Best Illustrated Books of the Year by The New York Times/New York Public Library

Since 1952, the New York Times and the New York Public Library convened a rotating annual panel of three expert judges, who consider every illustrated children’s book published that year in the United States. They select the winners purely on the basis of artistic merit.

This year, the judges were Leonard Marcus, a children’s literature historian and critic; Jenny Rosenoff, a children’s librarian at the New York Public Library; and Bryan Collier, the author and illustrator of many acclaimed picture books and a past winner of the award.

This year’s winners are:

Dreamers, written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales

Florette, written and illustrated by Anna Walker

Ayobami and the Names of the Animals, written by Pilar López Ávila and illustrated by Mar Azabal

The Forest, written by Riccardo Bozzi and illustrated by Violeta Lópiz and Valerio Vidali

A House That Once Was, written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Lane Smith

Our Car, written by J.M. Brum and illustrated by Jan Bajtlik

She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein, written by Lynn Fulton and illustrated by Felicita Sala

The Funeral, written and illustrated by Matt James

Run Wild, written and illustrated by David Covell

The Visitorwritten and illustrated by Antje Damm