The 2025 NYT/NYPL Best Illustrated list came out on Sunday! Here are the ten titles selected (by a panel of esteemed judges: Peter Sís, Tracey Baptiste, and children’s librarian Amber Moller):

Making Art written and illustrated by Diana Ejaita

Dragon Flower written and illustrated by Chen Jiang Hong; translated by Alyson Waters

Broken written and illustrated by X. Fang

Wind Watchers written and illustrated by Micha Archer

Pencil written and illustrated by Hye-Eun Kim

Fireworks written by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Cátia Chien

Sunday written and illustrated by Marcelo Tolentino; translated by Rahul Bery

Little Rebels written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales

The Three-Year Tumble written and illustrated by Dayeon Auh; translated by Tim Mohr

The Lighthouse Keeper written by Eugenio Fernández Vázquez and illustrated by Mariana Villanueva Segovia; translated by Kit Maude

This list is always a breath of fresh air. It usually includes some titles already on Calling Caldecott's list, some that weren't on our radar, and some that we can't consider due to eligibililty requirements. Because the NYT/NYPL jury isn't limited by an illustrator's nationality and/or residence, they always spotlight some really fabulous imports...which, in terms of the Caldecott, are out because of the manual's definition of original work: "The illustrations are presented here for the first time and have not been previously published elsewhere in any form."

This year's picks are heavy on author-illustrator creators (eight out of ten). It's also heavy on Caldecott-ineligible books because the books are imports and/or the illustrators don't live in the U.S.: Making Art (Diana Ejaita), Dragon Flower (Chen Jiang Hong), Pencil (Hye-Eun Kim), Sunday (Marcelo Tolentino), The Three-Year Tumble (Dayeon Auh), and The Lighthouse Keeper (Mariana Villanueva Segovia). 

Cátia Chien and Fireworks are already on our radar. There are two previous Caldecott honorees on the list: Micha Archer received a Caldecott honor in 2022 for Wonder Walkers, and Yuyi Morales received a 2015 Caldecott Honor for Viva Frida. X. Fang's Broken has been getting a lot of buzz since we compiled our own list — we will try to add that title, along with Wind Watchers and Little Rebels, to our coverage.  

What did you think about the NYT/NYPL's choices?