2025 may be over but it's not too late to enjoy the Best of 2025 book lists! Here are some titles found on best book lists from sources that always have great reading suggestions – but, if you would excuse a little plug, the South Huntington Public Library Children’s Librarians have some great ideas for fantastic reading as well!
Whether you get ideas from this list, or come in and ask for suggestions from our resident experts, we hope that your year ends with some memorable tales!
When Cecilia isn't scoring soccer goals, she's accompanying her parents to grown-up places, such as the accountant’s office, helping them translate from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish, which is fun but also hard work.
From New York Public Library’s Best Books for Kids 2025
Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate
FICTION APPLEGATE
Meet Pocket, created as a good luck charm for soldiers going into battle, whose bravery and loyalty lives on long after the war. This is an unforgettable tale of bravery, loyalty, and kindness, which reminds us all that love comes in many forms (sometimes filled with fluff), and that second chances are always possible.
From Publisher’s Weekly Best Books of 2025: Middle Grade Books
The Moving Book by Lisa Brown
PICTURE BROWN
Moving can be sad and scary—but it doesn’t have to be. The kids in this book have done it many times before, as the older brother reminds his sister. They reflect on favorite memories from each of their past homes, and the boy talks her (and the reader) through all the steps to expect, from taping up boxes to riding in the car behind the moving truck.
From Kirkus Best Picture Books of the Year 2025
Aggie and the Ghost by Matthew Forsythe
PICTURE FORSYTHE
Aggie's enthusiasm about living alone wanes when she discovers her house is haunted.
From School Library Journal’s Best Picture Books of 2025
The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser
FICTION GLASER
Two 11-year-olds, one in the China of 731 and the other in Manhattan's Chinatown in 1931, embark on challenging journeys to save their families from peril.
From New York Public Library’s Best Books for Kids 2025
Let’s Be Bees by Shawn Harris
PICTURE HARRIS
The only thing better than playing make believe is playing make believe with your favorite grown-up! Especially when that grown-up’s imagination is as big as yours, and you both get to make all kinds of funny sounds.
From Publisher’s Weekly Best Books of 2025: Picture Books
The Trouble With Heroes by Kate Messner
FICTION MESSNER
A troubled seventh grader must climb 46 mountain peaks in one summer with a dead climber's dog, discovering himself and understanding his late father along the way.
From School Library Journal’s Best Middle Grade Books of 2025
Earl & Worm: The Bad Idea and Other Stories by Greg Pizzoli
EASY READ PIZZOLI
Earl is a happy-go-lucky bird who plays saxophone to his plants while neighbor Worm would rather read in silence. But with lemonade, the right shade of paint, an unfinished poem and some sharing about themselves, they can become best friends.
From School Library Journal’s Best Transitional Books of 2025
The Summer of the Bone Horses by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve
EARLY CHAPTER SNEVE
Homesick at the thought of staying with his grandparents for the summer, Lakota Eddie quickly adjusts to life on the reservation, embracing new experiences and bonding with his family.