica |
| THE TRUTH ABOUT BEARS | Eaton, Maxwell III | Eaton, Maxwell III |
| MY PET WANTS A PET | Broach, Elise | Barclay, Eric |
| BITTY BOT’S BIG BEACH GETAWAY | McCanna, Tim | Carpenter, Tad |
| CAN I BE YOUR DOG? | Cummings, Troy | Cummings, Troy |
| JULIAN IS A MERMAID | Love, Jessica | Love, Jessica |
| SUMMER COLOR! | Murray, Diana | Persico, Zoe |
| SHEEP 101 | Morris, Richard T. | Pham, LeUyen |
| SQUARE | Barnett, Mac | Klassen, Jon |
| SOMETIMES YOU FLY | Applegate, Katherine | Reinhardt, Jennifer Black |
| BROWN BEAR CAN’T SLEEP | Cai, Yijun | Cai, Yijun |
| A HIPPY-HOPPY TOAD | Archer, Peggy | Wilsdorf, Anne |
| FLOATY | Himmelman, John | Himmelman, John |
| LITTLE ROBOT ALONE | MacLachlan, Patricia & MacLachlan Charest, Emily | Phelan, Matt |
| A HOME FOR LEO | Vogel, Vin | Vogel, Vin |
| TWO PROBLEMS FOR SOPHIA | Averbeck, Jim | Ismail, Yasmeen |
| OVER ON A DESERT SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD | Berkes, Marianne | Dubin, Jill |
| LET’S GO ABC | Greene, Rhonda Gowler | Kirk, Daniel |
| ATTACK OF THE 50-FOOT FLUFFY | Boldt, Mike | Boldt, Mike |
| TOO MUCH! NOT ENOUGH! | Perry, Gina | Perry, Gina |
| PRINCE GEORGE GOES TO SCHOOL | Hart, Caryl | Anderson, Laura Ellen |
| OFF & AWAY | Atkinson, Cale | Atkinson, Cale |
| PRETTY KITTY | Beaumont, Karen | Laberis, Stephanie |
| BLUE | Seeger, Laura Vaccaro | Seeger, Laura Vaccaro |
| LENA’S SHOES ARE NERVOUS | Calabrese, Keith | Medina, Juana |
| MABEL AND SAM AT HOME | Urban, Linda | Hooper, Hadley |
| LOST IN THE LIBRARY | Funk, Josh | Lewis, Stevie |
| INTERRUPTING CHICKEN AND THE ELEPHANT OF SURPRISE | Stein, David Ezra | Stein, David Ezra |
| CRASH, SPLASH, OR MOO! | Shea, Bob | Shea, Bob |
| GIRAFFE PROBLEMS | John, Jory | Smith, Lane |
| SNOW PONY AND THE SEVEN MINIATURE PONIES | Trimmer, Christian | Sima, jessie |
| NIGHT JOB | Hesse, Karen | Karas, G. Brian |
| THE VISITOR | Damm, Antje | Damm, Antje |
| MONSTER & MOUSE GO CAMPING | Underwood, Deborah | Chapman, Jared |
| ROCK WHAT YOU GOT | Berger, Samantha | Kerascoet |
| BABY’S FIRSTS | Day, Nancy Raines | Emberley, Michael |
| HOW DO YOU TAKE A BATH? | McMullan, Kate | Hanson, Sydney |
| FLY WITH ME | Yolen, Jane & Stemple, Heidi E. Y. & Stemple, Adam & Stemple, Jason | – |
| ALLIE ALL ALONG | Ruel, Sarah Lynne | Ruel, Sarah Lynne |
| BENJI, THE BAD DAY, AND ME | Pla,Sally J. | Min, Ken |
| THE WALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK | Agee, Jon | Agee, jon |
| PENGUIN & TINY SHRIMP DON’T DO BEDTIME! | Berry, Cate | Santoso, Charles |
| THE EYE THAT NEVER SLEEPS | Moss, Marissa | Holmes, Jeremy |
| THE REPTILE CLUB | Fergus, Maureen | Ellis, Elina |
| OCTOPANTS | Senior, Suzy | Powell, Claire |
| BEST FRIENDS IN THE UNIVERSE | Watson, Stephanie | Pham, LeUyen |
| BUSINESS PIG | Zuill, Andrea | Zuill, Andrea |
| MEET THE LATKES | Silberberg, Alan | Silberberg, Alen |
| THERE’S A DINOSAUR ON THE 13TH FLOOR | Bradford, Wade | Hawkes, Kevin |
| NIBLET & RALPH | OHora, Zachariah | OHora, Zachariah |
| IS THAT YOU, ELEANOR SUE? | Tusa, Tricia | Tusa, Tricia |
| PEACEFUL FIGHTS FOR EQUAL RIGHTS | Sanders, Rob | Schorr, Jared Andrew |
| LOVELY BEASTS | Gardner, Kate | Smith, Heidi |
| THE DAY YOU BEGIN | Woodson, Jacqueline | Lopez, Rafael |
| ME AND MY FEAR | Sanna, Francesca | Sanna, Francesca |
| WATER LAND | Hale, Christy | Hale, Christy |
| WE DON’T EAT OUR CLASSMATES | Higgins, Ryan T. | Higgins, Ryan T. |
| LOVE, Z | Sima, Jessie | Sima, Jessie |
| HAROLD LOVES HIS WOOLLY HAT | Kousky, Vern | Kousky, Vern |