Are you stumped looking for last-minute gifts for the kids and teens in your life? How about the gift of shape shifting or time traveling?
It's all possible between the covers of a good book, and these selections represent the best that 2015 had to offer in the way of children's literature.
Johnson County Librarians Dennis Ross and Kate McNair and retired librarian Debbie McLeod offer some recommendations to keep kids and teens reading well into 2016.
For preschool through 2nd grade:
- Thank You and Good Night by Patrick McDonnell, preschool-grade 1.
- Little Tree by Loren Long, preschool- grade 1.
- Toys Meet Snow by Emily Jenkins, preschool- grade 2.
- Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon by Kate DiCamillo, K- grade 2.
- The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt, K- grade 2.
- Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, K- grade 2.
- Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Maltick, K- grade 3.
- Earmuffs for Everyone: How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs by Meghan McCarthy, K- grade 3.
For 3rd through 6th grade:
- Harriet the Invincible: Hamster Princess #1 by Ursula Vernon, grades 3-5.
- This Bridge Will Not Be Gray by Dave Eggers, grade 3 and up.
- George by Alex Gino, grades 4-6.
- Dear Hank Williams by Kimberly Willis Holt, Grades 4-7.
- This Side of Wild: Mutts, Mares, and Laughing Dinosaurs by Gary Paulsen, grades 5-8.
For Middle and High-Schoolers:
- Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead, middle school.
- Con Academy by Joe Schreiber, middle school.
- Walk on Earth A Stranger by Rae Carson, middle and high school.
- Nimona by Noelle Stevenson, middle and high school.
- The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes, high school.
- Everything, Everything Nicola Yoon, high school.
- The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough, high school.
- All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, high school.
- The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow, high school.
