The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of…picture books!?!

Yes, picture books! This genre has been SO strong this year- whether the form of debuts, or published works from established authors and illustrators, I have been continuously surprised and delighted by my reading in this epic field. The titles on this list are ones that have either excelled as read alouds for my storytimes, ones that I have personally adored, or ones that I have feel have contributed something superb to the genre. Or perhaps all of the three factors combined!

In no particular order, here are my picks:

They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel
Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis
The Liszts by Kyo Maclear, illus. Júlia Sardà
A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers & Sam Winston
Wolf Camp by Andrea Zuill

Ooko by Esme Shapiro
Grumpy Pants by Claire Messer
Tokyo Digs a Garden by Jon-Erik Lappano, illus. Kellen Hatanaka
Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie, illus. Yuyi Morales
The Night Gardener by Terry Fan & Eric Fan

A Family Is A Family Is A Family by Sara O’Leary, illus. Qin Leng
Before Morning by Joyce Sidman, illus. Beth Krommes
Henry & Leo by Pamela Zagarenski
We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen
Jill & Dragon by Lesley Barnes

The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles by Michelle Cuevas, illus. Erin. E. Stead
Bring Me a Rock! by Daniel Miyares
Dragonfly Kites by Tomson Highway, illus. Julie Flett
Barnacle is Bored by Jonathan Fenske
Before I Leave by Jessixa Bagley

The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear, illus. Chris Turnham
The Sound of Silence by Katrina Goldsaito, illus. Julia Kuo
Friend or Foe? by John Sobol, illus. Dasha Tolstikova
Nobody Likes a Goblin by Ben Hatke
The Storybook Knight by Helen Docherty, illus. Thomas Docherty

Note: Some titles appearing on this list may have been published in previous years; titles on this list are ones that I read in 2016. Some titles appearing on this list may also have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest reviews; this has no bearing on making this list. These are my personal selections.