Welcome to the Bank Street Children's Book Committee's (CBC) Searchable Best Books List, a tool designed to help educators, families, librarians, and others access developmentally appropriate and engaging books for young readers (ages birth - 18).

Our online Searchable Best Books List draws from the committee's annual Best Children's Books of the Year-beginning with the list of books published in 2000-with each featuring more than 600 high-quality titles for young readers.

To share feedback about the tool, please feel free to email bookcom@bankstreet.edu. To learn more about the CBC, visit https://www.bankstreet.edu/cbc/.

How to Perform a Search and Save a List

Equal (Bakers Mountain Stories series)
Joyce Moyer Hostetter
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
In 1959 North Carolina, Jackie, 13 and White, meets Thomas, 13 and Black. Can the two boys overcome society's prejudices and become friends. Historical back matter and photographs.

Escape: One Day We Had to Run
Ming Chen & Wah Chen
Illustrator: Carmen Vela
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Twelve true accounts of people forced to leave their homes highlight their courage in overcoming incredible hardships. Colorful digital illustrations.

Finding Junie Kim
Ellen Oh
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
After interviewing her grandparents about the Korean War, Junie decides if she should speak up against a racist act at school.

Fred & Marjorie: A Doctor, A Dog, and the Discovery of Insulin
Deborah Kerbel
Illustrator: Angela Poon
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
In the 1920s, a young surgeon thought of a way to potentially save children suffering from a deadly disease. Delicate artwork in a subdued palette. Includes discussion of ethical considerations for using animals in scientific research.

Frog Mother, The (Mothers of Xsan series)
Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)
Illustrator: Natasha Donovan
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Life cycle of a Columbia spotted frog of Northwest Canada, described by a member of the Gitxsan clan. Bright illustrations. Back matter.

From Here to There: Inventions That Changed The Way The World Moves
Vivian Kirkfield
Illustrator: Gilbert Ford
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Vision and persistence lead to such mobility-related inventions as the bicycle, steam engine, and the industrial robot. Watercolor/digital illustrations. Timeline, Source Notes, Bibiography.

Genius Under the Table, The: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
Eugene Yelchin
Illustrator: Eugene Yelchin
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
A boy desperate to define his place within his eccentric family grows up in the former Soviet Union. Black-and-white illustrations.

Gilded Girl, The
Alyssa Colman
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
As servants, two girls in a re-imagined 1906 New York City struggle to wield magic reserved only for the wealthy.

Great Stink, The: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London's Poop Pollution Problem
Colleen Paeff
Illustrator: Nancy Carpenter
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
A lively account of the engineer who created London's sewer system in the nineteenth century. Humorous watercolor and ink illustrations. Contemporary solutions for waste pollution. Back matter.

Guitars (Hand by Hand series)
Patricia Lakin
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Follow the history of guitars, then go behind the scenes to see how acoustic and electric guitars are crafted by luthier Meredith Coloma. Colorful photographs and clear diagrams.

Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast: And Other Tasty Poems
Jack Prelutsky
Illustrator: Ruth Chan
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
A collection of funny verses in varied forms from, haiku to concrete. poems Perfect for reading aloud. Cartoonlike illustrations in black, gray, and white.

Healer Of The Water Monster
Brian Young
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Debut Native author, Brian Young weaves Navajo customs, magic, and language into an action-packed adventure of a young boy's struggle to help end a drought. Glossary. Author's note.

Hear My Voice: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States/Escucha Mi Voz: Los testimonios de los jóvenes detenidos en la frontera sureña de los Estados Unidos
Compiled by Warren Binford for Project Amplify/Recopilado por Warren Binford para la campaña Project Amplify
Illustrator: Various Illustrators
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Sixty-one children, 5 - 17, from five countries, testify on their experiences being held in detention facilities at the US southern border. Heart-wrenching illustrations by 17 Latinx illustrators. Bilingual.

Hill We Climb, The: An Inaugural Poem for the Country
Amanda Gorman
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
A young poet hopes to inspire people to take action and help the United States reconcile with its past and present for the sake of its future.

Hope Springs
Jaime Berry
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Eleven-year-old crafter Jubilee discovers the true meaning of community, friendship, and family when she and her paternal grandmother move to the home of her TV idol.

How and Wow of the Human Body, The: From Your Tongue to Your Toes and All the Guts in Between (Wow in the World series)
Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz
Illustrator: Jack Teagle
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Digital cartoon layout and illustrations enhance this humorous and nonjudgmental expose of the human body, addressing many embarrassing and gross topics. Extensive back matter.

How War Changed Rondo
Romana Romanyshyn & Andriy Lesiv
Illustrator: the authors
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
War nearly destroys a happy, vibrant, village. But residents, injured but unbowed, turn back the aggressors and start to reclaim their hometown. Vivid collage and mixed-media illustrations.

If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving (If You Lived series)
Chris Newell
Illustrator: Winona Nelson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Misrepresentations surrounding the lives of the Plymouth pilgrims and the Wampanoag people are peeled away to reveal inaccuracies and misrepresentations. Black and White illustrations & photographs. Back matter.

Invented by Animals: Meet the Creatures Who Inspired Our Everyday Technology
Christiane Dorion
Illustrator: Gosia Herba
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Thirty two animals share their unique characteristics which have inspired human inventions including robots, surgical needles and weatherproofing. Format and colorful digital illustrations enliven texts.

It's Outta Here!: The Might and Majesty of the Home Run
Matt Doeden
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
In baseball, what's more exciting than a home run? A fascinating history of the long ball with stories, photographs, statistics, and physics. Includes glossary, sources, index, and further reading.

It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender, and Sexual Health
Robie H. Harris
Illustrator: Michael Emberley
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
An update of the social perspectives and scientific information regarding human maturation and reproductive health in respectful words and engaging cartoons.

It Takes Guts: How Your Body Turns Food Into Fuel (and Poop)
Dr. Jennifer Gardy
Illustrator: Belle Wuthrich
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
With humor and bright, colorful illustrations, this is everything you wanted to know about how the human body processes food in the digestive system. Glossary.

Joe Biden: Our 46th President
Beatrice Gormley
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
The important events in the life of the current President from early childhood to his role as Commander-in-Chief. Bibliography, source notes.

Last Cuentista, The
Donna Barba Higuera
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
After boarding a ship with scientific families, Petra wakes in the future finding she is the only person left wishing to remember the earth's stories.

Last Super Chef, The
Chris Negron
Ages: 9+
Published: 2021
Fifth grader Curtis Pith enters a televised cooking challenge to win the cash prize so he can help out his struggling mother and sister.