Award Winners at Bennett

Throughout the year students in grades 1 through 5 have been reading books nominated for a variety of regional awards. The students voted this week and the results are in! Check back in a couple weeks for the official winners.

WCCPBA

1 Little Pink Pup

2 Never Smile at a Monkey

3 Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon

Sasquatch Readers Award

1 The Gollywhopper Games

2 Dying to Meet You

3 NERDS

Young Readers Choice Award

1 Three cups of tea

2 11 Birthdays

3 Where the Mountain meets the moon

3 Scat

Beverly Cleary Award

#1 Magical Ms. Plum

#2 Nubs

#3 Judy Moody & Stink: It's a  Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt

To Hunger Games or Not

Recently I've been flooded with requests for copies of The Hunger Games from students in grades 3, 4, and 5. My answer is always the same, "No, that book is not appropriate for an elementary library." Students challenge that response. They want to read it, their friends are reading it. One third grader told me it was the best book she ever read. It did take five months for her to read because she kept losing it in her toy box. (I'm not kidding.)

I am not the reading police. The librarian's job is to assure access to a wide range of information. A librarian cannot eliminate books on the military if she were a pacifist or eliminate books on Creation or Evolution based on her religious beliefs. However, I do have to consider the audience of our school and the quality of the materials. Before purchasing any item for the library, I read reviews to assure the quality is high, and I consider the age a book is recommended for. Often age recommendations vary. If in doubt, I order the book from the public library to review the material before purchasing the item.

I also consult the website Commonsense Media. This site reviews all sorts of media- books, movies, games, and websites and gives each  item an age recommendation. It also breaks down the details as to why an age recommendation was given. Then the public can chime in with its own ratings. Commonsense Media rates all three books in the Hunger Games series for ages 12 and up. Read the review here.

It is up to each family to determine the appropriateness of reading material for its own children. I am happy to make recommendations if you'd like to find books for each of your children to read. For now, I won't be recommending any of your children aged 11 and under read The Hunger Games.

Award Winners to add to your list!

The American Library Association announced the Award Winners for 2012 in January. Most of them arrived in our library last week and, boy, are they good. Below is the winner and honor books for each category I promote in the library. The descriptions are taken from the ALA website.


First Graders are introduced to the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award given to the best beginning reader of the year. Yes, it was named in honor of Dr. Seuss.
"The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, established in 2004, is given annually (beginning in 2006) to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year."

is the winner.

There are three honor books as well. I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems; I Want My Hat Back by John Klassen, and See Me Run by Paul Meisel

Second graders are introduced to the Caldecott Award. " The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children." 

The winner is this wordless book.

There are three honor books as well.  

Blackout, illustrated and written by John Rocco

Grandpa Green, illustrated and written by Lane Smith

Me...Jane, illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell

Third Graders are introduced to the Coretta Scott King Award which is "Designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience."

Kadir Nelson won the author award and
an honor award for his illustrations for this book!
(I should mention he is one of my favorite illustrators)

Shane Evans won the Illustrator award.

Fourth Graders are introduced the Newberry Award. "The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Jack Gantos is the winner.

Kindergarteners and Fifth Graders are welcome to enjoy all of these books, but no specific award is shared during their library time.