Tired of limiting Christmas presents for kids to just toys and clothes? The Evanston Public Library has a better idea: books. And they’ve just made it easier for grownups to make that critical buying decision.
A committee consisting of 12 librarians has surveyed the books published this year that are suitable for young people and compiled them into “101 Great Books for Kids 2017.”
The list groups the books into the following eight categories: Picture Books (for Children Ages 2-7), Folktales and Fairy Tales, Easy Books (for Children Ages 4-6), Early Chapter Books (for Children Ages 6-9), Middle Grade Fiction (for Children Ages 9-12), Poetry (for Children Ages 7-12), Comics (for Children Ages 7-12), and Nonfiction (for All Ages).
All the books are available for borrowing at the library, but the librarians have published a list in a PDF format that you can download on your computer and print on your printer at home to carry with you when you go to your favorite book store to make your purchases.
Then on its website, the library has pictured each book and included a very brief description of it.
The committee that put this all together consists of Laura Antolin, Betsy Bird, Hilda Gonzalez, Jessica Iverson, Leigh Kennelly, Kerry Little, Renee Neumeier, Paula Shapiro, Ranea Surbrook, Bridget Sweeney, Jennifer Wasilewski, and Brian Wilson.