Publishers Weekly has released their list of 2019’s best selling children’s books.
[Publishers Weekly] lists are based on print unit sales at outlets that report to NPD Bookscan, which tracks approximately 85% of the print market. Here we compile the books that sold more than 100,000 copies in four categories: Hardcover Frontlist, Paperback Frontlist, Hardcover Backlist, and Paperback Backlist.
Last year’s overall top-selling book was For Whom the Ball Rolls, book seven in Dav Pilkey’s mega-selling Dog Man series, which sold more than one million copies in hardcover. The middle-grade series had a strong showing across all four categories (see below).
In addition to For Whom the Ball Rolls, hardcover frontlist also features entries in Jeff Kinney’s extremely popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series; Wrecking Ball and Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid hold the second and third slots, respectively.
Dav Pilkey and Jeff Kinney dominate the Hardcover Frontlist:
Hardcover Frontlist
500,000+
1. For Whom the Ball Rolls (Dog Man #7). Dav Pilkey. Scholastic/Graphix (1,085,519)
2. Wrecking Ball (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #14). Jeff Kinney. Abrams/Amulet (853,626)
3. Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson’s Journal. Jeff Kinney. Abrams/Amulet (720,794)
4. Fetch-22 (Dog Man #8). Dav Pilkey. Scholastic/Graphix (574,227)
Dav Pilkey, counting his Front and Backlist books, sold over 4 million hardcovers last year. Amazing!
Of course Raina, far and away, rules the paperback list.
Paperback Frontlist
100,000+
1. Guts. Raina Telgemeier. Scholastic/Graphix (443,738)
Standouts for the cartoonist-centric audience include Terri Libenson.
7. Just Jaime. Terri Libenson. HarperTeen/Balzer + Bray (104,093)
Hardcover Backlist
400,000+
1. Brawl of the Wild (Dog Man #6). Dav Pilkey. Scholastic/Graphix (785,328)
2. Oh, The Places You’ll Go! Dr. Seuss. Random House (633,947)
Dr. Seuss, who did comics and editorial cartoons, makes the Backlist numerous times,
while multi-talented Shel Silverstein’s perennial The Giving Tree is still popular.
34. The Giving Tree. Shel Silverstein. HarperCollins (195,370)
Read the Publishers Weekly list here.