MORE Best of 2023 News!

A few weeks ago, I hopped on here to talk about how the end of the year meant the arrival of all sorts of Best Of lists — and I shared that the audiobook edition of A Work in Progress had popped up on none other than Audible’s Best of 2023. (Click HERE to check out that post.)

Well, in the time since I’ve written that, lots more lists have appeared, and I’m super delighted and wildly honored to let you know that my books have popped up on even more of them!

First up, New York Public Library’s (yep — the one with the famous lions out front) Best Books of 2023 list, on which A Work in Progress appeared:

And now, another wonderful city’s equally wondering public library — Chicago Public Library’s 2023 Best of the Best list, on which A Work in Progress was included:

Leaving behind the public libraries and heading into schools, Nat the Cat — and his second book, Nat the Cat Takes a Nap — showed up on School Library Journal’s Best Books list:

And last but definitely not least, I made a pair of appearances on another list — one that I look forward to every single year. The list is compiled by author-illustrator-librarian Travis Jonker, and published on his brilliant 100 Scope Notes blog. (You really should subscribe to it, if you don’t already.) The list, Travis’s annual “Year in Miscellanea,” is a collection of amusing, exciting, and fun things that have happened in the kid lit world throughout the calendar year. As soon as Travis posts the list, I open it up and read it, because it’s never not a delight. So imagine my surprise when I saw my name on there — twice. Best of all, my appearances on the list have nothing to do with anything I’ve done. Except, I suppose, celebrate some of the amazing creations of my fans. Here — take a look. First, at these fabulous cookies:

And now, feast your eyes on this incredible work of art:

Yes, those are Rubik’s Cubes. Dozens and dozens of them. (I’m pretty sure they told me how many, but I can’t remember. If you want, you can zoom in and count.)

Amazing. All of it. I am humbled and very, very happy.

I want to once again thank all the librarians, both public and school, for considering my books and ultimately honoring them in this way. It means that they will reach — and, hopefully, positively impact — even more readers than they would otherwise. And that, at the end of the day, is all I’m really after.

~ Jarrett