Recommended Reading

ALA Library Fact Sheet 23

List of links to ALA's literature award winners and various notable reading lists for all ages, sorted by age group.

General Lists | For Children | For Young Adults/Teens | For Adults | Reference Books (for children, teens, and adults) | For Librarians | Reading Events, Programs, and Tips


Lists in the News

American Library Association announces 2012 Youth Media Award winners (January 23 2012)
The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the top books, video and audiobooks for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Dallas.

Booklist announces prestigious 2011 Top of the List selections (December 2011)
Booklistmagazine, the review journal of the American Library Association, has announced its Top of the List winners for 2011. The eight winning titles were chosen from the annual Editors' Choice selections as the best books and media of 2011.

Updated: Great Early Elementary Reads List (December 2011)
The ALSC 2011-2012 School-Age Programs and Services Committee recently announced the updating of the Great Early Elementary Reads book list. The committee recommends these titles for children who are just learning to read and beginning to read on their own. The books included were published between 2009 and 2011.

ALSC releases Children's Graphic Novel Core Collection (October 2011)
Graphic novels are exploding in popularity. This sometimes misunderstood type of book is a full-length story told in paneled, sequential, graphic format and it is different from book-length collections of comic strips or wordless picture books. In recognition of the importance of these books for children, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) directed its Quicklists Consulting Committee to create a list of titles for public librarians serving elementary school-age children (kindergarten through 8th grade).

Top Ten Most Re-Read Books List
List of popular novels, plays, and poetry compiled for a news report by committee of librarians and book review editors -- including Nancy Pearl.


General Lists (across two or more age groups)

  • ALA Professional Tips Wiki: Readers' Advisory for Children and Young Adults. A list of online and print resources for finding book titles for children and young adult/teen patrons.

  • ALA Professional Tips Wiki: Selection. A list of online and print resources for selecting books for a library collection.

  • YALSA announces 2012 Alex Awards - YALSA's Alex Awards - previous Alex Awards Winners. ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) spotlights ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing. The award is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust and Booklist.

  • 2012 Amelia Bloomer List celebrates feminist perspective in books for young readers - Amelia Bloomer Project. The list presents well-written and well-illustrated books with strong feminist messages that affirm positive roles for girls and women. The works are recommended for young people from birth through eighteen years of age.

  • Booklist Editor's Choice: Books for Youth, 2011 (Jan 2012). Committed to providing a broad selection of outstanding books that mixes popular appeal with literary excellence, the Books for Youth editorial staff has chosen the titles below as best-of-the-year fiction, nonfiction, and picture books (sorted into sections for older readers, middle readers, and young readers).

  • Building a Home Library. The ALA-Children's Book Council (CBC) Joint Committee, with cooperation from the Quicklists Consulting Committee of ALA's Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC, a division of ALA), created this list to provide guidance to parents, grandparents, and others interested in assembling a high-quality library for their children at home.

  • The 2011 Día book list to help libraries and families celebrate El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day) on April 30, 2011, is now available. Containing more than 200 titles, the list features books for those who speak English and Spanish, as well as for those who speak Afghani, French, Hindi, Michif, Russian, Swahili and Vietnamese. The new book list and list of websites are part of a brochure (PDF) for parents with tips on reading to and with their children. The list is divided into the following age groups: Ages Birth-4; Ages 4-8; Ages 8-12; and Ages 12-up.

  • Graphic novels - core collection: K-2 | Grades 3-5 | Grades 6-8. In 2011, the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children, a division of ALA) Board of Directors directed the Quicklists Consulting Committee to create a list of core titles than can be used when starting or maintaining a children’s graphic novel collection. The intended audience is librarians selecting books for inclusion in public libraries serving elementary school-age children. We attempted to create a list of core titles that can be used when starting or maintaining a children's graphic novel collection.

  • 2012 Rainbow List Announced - Rainbow Project. The Rainbow Project is a joint project of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table and the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association. The Rainbow Project presents an annual bibliography of quality books with significant and authentic GLBTQ content, which are recommended for people from birth through eighteen years of age.

  • Schneider Award Select Bibliography of Children's Books about the Disability Experience (PDF). This list contains some outstanding books that portray emotional, mental, or physical disability experiences, most published between 2000 and 2008. The grade level designations are intended as guidelines.

  • 2012 Schneider Family Book Awards recipients named - Schneider Family Book Award. The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. Three annual awards each consisting of $5000 and a framed plaque, will be given annually in each of the following categories: birth through grade school (age 0–8), middle school (age 9–13) and teens (age 14–18). (Age groupings are approximations).

  • 2012 Stonewall Book Awards announced - 'Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy' wins 2012 Stonewall Book Award -Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award - Stonewall Book Awards List (1971 through the present) - Stonewall Book Awards. The Stonewall Book Awards of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table of ALA are given annually to English-language works of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience, and include the Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award, the Stonewall Book Awards – Barbara Gittings Literature award, and the Stonewall Book Awards – Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award.

