Children's Book Week!

It's Children’s Book Week! 

The event starts today, May 13 and goes through Sunday, May 19. Children’s Book Week was created in 1919 to celebrate children’s books and the joy of reading. It is a weeklong initiative held every year to promote reading and literacy all over the nation. Visit http://www.bookweekonline.com/ to learn more about this annual event!

The Ames Public Library is holding an “Edible Book Festival” on Sunday to celebrate Children’s Book Week. Children and adults are invited to create an edible sculpture or cake inspired by a children’s book. For more information on this event and others, visit: http://www.amespubliclibrary.org/kids/MainKidsEvents.asp. I look forward to seeing what the local children create :).

I encourage you to visit your local library to find out what events and special activities are being held to celebrate children’s books in your area. 

WHAT WILL RANDIE’S BOOK REVIEWS BE DOING TO CELEBRATE CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK?

ONE: I will be highlighting FIVE quality children’s books daily to celebrate the joy of reading!

TWO: After the winners have been announced, I will be sharing my thoughts on this year’s Children’s Choice Book Awards Winners!

Listed below are the finalists, courtesy of the Children’s Book Council. My picks are highlighted.

 

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year

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Big Mean Mike by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Scott Magoon (Candlewick)
The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems (Hyperion Books/Disney)
I’ll Save You Bobo! by Eileen Rosenthal, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, created and illustrated by James Dean, story by Eric Litwin (HarperCollins Children's Books)
Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCosta, illustrated by Ed Young (Little, Brown)

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year

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Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel (Roaring Brook/Macmillan)
Get the Scoop on Animal Poop! by Dawn Cusick (Imagine/Charlesbridge)
Homer by Shelley Rotner, illustrated by Diane deGroat (Scholastic)
Just Joking by National Geographic Kids (National Geographic Children’s Books)
Pluto Visits Earth! by Steve Metzger, illustrated by Jared Lee (Scholastic)

 

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year

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Dork Diaries 4: Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess by Rachel Renée Russell (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster)
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House)
Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim Baker, illustrated by Tim Probert (Roaring Brook/Macmillan)
Rebel McKenzie by Candice Ransom (Hyperion Books/Disney)
Stickman Odyssey, Book 2: The Wrath of Zozimos by Christopher Ford (Philomel/Penguin)

 

Teen Book of the Year *Wow, this category is going be awfully close. I loved Cinder, Insurgent, and The Fault in Our Stars…picking one wasn’t easy!

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Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, Book 1) by Marissa Meyer (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan)
City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton/Penguin)
Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins)
Rapture: A Fallen Novel by Lauren Kate (Delacorte/Random House)

 

Author of the Year

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John Green for The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton/Penguin)
Jeff Kinney for Diary of a Wimpy Kid 7: The Third Wheel (Amulet Books/Abrams)
R. J. Palacio for Wonder (Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House)
Rick Riordan for The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus, Book 3) (Hyperion Books/Disney)
Veronica Roth for Insurgent (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins)

 

Illustrator of the Year

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James Dean for Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons (HarperCollins)
Anna Dewdney for Llama Llama Time to Share (Viking/Penguin)
Ian Falconer for Olivia and the Fairy Princesses (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)
Robin Preiss Glasser for Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet (HarperCollins)
Mo Willems for The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? (Hyperion Books/Disney)

Leave a comment with your thoughts or picks below!