Books Read 2015

I like to challenge myself to read at least 100 children's books each year, since I am convinced it helps to improve my own writing. In 2015, my 100 books was to read mostly fiction picture books and middle grade fiction, with a sprinkling of young adult fiction. Here's my list:

Picture Books (ages 4 - 8):

1. The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life by Lois Ehlert
2. Here Comes the Easter Cat by Deborah Underwood and Claudia Rueda
3. My Blue is Happy by Jessica Young and Catia Chien
4. The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson and Dusan Petricic
5. Any Questions? by Marie-Louise Gay
6. The Adventures of Beekle by Dan Santat
7. When Edgar Met Cecil by Kevin Luthardt
8. Vampirina Ballerina by Anne Marie Pace and LeUyen Pham
9. Maple and Willow Together by Lori Nichols
10. Blackout! by John Rocco
11. The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus and Mike Lowry
12. The Highest Number in the World by Roy MacGregor and Genevieve Despres
13. Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner and Christopher Silas Neil
14. The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
15. The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach
16. By Mouse and Frog by Deborah Freedman
17. Sheep Go to Sleep by Nancy Shaw
18. Kenta and the Big Wave by Ruth Ohi
19. How to Read a Story by Kate Messner and Mark Siegel
20. Hermelin, The Detective Mouse by Mini Grey
21. Power Down, Little Robot by Anna Staniszewski and Tim Zeltner
22. Not This Bear by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Lorna Hussey
23. Ninja Bunny by Jennifer Grey Olson
24. The Night World by Mordecai Gerstein

25. I Don't Want to Be a Frog by Dev Petty and Mike Boldt
26. Nancy Knows by Cybele Young
27. Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
28. Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey
29. I'm Here by Peter H. Reynolds
30. How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth by Michelle Robinson and Kate Hindley
31. The Great Big Green by Peggy Gifford and Lisa Desimini
32. A Home for Bird by Phillip C. Stead
33. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld
34. Monkey Not Ready for Kindergarten by Marc Brown
35. Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball by Vicki Churchill and Charles Fuge
36. InvisiBill by Maureen Fergus and Dusan Petricic
37. Where Are My Books? by Debbie Ridpath Ohi
38. Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown
39. Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson
40. The Slightly Annoying Elephant by David Walliams and Tony Ross
41. This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers


Middle Grade (ages 9-12):

1. Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
2. The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye
3. Pack of Dorks by Beth Vrabel
4. All Four Stars by Tara Dairman
5. Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
6. El Deafo by Cece Bell
7. Crossover by Kwame Alexander
8. The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
9. Striker by David Skuy
10. How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied by Jess Keating
11. September 17 by Amanda West Lewis
12. Watch Out, Hollywood! More Confessions of a So-Called Middle Child by Maria T. Lennon
13. Fire: Chicago, 1871 (Survivors) by Kathleen Duey and Karen A. Bale
14. Red Wolf by Jennifer Dance
15. Me & Mr. Bell by Philip Roy
16. Saving Houdini by Michael Redhill
17. Wonder at the Edge of the World by Nicole Helget
18. Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
19. Half a World Away by Cynthia Kadohata
20. Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
21. The Zoo at the Edge of the World by Eric Kahn Gale
22. We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen
23. A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord
24. Hero by Sarah Lean
25. The Arctic Code by Matthew J. Kirby
26. How to Outswim a Shark with a Snorkel by Jess Keating
27. Goodbye Marianne by Irene Watts
28. Remember Me by Irene Watts
29. The Mark of the Thief by Jennifer Neilsen
30. The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
31. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
32. My Secret Guide to Paris by Lisa Shroeder
33. Agatha, Girl of Mystery: The Kenyan Expedition by Steve Stevenson and Stefano Turconi
34. George by Alex Gino
35. From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess by Meg Cabot
36. Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
37. Eye Sore by Melanie Jackson 
38. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
39. The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin 
30. Connect the Stars by Marisa de los Santos and David Teague 
31. Big Game by Stuart Gibbs 
32. Nature Girl by Jane Kelley 
33. The Incredible Space Raiders from Space by Wesley King 


Young Adult (ages 12 and up):

1. Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken
2. After the End by Amy Plum
3. Since You've Been Gone by Mary Jennifer Payne
4. Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt
5. The Sweetest Song You Can Sing by C.K. Kelly Martin
6. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
7. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
8. Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You by Dorian Cirrone
9. Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Keanneally
10. Pointe by Brandy Colbert
11. Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver
12. Tag Along by Tom Ryan
13. Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis
14. Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
15. The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw
16. The Heir by Kiera Cass
17. Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick
18. Atlantia by Ally Condie
19. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
20. The Fill-in Boyfriend by Kasie West
21. Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
22. Between the Notes by Sharon Huss Roat
23. Behind the Scenes by Dahlia Adler
24. Paperweight by Meg Haston
25. Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider
26. Best Friends Through Eternity by Sylvia McNicoll
27. Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan
28. Like It Never Happened by Emily Adrian
29. The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes



Here are my book lists from earlier challenges: 20142013 201220112010. I look back on them sometimes to see what I've read.