The best in picture books, middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction, selected by the children’s books editor of The New York Times Book Review.

Picture Books

AFTER THE FALL: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again. Written and illustrated by Dan Santat. (Roaring Brook, $17.99.) The Caldecott Medalist Santat offers a surprising and inspirational answer to the question, what if the shattered Humpty Dumpty decided to pull himself together and get back up on that wall?

GOOD NIGHT, PLANET. Written and illustrated by Liniers. (Toon Books; $12.95.) A little girl drifts off to sleep, but her stuffed rabbit heads out for a night of adventure in this comics-style book that’s both tender and exhilarating.

HEY, BOY. By Ben Strouse. Illustrated by Jennifer Phelan. (Margaret K. McElderry Books, $15.99). This emotionally resonant, retro-style debut about a boy and the dog who moves in and out of his life is “sure to be a book worth revisiting,” our reviewer, Tom Lichtenheld, said.