2027 Picture Book and Junior Book Nominees

We are very pleased to announce the nominees for the 2027 North Carolina Children's Book Awards.    In order to vote in March 2027, children should read at least 5 picture book nominees and/or 3 junior book nominees.

Annotated Picture Book list
Annotated Junior Book list

Picture Books

Junior Books

Cat Nap Brian Lies Don't Trust Fish Neil Sharpson Illustrated by Dan Santat The Escape Artist: A True Story of Octopus Adventure Thor Hanson Illustrated by Galia Bernstein I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive Leslie Barnard Booth Illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey I Hate Everything! Sophy Henn I'm Sorry You Got Mad Kyle Lukoff Illustrated by Julie Kwon POP! Goes the Nursery Rhyme Betsy Bird Illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi Sunflower Seeds Ellen Heck Thank You, Old Oak Britt Crow-Miller Illustrated by Amy Schimler-Safford This Land: The History of the Land We're On Ashley Fairbanks Illustrated by Bridget George Tricky Chopsticks Sylvia Chen Illustrated by Fanny Liem We Are the Wibbly!: A Tadpole's Tail Sarah Tagholm Illustrated by Jane McGuinness

Awesome Earth: Concrete Poems Celebrate Caves, Canyons, and other Fascinating Landforms Joan Bransfield Graham Illustrated by Tania García How to Say Goodbye in Cuban Daniel Miyares Hurricane Jason Chin Mabuhay! Zachary Sterling Popcorn Rob Harrell Revolutionary Mary: The True Story of One Woman, the Declaration of Independence, and America's Fight for Freedom Karen Blumenthal and Jen McCartney Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley Right Back at You Carolyn Mackler Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood Robert Beatty The Trouble with Heroes Kate Messner The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest Aubrey Hartman Very Bad at Math Hope Larson Will's Race for Home Jewell Parker Rhodes