Preschool and kindergarten

ERIC CARLE – Large creepy crawlers cut from paper of vivid colors always create a happy surprise.

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• The Grouchy Ladybug

DONALD CREWS – Realistic objects familiar to young children appear in bold graphic images artfully designed.

• Freight Train
• Truck

LOIS EHLERT – Stunning shapes and strong colors capture exciting views in a child's mind.

• Color Zoo
• Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On

ERIC HILL – Lift the flaps to play hide and seek games with Spot the dog who disappears under rugs or behind closet doors.

• Where's Spot
• Spot Goes to the Farm

TANA HOBAN – A photographer captures fresh visions of the world through the lens of her camera.

• Exactly The Opposite
• Who Are They?

BILL MARTIN JR – Simple sentences and natural rhythmic language patterns (melodies) ring out in the stories that help beginning readers learn how to read.

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (with John Archambault)

HELEN OXENBURY – Scraggly children bounce playfully and then clamber onto the comfortable laps of well-padded adults.

• All Fall Down
• Say Goodnight

ROSEMARY WELLS – Max, an impish rabbit child, has a mind of his own when big sister Ruby tries to boss him around.

• Bunny Cakes
• Max's Dragon Shirt

Grades 1-3

STAN AND JAN BERENSTAIN – A prolific team captures the rhythms of children's language in engaging stories.

• The Berenstain Bears & The Golden Rule
• The Berenstain Bears' Family Reunion

JAN BRETT – A meticulous artist weaves subplots and intricate details into creative borders to extend the meaning carried in the central pictures.

• The Hat
• Annie and the Wild Animals

MARC BROWN – Marc Brown presents a warm, witty and sometimes poignant look at facing a bully, losing a tooth, or accepting a new baby sister.

• Arthur in a Pickle
• Visiting the Art Museum

MARCIA BROWN – Marcia Brown adapts the art style (woodcuts, intricate cut paper, flamboyant cartoon, delicate watercolor) to enrich the special meaning of each story.

• Once A Mouse
• Three Billy Goats Gruff

ANTHONY BROWNE – His startling images and subtle messages in art and story make us see the world in a new way.

• The Piggybook
• Little Beauty

JOANNA COLE – Superb informational books present straight facts in photo essays or combine facts with riotous humor in the Magic School Bus books.

• Magic School Bus Lost in The Solar System
• Hungry, Hungry Sharks

BARBARA COONEY – Gentle stories and beautiful art touch the heart and leave deep thoughts to ponder. New England scenes are especially provocative.

• Miss Rumphius
• Island Boy

TOMIE DEPAOLA – Tomie tells wonderful Irish and Italian family stories using strong black line and folk-art style.

• The Art Lesson
• Strega Nona

LEO AND DIANE DILLON – Both artists work on the same piece of art often characterized by an opulent, iridescent quality.

• Aida (Leontyne Price)
• Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears (V. Aardema)

ELOISE GREENFIELD – Poet and storyteller captures the language and melodies and strong African-American family images in her poetry and prose.

• Honey, I Love
• Nathaniel Talking

TRINA SCHART HYMAN – Meticulous art and extensive research enable Hyman to portray Arthurian England authentically or childhood memories vividly.

• Little Red Riding Hood
• Saint George and The Dragon (M. Hodges)

WILLIAM JOYCE – Broad humor in comically expressive animals and playful language make Joyce's books fun to read aloud or alone.

• Bentley and Egg
• Dinosaur Bob

STEVEN KELLOGG – A heap of comic-strip detail spills from Kellogg's splashy, riotous, color-filled pages and causes children to pore over them.

• Pinkerton, Behave
• Paul Bunyan

LEO LIONNI – Deeper meanings permeate Lionni's stories more than the elegant, sophisticated collage and design art might suggest.

• Little Blue and Little Yellow
• Swimmy

ARNOLD LOBEL – Delicate and decorative art on attractively designed pages invites thoughtful probing.

• Frog and Toad Are Friends
• Fables

JAMES MARSHALL – Cartoon-like drawings of unique characters present unexpected humor and spoofs. A pair of hippos, a substitute teacher, and a lovable prankster guarantee laugh-out-loud joy.

