Children’s Book Committee
The Children’s Book Committee (CBC) was founded more than 100 years ago to help parents, teachers, and librarians choose the books that children will find captivating and transforming. Every year it produces comprehensive annotated book lists for children aged infant through 18.
Our Mission
The CBC reviews over 6000 titles each year for accuracy and literary quality and considers their emotional impact on children. It chooses the best 600 books, both fiction and nonfiction, which it lists with annotations according to age and category.
The Children’s Book Committee strives to guide librarians, educators, parents, grandparents, and other interested adults to the best books for children published each year. The list includes more than 600 titles chosen by reviewers for literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes.
To contact us, please email bookcom@bankstreet.edu.
Children's Book Committee January Pick
Alex, 12, is assigned to Shady Glen Retirement home for community service following a juvenile offense. There, a 107-year-old Holocaust survivor helps them both to heal.
Our Young Reviewers Say:
“There are many things I liked about this book. One was the addition of antihero (Alex) as the co-protagonist, or an atypical hero who insults people and lashes out but eventually learns to be kind as the story goes on. Another was the compare-and-contrast between Alex and Josey. Both of them have had hard lives, but deal with it in different way (i.e. Josey not talking for a year, Alex not trusting people.) I find this book to be very special because of its intriguing plot and wonderfully diverse cast of characters.
The plot most of all interested me because even though the book itself isn’t a mystery, the author withholds information until the closing chapters, allowing the readers to hunt for clues about Alex’s mysterious crime. Speaking of Alex, he goes through a lot of character development in the book.”
–Hannah, age 12, Monroe, LA.
“Heartfelt and sweet and showed how people aren’t always who they appear to be and love can help you through hard times.”
–Sofia, 10, Arlington, MA