And the Winners Are... Announcing the 2025 Notable Books in Language Arts

By Patrick Andrus on behalf of the 2025 NCLBA Committee

How does one take a collection of books ranging from nine hundred to one thousand submissions and narrow that number down to thirty titles? Let’s just say it’s no easy task, but one that seven educators took on during the publishing year of 2024.

For twenty-eight years, dedicated members of the Children’s Literature Assembly have served on the seven-member committee tasked with selecting thirty Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts (NCBLA).

The list of books is highlighted for readers in the Journal of Children’s Literature and Language Arts. The committee also presents the annual list for session attendees at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) conference and the Tucson Festival of Books.
All titles on the NCBLA list are works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry penned for children in grades K-8 and published in the previous calendar year. These selected children’s books must meet additional criteria, such as:

• Have an appealing format
  
• Be of enduring quality
• Meet generally accepted standards of quality for the genre in which they are written
• Meet one or more of the following criteria:
  • Deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language
  • Demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style
  • Invite child response or participation

With these criteria in mind, NCBLA committee members first read and evaluate books individually, then collaborate to vet each prospective title. The committee meets monthly throughout the year, sharing notable titles, discussing ways the books can be used in classrooms, and curating a list of the best of the best. This process is not an easy one, but it is rewarding, engaging, and fascinating to see which titles ultimately make the final list.

These titles are high-quality texts that promote language arts and offer a range of literacy-related instructional possibilities. Committee members hope that teachers, librarians, and parents find the list a useful tool when locating and using fiction, nonfiction, and poetry to share with young readers.

The thirty books were broken down into five categories/themes. Although many of the books could fit into multiple categories, the themes are designed to help teachers organize the titles, plan ways to use them, and share with as many readers as possible.
Now, to the exciting part. After countless hours of reading, thinking, sharing, and conferring, here is the 2025 Notable Children’s Books in Language Arts list of notable titles:

Nature and Our Environment
"Our Home and Place"

• And, Then Boom! by Lisa Fipps
• The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko
• Leafy Landmarks - Travel with Trees by Michelle Schaub
• Meatballs for Grandpa by Jeanette Fazzari
• A Map for Falasteen by Maysa Odeh
• Home in a Lunchbox by Cherry Mo
  

Adventure and Exploration
"Our Adventures and Explorations"

• Life After Whale by Lynn Brunelle
  
• Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
• Across So Many Seas by Ruth Bahar
• One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome
• Deer Run Home by Ann Clare LeZotte
• Sleepy: Surprising Ways Animals Snooze by Jennifer Ward
  

Friendship and Community
"Our Friendships and Community"

• Tree, Table, Book by Lois Lowry
  
• Not Nothing by Gayle Foreman
• My Daddy is a Cowboy by Stephanie Seales
• Haiku, Ew! by Lynn Brunelle
• Buffalo Fluffalo by Bess Kalb
• Fake Chinese Sounds by Jing Jing Tsong
  

Feelings and Identity
"Our Feelings and Identity"

• Popcorn by Rob Harrell
  
• Louder Than Hunger by John Schu
• Claudette Colvin - I Want Freedom Now by Claudette Colvin and Phillip Hoose
• One Day This Tree Will Fall by Leslie Barnard Booth
• Five Words That Are Mine by Melissa Seron Richardson
• I'm Sorry You Got Mad by Kyle Lukoff
  

STEM and Creativity
"Our Minds and Creativity"

• Whirligigs - The Wondrous Windmills of Vollis Simpson's Imagination by Carole Boston Weatherford
  
• The Mistakes That Made Us by Irene Latham and Charles Walter
  
• The Book That Almost Rhymed by Omar Abed
• Go Forth and Tell - The Life of Augusta Baker by Breanna J. McDaniel
• They Call Me Teach by Lesa Cline-Ransome
• Windsongs - Poems about Weather by Douglas Florian
  

This past year has been an absolute joy serving as chair. This work would not have been possible without the dedication, hard work, and countless hours of reading put in by our incredible committee members. It was an honor and privilege to lead them in the journey of discovering thirty titles we believe will enhance, enrich, and entertain many classrooms across the country.

2025 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Selection Committee Members

• Patrick Andrus, Eden Prairie School District, Minnesota (Chair)
• Laura Hudock, Framingham State University, Massachusetts (Chair Elect)
• Ally Hauptmann, Lipscomb University, Tennessee
• Joyce Herbeck, Montana State University, Montana
• Lynette Smith, Walden University, Pennsylvania
• Jason Lewis, Tyngsborough Elementary School, Massachusetts
• Mary Ellen Oslick, Stetson University, Florida