• The Cut-Ups Crack Up
• George and Martha

ROBERT MCCLOSKEY – Superb, classic works that convey the importance of small but significant moments in a child's life.

• Blueberries For Sal
• Make Way for Ducklings

EMILY MCCULLY – She creates wordless books in cartoon style and elaborate stories with Impressionist-style art.

• Mirette On The High Wire
• School

JERRY PINKNEY – He paints from live models, often African-Americans, in a realistic style using full-color art and well-crafted scenes.

• The Talking Eggs (R. San Souci)
• Mirandy And Brother Wind (P. McKissack)

JAMES E. RANSOME – Talented young African-American artist portrays characters realistically in historical or contemporary scenes.

• Uncle Jed's Barbershop (M.K. Mitchell)
• How Many Stars In The Sky? (L. Hort)

MAURICE SENDAK – A superb artist whose books invite rereading and whose illustrations beg for repeated viewing.

• Where The Wild Things Are
• In the Night Kitchen

DR. SEUSS (THEODORE S. GEISEL) – Creative genius whose spontaneous art and lilting lines sing children into reading on their own.

• The Cat In The Hat
• Horton Hears A Who

CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG – Van Allsburg gets you to think. He presents something that seems predictable but catches you by surprise when he turns it on end.

• Jumanji
• The Polar Express

VERA B. WILLIAMS – She conveys the simple strength of multicultural families who share love and unity.

• A Chair For My Mother
• "More, More, More," Said The Baby

JANE YOLEN – Enchanting storyteller and poet holds a moment in time to capture past, present, or future in word songs.

• Owl Moon
• How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?

ED YOUNG – Sophisticated simplicity describes the art he uses to retell Asian-American folklore.

• Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story From China
• Seven Blind Mice

CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW – Gentle stories play on the heartstrings and cause children to think about their world and relationships in a new way.

• William's Doll
• Big Sister and Little Sister

Grades 3-6

ARNOLD ADOFF – Poet and anthologist who celebrates the multicultural nature of our world.

• Touch the Poem
• Black is Brown is Tan

MITSUMASA ANNO – Japanese illustrator of international renown who plays with mathematics in exquisite paintings.

• Anno's Counting Book
• Anno's Journey

NATALIE BABBITT – A superb fantasy writer who grapples with universal concerns in poetic prose.

• Tuck Everlasting
• The Eyes of the Amaryllis

JUDY BLUME – Popular writer for pre-teens who captures in realistic language concerns about growing up.

• Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
• Fudge-A-Mania

ASHLEY BRYAN – Artist, poet, and storyteller who lets the melodies of spirituals ring through his retellings of folk stories.

• Beautiful Blackbird
• Let It Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals

BETSY BYARS – Her novels capture both the humor and pathos of children facing problems as they grow up.

• Trouble River
• The Cybil War

BEVERLY CLEARY – Children's natural language and basic concerns ring true and with humor in her early chapter books.

• Henry Huggins
• Ramona Quimby, Age 8

PAM CONRAD – Engaging writer who captures strong images and vivid themes in historical and contemporary scenes.

• Pedro's Journal
• My Daniel

RUSSELL FREEDMAN – Impeccable research and intriguing writing draws interest to topics he treats in biographies and informational books.

• The Wright Brothers
• Lincoln: A Photobiography

JEAN FRITZ – This superb writer of historical fiction and biography became fascinated with American heroes when she was a child growing up in China with missionary parents.

• And Then What Happened Paul Revere?
• Homesick: My Own Journey

JEAN CRAIGHEAD GEORGE – The author grew up in a family of naturalists and her ecological concerns permeate both the novels and informational books she writes.

• Julie Of The Wolves
• My Side Of The Mountain

LEE BENNETT HOPKINS – Poet and anthologist whose generous spirit and enthusiasm for poetry inspires children and adults.

• Weather: Poems for All Seasons
• City I Love

JOHANNA HURWITZ – Well-meaning but naive characters make simple mistakes and display child-like humor in short novels children read on their own.

• Class Clown
• The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein

MYRA COHN LIVINGSTON – A first-rate poet and anthologist who established high standards of excellence in word and image.

