Best of 2020 on Bookworm for Kids

 

It's time for the 2020 list of the most amazing books (in my opinion), which appeared here on Bookworm for Kids this year. But first... a few statistics.

Don't moan. It's not that bad. You might even find it quite interesting!

BOOKS REVIEWED

Picture Books:  116 

Middle Grade: 86 

Young Adult: 89

10 more fell into Mommy and Daddy's Day reviews

That's makes a total of....oh.....hmmmm....      301!!! 

I had 272 last year, so that means an up-kick of about 10%. Phew!

GENRES!

Every year, this tends to be overwhelmed with Fantasy. So, I'm always curious in which direction it heads and by how much. These numbers combine Middle Grade and Young Adult. I've also tightened down the categories, removing humor (I didn't have any this year really), dystopian and thriller to combine with the other categories.

Fantasy: 65  (yep, it's up from last year's 53...hitting my young adult category especially hard, this year)

Science Fiction: 28  (I tripled this one—only 11 in 2019)

Contemporary: 26  (this was also higher than last year...mostly in the middle grade category)

Historical: 11 (remained the same)

Mystery: 17 (tripled on this end)

Romance: 3 (same)

Non-Fiction: 19 (doubled this one, too)

But enough for numbers! What were my favorite reads?

BEST PICTURE BOOKS 2020!

(Click on the book images to be taken to the original posts)

I reviewed this one in May and found the way 'friendship' is described so priceless! Ask your kid the name of their new best friend (when they meet one at the playground, pool or where ever) and pay attention to their answer.

Love these monsters!!!!!!! (should I add more exclamation points?) !!!!!!!!

Toe-tapping, backside-wiggling, arm-swinging and pure fun!

So beautiful...and educational too!

I admit, I like this one more than my kids do...which means I probably shouldn't choose it. But it reminded me so much of my own childhood...and it's so beautiful done in every way...that I had to choose it, too!

A lovely fairy tale with tons of heart and meaning. 

My kids adored this one. My son even claimed it's one of his favorite picture books ever. So, how could I not include this one?

BEST MIDDLE GRADE 2020

(Click on the images to go to the original post.)

There were tons of middle grade novels this year, which were politically and/or socially directed. While I find such books horribly important, I was also a little disappointed at the lack of pure fun and simple imagination. I felt quality was sacrificed in the drive to make books 'socially acceptable'. That definitely had an impact on which books I saw as my favorites, too.

I'm not a huge fan of animal fiction...usually. But this one...with all of it's heart...won me over.

Dark, magical and packed with true, sisterly love...in a weird way.

Another animal read! I honestly am not usually a fan of these, but this year was full of surprises. These pets were so fun and packed tons of personality, making it to one of my favorite for the year.

Zombie ants made this one!!! Okay, not really. But it is mysterious with a touch of science fiction and simply a gripping read.

I didn't give this one 5 -stars, only 4. So, I hesitated to include this one on my favorite list. And yet, it is one of my favorite reads this year. It may not be perfect, but it's sweet, magical and isn't a read I'll forget easily.

BEST YOUNG ADULT READS

It was so hard to choose, which titles to put on here this year. Strangely enough, around 50% of the books I covered on Bookworm for Kids were fantasy. While I can't be sure, I did have the impression that it was a huge year for YA fantasy/scifi. While there are number of books I enjoyed reading, I'm having trouble pulling out more than two or so, which really stuck with me. Many were entertaining, but to say they were 'best' is really a hard call. But these are definitely at the top of the list.

This was sweet, funny and had me smiling more than just a couple of times.

With such a rich world and intriguing plot...and a hint of darkness... this one was definitely on my favorite list this year.

I'm not a soul-switching fan, in most cases, but this one does such an amazing job of placing it in a rich, historical world. I couldn't help but love it.

I just read this series this last week, and especially this first book had me captured in the pages.

Tomorrow, it's time to take a peek at what January will hold, and you won't want to miss out because this year is really starting out with some terrific reads.