Published on: 2026-06-04
Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
In the “Lectory” pavilion of the book festival “Red Square”, on June 5, there will be a presentation of a new edition of the catalog of the Central City Children’s Library named after A.P. Gaidar, subordinate to the capitalDepartment of Culture, “100 Best New Books for Children and Teenagers.” For 20 years already, the reading room has been publishing this recommended illustrated catalog, which helps parents, librarians, and everyone interested in children’s reading to navigate through the enormous number of new book releases.
“With the help of the catalog, I selected interesting books for myself for the summer. These editions are convenient because every year a new issue with new works is released. And I can choose the best books according to my interests,” said Mikhail Dolgov, 12 years old.
Every year, Gaidarovka specialists review and read hundreds of publications to select the most interesting, quality, and relevant books for children of different ages. Over the years of its existence, the catalog has become an important guide in the world of modern children’s literature and has earned a reputation as a useful, bright, and engaging publication for the whole family.
Which books make it into the top hundred
The catalog includes the most notable domestic and translated books published over the past year, from March to March, by Russian publishers for children up to 14 years old. These are artistic, scientific-cognitive, reference, illustrated editions, comics, picture books.
Each work in the catalog includes the following information: cover photograph, details about the author and illustrator, as well as data on any literary awards received. In addition, library specialists write annotations for each book that not only describe the content of the work but also highlight its features.
The selection of books is based on the quality of text and illustrations, the relevance of the topic, and the genre’s uniqueness. A separate criterion for including a work in the catalog is receiving a major literary award, for example, the National Award in the field of children’s and adolescent literature, the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the V.P. Krapivin International Children’s Literary Award, the Moscow Government Award named after Korney Chukovsky, and others.
All candidate books are discussed, and the final decision is made by majority vote.
“This is not just a catalog, it is a precious compass that helps librarians, thoughtful parents, and our readers find a new and quality book,” notes Nadezhda Karpova, head of the children’s work sector at the Central City Specialized Library named after I.A. Goncharov in Ulyanovsk.
Very rarely does the final list include sequels to books or reissues, because the purpose of the catalog is to draw attention to new books and authors, to help them find an audience.
Rich history and traditions
Over 20 years of its existence, the catalog has presented more than two thousand books. More than 80 publishers from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, other regions of Russia, as well as from Belarus and Kazakhstan, participated in its creation. Books from 23 publishers are featured in almost every issue. On average, the catalog includes books from 40–50 publishers (40 publishers are represented in the 2026 catalog).
Works by domestic authors have always prevailed over translated ones (in the 2026 catalog — 91 compared to 30). The most popular age category, in which the largest number of books were presented during the existence of the catalog, is “6+”. In the new catalog for children, exactly this age is assigned 54 books. Moreover, there is a noticeable growth of interest in scientific and educational literature. In the 2007 catalog there were 14 such publications, and in the 2025 catalog — already 39.
All books in the catalog are distributed by categories. There are constant ones: “Poetry”, “Picture books”, “Such different fairy tales”, “Reading, growing up”, “Growing up with a book”, Non-fiction, “Teenager/adulthood”, “Science fiction/fantasy”, “Discovering Russia” and others. Sometimes new ones appear in addition to them. For example, in the 2025 catalog, which became the anniversary year of the victory of the Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War, the category “Great Patriotic War” was added.
Usually there are about 100 books in the catalog, but it often happens that experts simply cannot reduce the list to the required number and leave quality editions, so in the end there may be 110 or even 120 annotations. After all, the main thing for the library is to reflect the diversity of books published annually for children and to present readers with a comprehensive picture of the Russian book market.
In 2023, at the All-Russian competition for the best bibliographic and bibliological publication of domestic libraries, held by the Russian Library Association, the catalog “100 Best New Books for Children and Adolescents” received the first-degree diploma in the nomination “Popular Recommended Bibliographic Publications.”
The catalog will be published on the day of the presentation on the websiteGaidarovka. In addition, it will be printed by the end of June and will appear in the library.
The program of city library events contributes to the implementation of the goals and objectives of the national project in Moscow“Family”. More about the national projects of Russia and the contribution of the capital can be learned atspecial page.
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