Nat the “NOTABLE” Cat!

I had a pretty busy end of January and start of February, and so it’s taken me a while to get around to sharing this news — but I am delighted to share that Nat the Cat Takes a Nap has been named an ALSC/ALA Notable Book!

If you’re not super familiar with the world of children’s literature, this news might leave you with a few questions. Like, What’s the ALSC? And what about the ALA? And what does it mean when they say a book is “notable”?

Well, the ALSC is the Association for Library Service to Children, and the ALA is the American Library Association, and at the end of every calendar year, various committees formed by these groups meet up to discuss all the children’s books that have been published over the course of the previous dozen months. From this mountain of titles, a small number are chosen and given that above-mentioned designation of “notable” — which, according to the ALSC/ALA, means:

Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children’s interests in exemplary ways.

Pretty nice, right?!

I was beyond delighted to get this news, and want to once again thank the ALSC and ALA — and, specifically, the Notable Books committee — for this honor. Below is a graphic my publisher posted, celebrating all of their books that were named notable. Nat the Cat and Pat the Rat are keeping some truly excellent company!

Want to see the full list of ALSC/ALA Notable Books? Click HERE!

~ Jarrett