  • University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries. An annual collection development tool published with the help and support of two divisions of the American Library Association (ALA): the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the Public Library Association (PLA). University presses represent an often-undiscovered gold mine of resources for school and public libraries. Many books and reference works from scholarly publishers are valued far beyond the walls of any ivory tower. They can be the building blocks of learning and growing for high-school students, general readers, independent researchers, and involved citizens. For more than 20 years, a volunteer panel of PLA and AASL librarians review and select 400+ titles published by AAUP member presses to build this valued collection development resource. The bibliography is released in both print and online editions, distributed freely to 13,000+ librarians. Book entries include key bibliographic data, a thumbnail description, and a PLA and/or AASL rating.


For Children


For Young Adults/Teens


For Adults


Reference Books (for children, teens, and adults)


For Librarians


Reading Events, Programs, and Tips

Michael Morpurgo to deliver 2013 Arbuthnot Honor Lecture - The May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award. ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children, a division of ALA) established the lecture series in 1969 with sponsorship from Scott, Foresman and Company. The lectureship is now funded by the ALSC May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Endowment, and administered by ALSC. The lecturer, announced annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting, may be an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature, of any country, who shall prepare a paper considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature. This paper is delivered as a lecture each April, and is subsequently published in Children and Libraries, the journal of ALSC. Peter Sis will deliver the 2012 Arbuthnot Lecture on April 4, 2012.

From ALA's Celebration Weeks & Promotional Events 2012

National Library Week - April 8-14, 2012: http://www.ala.org/nlw

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries -- school, public, academic and special -- participate. Contact National Library Week Campaign Coordinator Megan McFarlane of the ALA Public Information Office with questions. Future National Libary Week dates (2012-2014) are on the National Library Week/School Library Month Fact Sheet.

National Bookmobile Day - April 11, 2012 (Wednesday of National Library Week): http://www.ala.org/bookmobiles

First celebrated in 2010 by the American Library Association Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS), the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Service (ABOS), and the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL). National Bookmobile Day is an annual celebration of the contributions of our nation's bookmobiles and the dedicated professionals who make quality bookmobile outreach possible in their communities. Contact John Amundsen, ALA OLOS Communications Specialist with questions.

National D.E.A.R Day - National Drop Everything and Read Day - April 12, 2012

D.E.A.R. stands for Drop Everything and Read. National D.E.A.R. Day is a special reading celebration to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority. The official event date, April 12th, is the birthday of author Beverly Cleary. D.E.A.R. is sponsored by the National Education Association (NEA); Parent Teacher Association (PTA); the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC, a division of the American Library Association}; Reading Rockets; The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC); the Newspaper Association of America Foundation (NAA); First Book; HarperCollins Children’s Books; Read Kiddo Read; Walden Media and Ramona Quimby.

Support Teen Literature Day - April 12, 2012 (Thursday of National Library Week):

Sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and first celebrated in 2007, a division of ALA, to raise awareness among the general public that young adult literature is a vibrant, growing genre with much to offer today's teens. Contact the ALA Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA, a division of ALA) with questions.

Children's Day/Book Day - El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día) - April 30, 2012: http://www.ala.org/dia

Children's Day/Book Day, also known as El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día), is a celebration of children, families, and reading and held annually on April 30. The celebration emphasizes the importance of advocating literacy for every child regardless of linguistic and cultural background. Through several grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) continues to increase public awareness of the event in libraries throughout the country. ALSC is collaborating on this effort with the Founding Partner of Día, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking (REFORMA). Día is an enhancement of Children’s Day, which began in 1925. Children’s Day was designated as a day to bring attention to the importance and well-being of children. In 1996, nationally acclaimed children’s book author Pat Mora proposed linking the celebration of childhood and children with literacy to found El día de los niños/El día de los libros. Contact the ALA Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC, a division of ALA) with questions.

El 30 de abril es una fecha muy significativa para los niños. Se celebra el día de los niños y de los libros. Esta celebración se conoce como El día de los niños/ El día de los libros, y celebra la alegría y las maravillas de la infancia y la importancia de los libros en nuestra vida. Póngase en contacto REFORMA con preguntas.


The ALA Online Store at http://www.alastore.ala.org
Supports the reading events and programs listed here -- Banned Books Week, Born to Read, National Library Week, Teen Read Week -- with the celebrated celebrity READ posters and matching bookmarks, along with various other items, including banners, pens, and t-shirts.


Shortcut URL for this page: http://www.ala.org/readinglists


More lists of books for various age groups can be found in the continuously updated collection of reading lists from various library, news, and reading sources online that the ALA Library has bookmarked at Delicious.com.


Some additional award details available on the Media Awards page of the ALA Professional Tips Wiki, compiled by the ALA Library. Also consult the list of books compiled at the free OCLC WorldCat.org web site, Books with more information on ALA's literary awards and reading lists.


This page is part of ALA Recommends... compiled by the ALA Library. Contact us at library@ala.org with any questions. See the other lists of recommendations compiled by ALA member committees -- ALA Recommended Listening: List of links to ALA's recommended music and spoken-word recordings and audiobooks for all ages, sorted by age group; ALA Recommended Viewing: List of links to ALA's recommended DVDs and videos for all ages, sorted by age group; and ALA Recommended Web Sites: List of links to ALA's recommended web sites for all ages, sorted by age group.


Last updated: January 2012


For more information on this or other fact sheets, contact the ALA Library Reference Desk by telephone: 800-545-2433, extension 2153; fax: 312-280-3255; e-mail: library@ala.org; or regular mail: ALA Library, American Library Association, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611.