2012 Finalists & Winners

Download a pdf of the 2012 Finalists here.

This year, a record-breaking 900,000 kids voted for their favorite books, authors, and illustrators of the year.

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year

Winner: Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester L. Laminack, illustrated by Henry Cole (Peachtree) - Peek inside the book!

Finalists: Bailey by Harry Bliss (Scholastic) - Look inside!
(Illustration from Bailey. Copyright 2011 by Harry Bliss. Used with permission from Scholastic Press. )

Dot by Patricia Intriago (Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan) - Look inside the book!

Pirates Don’t Take Baths by John Segal (Philomel/Penguin)

Zombie in Love by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Scott Campbell (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster) - Read a graphic excerpt!

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year

Winner: Bad Kitty Meets the Baby by Nick Bruel (Roaring Brook/Macmillan - Look inside the book!

Finalists: A Funeral in the Bathroom: And Other School Bathroom Poems by Kalli Dakos, illustrated by Mark Beech (Albert Whitman) - Look inside the book!

The Monstrous Book of Monsters by Libby Hamilton, illustrated by Jonny Duddle and Aleksei Bitskoff (Templar/Candlewick)- Look inside the book!

Sidekicks by Dan Santat (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic) - View a spread!
(Illustration from Sidekicks. Copyright 2011 by Dan Santat. Used with permission from Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic.)

Squish #1: Super Amoeba by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random House) - Look inside!

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year

Winner: Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) - Read an excerpt!

Finalists: Bad Island by Doug TenNapel (GRAPHIX/Scholastic) - Look inside!
(Illustration from Bad Island. Copyright 2011 by Doug TenNapel. Used with permission from Graphix/Scholastic.)

How to Survive Anything by Rachel Buchholz, illustrated by Chris Philpot (National Geographic)

Lost & Found by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)- Look inside!
(Illustrations from Lost & Found: Three. Copyright 2011 by Shaun Tan. Used with permission from Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic.)

Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog by Garth Stein (HarperCollins) - Read the 1st chapter!

Teen Book of the Year

Winner: Clockwork Prince: The Infernal Devices, Book Two by Cassandra Clare (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster) - Read an excerpt!

Finalists: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (Little, Brown) - Read the 1st chapter!

Divergent by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins) - Read the 1st chapter!

Passion: A Fallen Novel by Lauren Kate (Delacorte/Random House) - Read an excerpt!

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster) - Read an excerpt!

Author of the Year

Winner: Jeff Kinney for Diary of a Wimpy Kid 6: Cabin Fever (Amulet Books/Abrams)

Finalists: Christopher Paolini for Inheritance (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House) - Read an excerpt!

James Patterson for Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life (Little, Brown) - Check out an exclusive preview!

Rick Riordan for The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, Book 2) (Disney Hyperion) - Read the first chapter.

Rachel Renée Russell for Dork Diaries 3: Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster) - Read an excerpt!

Illustrator of the Year

Winner: Brian Selznick for Wonderstruck (Scholastic) - Look inside the book!
(Illustration from Wonderstruck. Copyright 2011 by Brian Selznick. Used with permission from Scholastic Press.)

Finalists: Felicia Bond for If You Give a Dog a Donut (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)- Read an excerpt!

Eric Carle for The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse (Philomel/Penguin)

Anna Dewdney for Llama Llama Home With Mama (Viking/Penguin)

Victoria Kann for Silverlicious (HarperCollins) - Look inside the book!