• Calendar
• Lots of Limericks

LOIS LOWRY – Subtle humor or tender pathos permeate Lowry's stories of adolescents who grow up in suburbia or a war-torn city.

• Number The Stars
• Anastasia Krupnik

DAVID MACAULAY – A spirited artist helps us to see stories, time, and the way things work in new ways.

• The Way Things Work
• Black And White

PATRICIA MCKISSACK – Wonderful African-American storyteller who spins a yarn with drama and pizzazz. She also writes excellent informational books with husband Fredrick McKissack.

• Flossie And The Fox
• Sojourner Truth: Ain't I A Woman

PATRICIA MAC LACHLAN – Captures strong human emotions as she weaves historical or contemporary stories.

• Sarah, Plain And Tall
• Skylark

ANN MARTIN – Popular series writer who conveys the real feelings and tribulations of 10-12 year-old girls.

• The Baby-Sitters Club: Mary Anne Saves The Day
• The Doll People

JACK PRELUTSKY – Popular and prolific versifier and anthologist who writes and compiles humorous collections.

• The Dragons Are Singing Tonight
• Something Big Has Been Here

CYNTHIA RYLANT – Everything she writes sounds like poetry because the melody of her sentences ring in the ear.

• When I Was Young In The Mountains
• Missing May

SEYMOUR SIMON – An excellent informational science writer states what we know, what is theory, and how information changes.

• Animals Nobody Loves
• Hurricanes

LANE SMITH/JON SCIESZKA – Children get a kick out of the way this team spoofs fairy tales and the art of book-making.

• The True Story of The Three Little Pigs!
• The Stinky Cheese Man & Other Fairly Stupid Tales

WILLIAM STEIG – His sophisticated stories have several layers of meaning that delight adults who read to children.

• Doctor DeSoto
• Abel's Island

Grades 6-8

LLOYD ALEXANDER – A skilled fantasy writer who touches our deepest sense of characters and moral order.

• Time Cat
• The Black Cauldron

AVI – His characters face issues of personal integrity as they grow up in historical or contemporary settings.

• Nothing But The Truth
• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

SUSAN COOPER – Fantasy writer whose characters face the eternal struggle between darkness and light, between good and evil.

• The Dark Is Rising
• The Grey King

ROBERT CORMIER – Teenage characters face realities and choices – not always happy or hopeful ones.

• The Chocolate War
• I Am The Cheese

PAULA FOX – She captures strong emotions and vivid images in superb understated and taut writing.

• The Slave Dancer
• One-Eyed Cat

VIRGINIA HAMILTON – Graphic writer who weaves superb plots and vivid characters into realistic, fanciful, folkloric, and historical settings.

• M.C. Higgins, The Great
• Her Stories

MADELEINE L'ENGLE – She probes the theme that everything in our universe is connected and that all things, even the tiniest microbes, matter.

• A Wrinkle In Time
• Ring Of Endless Light

WALTER DEAN MYERS – He portrays an authentic view of African-Americans in gripping novels and sound informational books.

• Fallen Angels
• Jazz

KATHERINE PATERSON – A perceptive writer whose characters and dramatic themes live on in our memories.

• Bridge to Terabithia
• Lyddie

RICHARD PECK – Time spent in schools talking with teenagers helps capture the tone, language, and concerns reflected in the gripping, authentic dialogue that permeates Peck's work.

• Father Figure
• Are You In The House Alone?

GARY SOTO – He draws upon his Mexican-American heritage to create vignettes in poetry and prose.

• A Fire In My Hands
• Living Up The Street

MILDRED TAYLOR – One of the first African-American authors to win major awards writes about the experience of rural Mississippi in the 1930s.

• The Land
• Let The Circle Be Unbroken

CYNTHIA VOIGT – An impressive novelist who addresses thoughtful topics through realistic, fantasy, and historical stories.

• Homecoming
• Dicey's Song

LAURENCE YEP – He probes his heritage for universal themes of growing up in an Asian-American family.

• Dragonwings
• The Tiger's Apprentice

Note: When different from the illustrator, the author's name appears in parentheses following the book title.