It’s that time of year again: when we turn to author and illustrator Grace Lin for her list of the year’s best children’s books.
The Florence, Massachusetts-based writer gathered together a list for parents and grandparents who are looking not only to expand their children’s book collection, but maybe add some diversity.

Carrie Healy, NEPR: We had an exciting list last year. Is this year’s lineup as exciting and diverse?
Grace Lin: It is. I actually think it’s even better. The only thing that’s different this year is that I’ve kind of narrowed it down to picture books and middle-grade, kind of keeping it in the elementary school range.
We could start with picture books. Do kids’ books really have to have a lesson?
I don’t think books need to have a lesson. Books are here to entertain, basically to tell a story. But there are kind of hidden lessons as there are in any good story. And some of these lessons are heavier than others, but all of them are just the life lessons that we see every day.
Read on for the full interview on NEPR.
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