2020 CLEL Bell Shortlist

The 2020 CLEL Bell Shortlist was announced on December 9th and you definitely need to check out this great list of 25 picture book titles. The CLEL Bell Picture Book Awards “are an annual recognition of five high-quality picture books that provide excellent support of early literacy development in young children.” And mark your calendar for early next year when the they announce the winners in each category.

READ

• Just Read by Lori Degman, illustrated by Victoria Tentler-Krylov (Sterling Children’s Books)
• Bookstore Babies by Puck, illustrated by Violet Lemay (duopress)
• This Book of Mine by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
• I Do Not Like Books Anymore! by Daisy Hirst (Candlewick Press)
• The Book Hog! by Greg Pizzoli (Disney Hyperion)

TALK

• Daniel’s Good Day by Micha Archer (Nancy Paulsen Books)
• Is 2 a Lot: An Adventure with Numbers by Annie Watson, illustrated by Rebecca Evans (Tilbury House Publishers)
• Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Méndez, illustrated by Jaime Kim (Harper Collins)
• Why? by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Neal Porter Books)
• Nope. Never. Not for Me! by Samantha Cotterill (Dial Books for Young Readers)

SING

• Hush, Little Bunny by David Ezra Stein (Balzer + Bray)
• Salsa Lullaby by Jen Arena, illustrated by Erika Meza (Alfred A. Knopf)
• Nighttime Symphony by Timbaland, illustrated by Christopher Myers and Kaa Illustration (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
• Plinka Plinka Shake Shake by Emma Garcia (Sterling Children’s Books)
• Red House, Tree House, Little Bitty Brown Mouse by Jane Godwin, illustrated by Blanca Gómez (Dial Books)

WRITE

• Perfect by Max Amato (Scholastic Press)
• The Thank You Letter by Jane Cabrera (Holiday House)
• This Is a Sea Cow by Cassandra Federman (Albert Whitman & Company)
• Fly Flies by Ziggy Hanaor, illustrated by Alie Bowsher (Cicada Books)
• A Quieter Story by Liza Woodruff (Margaret Ferguson Books)

PLAY

• My Mama Is A Mechanic by Doug Cenko (Blue Manatee Press)
• How To Two by David Soman (Dial Books for Young Readers)
• Who Has Wiggle-Waggle Toes? by Vicky Shiefman, illustrated by Francesca Chessa (Holiday House)
• High Five by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri (Dial Book For Young Readers)
• Side By Side: A Celebration of Dads by Chris Raschka (Phaidon Press)