Though classics remained heavy on the Chinese fiction list in October, children's books—as we open a new chart of illustrated bestsellers—are growing in strength.

Townsend's 'Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs' uses indigenous Nahuatl language sources and, as juror Anne Applebaum says, 'uses stories and descriptions of incidents from the distant past.'

A three-book series with illustrator Ashley Evans opens with a picture book based on the Alphabet Rockers' song 'Not Alone.'