Cynthia Rylant
Recognized in the Creative Minds Montessori 2026 Teacher’s Choice list.
Cynthia Rylant is one of roughly one hundred authors whose work was selected by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list — 120 books chosen across four reading stages, from first lap-reads to first chapter books. The selected book was chosen for how precisely it meets children at a real developmental moment. This recognition cannot be bought: no author or publisher paid to appear on our lists, and we take no commission on any book sale.
About Cynthia Rylant
Cynthia Rylant has written more than a hundred books for children, from easy readers to novels, and won the 1993 Newbery Medal for Missing May. Her Henry and Mudge easy readers follow a boy and his enormous dog Mudge.
Rylant grew up in rural West Virginia without electricity or running water, in a community with no library or bookstore, so she read mostly comic books as a child. Her first book, When I Was Young in the Mountains, won an American Book Award and a Caldecott Honor.
Also by this author: When I Was Young in the Mountains · The Relatives Came · Mr. Putter & Tabby Pour the Tea
Official website: www.cynthiarylant.com
Selected for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list
Part of The Best Children’s Books by Age, chosen by the teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX.