2022 Picture and Junior Book Nominees

We are very pleased to announce the nominees for the 2022 North Carolina Children's Book Awards.  Activities, read-alongs and book trailers will be ready soon!

Annotated Picture Book list
Annotated Junior Book list

Picture Books

Junior Books
  • Bad Dog
    Boldt, Mike.  New York : Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2019.


  • Carl and the Meaning of Life
    Freedman, Deborah. New York : Viking Books for Young Readers, 2019.


  • Don’t Feed the Coos
    Stutzman, Jonathan. Illustrated by Heather Fox. New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2020.


  • Eye by Eye: Comparing How Animals See
    Levine, Sara. Illustrated by T.S. Spookytooth. Minneapolis : Millbrook Press, 2020.


  • Eyes That Kiss in the Corners.
    Ho, Joanna. Illustrated by Dung Ho.  New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2021.


  • Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots.
    Rex, Michael.   New York : Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2020.


  • Federico and the Wolf
    Gomez, Rebecca J.. Illustrated by Elisa Chavarri.  Boston ; New York : Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020.


  • Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You
    Sotomayor, Sonia. Illustrated by Rafael López. New York : Philomel Books, 2019.


  • The Little Red Fort
    Maier, Brenda. Illustrated by Sonia Sánchez. New York : Scholastic Press, 2018.


  • On Account of the Gum
    Rex, Adam. San Francisco, California : Chronicle Books, 2020.


  • Snail Crossing
    Tabor, Corey R.. New York, NY : Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2020.


  • Swashby and the Sea
    Ferry, Beth. Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal.   New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020.
  • The Friendship War
    Clements, Andrew.  New York : Random House, 2019.


  • Halfway to Harmony
    O'Connor, Barbara.  New York : Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2021.


  • Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
    Reynolds, Jason. Illus. Alexander Nabaum. New York : A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book/Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2019.


  • Mañanaland
    Ryan, Pam Muñoz. New York : Scholastic Press, 2020.


  • New Kid
    Craft, Jerry.   New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2019.


  • Not If I Can Help It
    Mackler, Carolyn.   New York : Scholastic Press, 2019.


  • Swish: The Slam-dunking, Alley-ooping, High-flying Harlem Globetrotters
    Slade, Suzanne. Illustrated by Don Tate.   New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2020.


  • Twenty-one Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
    Gottesfeld, Jeff. Illustrated by Matt Tavares.   Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2021.


  • When Stars Are Scattered
    Jamieson, Victoria and Omar Mohamed.  New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, 2020.


  • Where the Watermelons Grow
    Baldwin, Cindy.  New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2018.