Fiction Picture Books That Knocked My Socks Off

I’ve been a Cybils Award judge for the last ten years. I can’t remember a year when so many wonderful fiction picture books hit the shelves as they did last year. As a panel, we had to agree on our favorite seven (take a look at my blog post here), but there were many others I loved that didn't quite make the cut. Of course, you could always buy these (and thus help lift their authors a nudge up from the poverty-level existences many of them have) but these are widely available at your public library, too.

A Well-Mannered Young Wolf

Before a young wolf can eat his prey, he must honor the prey's last wishes. The prey are not quite as well-mannered.  

The Bear Who Wasn’t There and the Fabulous Forest

 One day The Bear Who Wasn’t There forgets something quite important---himself---and sets off on a journey to find himself. 

A Most Mysterious Mouse 

A cat spends all his days imagining mice, yet there is one he cannot imagine.

We Found a Hat 

Jon Klassen is back with his final story in his hat trilogy, this one taking on relationships.

Cry, Heart, But Never Break 

This cover will tell you all you need to know.

The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles

A lonely man perpetually uncorks ocean bottles.

The Day I Became a Bird

A boy falls in love. But she is only cares about birds. How can he interest her?

My Baby Crocodile 

A crocodile happens upon a helmeted knight and mistakes him for an abandoned baby croc.

The Quickest Kid in Clarksville 

 Alma’s the quickest kid in Clarksville, just like her hero, Wilma Rudolph, once was. It doesn’t matter that Alma has holes in her shoes; so did Wilma. But what will happen when the new girl with shiny new shoes takes Alma on?

The Water Princess 

 A young girl dreams of finding a way to get clean water to her village.