Only five more days of school. Woo hoo! But I know that before our second day of summer vacation has passed, my kids will say, “There’s nothing to do.” Or worse, “I’m bored.”
I have the solution, and it doesn’t involve electronic devices. Instead it requires a trip to the library.
But what to get?
Last week was Children’s Book Week, sponsored by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child A Reader. Each year during book week, the CBC announces the winners of the Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only national book award program in which kids and teens pick the winners. Over one million voted this year!
To help you create an interesting stack of summer reading titles, let me share the winners from each category:
Kindergarten to Second Grade:
Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCosta, illustrated by Ed Young
The finalists included The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems, which is my personal favorite in this category for the year. You just can’t beat Mo’s humor and his strong-willed characters.
Third Grade to Fourth Grade:
Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel
I’ve never heard of this book or any of the finalists in this category. Good- more titles to get for my kids!
Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade:
Dork Diaries 4: Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess by Rachel Renée Russell
My fifth grade daughter also recommends the Allegra Biscotti series by Olivia Bennett.
Teen Book of the Year:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
You know that I love this book. I won’t repeat myself. But I guess I just did. Read it!
If you’re like me, you enjoy young adult as much as adult, so I’d like to mention that the finalists in this category included:
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, Book 1) by Marissa Meyer
City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Rapture: A Fallen Novel by Lauren Kate
Looks like lots of dystopian and paranormal. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie comes out in August. Guess I’d better start reading and get ready for the hype. Ooh. Love that red hair!
Author of the Year
Jeff Kinney for Diary of a Wimpy Kid 7: The Third Wheel
Other finalists included John Green, (my hero), Veronica Roth, and newcomer R. J. Palacio for Wonder. A fellow book nerd tells me it’s similar in theme to The Fault in Our Stars. A boy with a facial deformity must learn how to fit in at a new school. My two oldest read it and said it’s hilarious. I’m hoping to enjoy it soon via audible.
I hope this gives you some ideas for summer reading. Go to Goodreads and add them! To see the complete list of winners and finalists, visit www.bookweekonline.
Can you comment on any of these books? What have been some of your favorite books published over the past year? We all need suggestions, so please share.Thanks for stopping by.
Julia
“If you’re like me, you enjoy young adult as much as adult” I do! I do! It started as a mother daughter book club. We would both read the books, discuss them and I really felt like I was helping my daughter with her vocabulary, getting her interested in different genres, broadening her horizons etc. I recently have come to the conclusion that I enjoy reading YA literature as much as she does. I have a very STRONG recommendation for a book we just read (and I re-read) by author Jenna Zark entitled, “The Beat on Ruby’s Street” (http://www.jennazark.com). It is a very unique book in that it takes places in 1958 Greenwich Village *NYC* and follows a young girl, Ruby, growing up with the “Beat Generation.” I can’t say I have ever read a book about the “beatnick” culture or lifestyle before and this book really brings it to life in a fascinating and entertaining way! Ruby’s unconventional upbringing creates obstacles in her young life; a well-meaning social worker, accusations of theft, and time in a children’s home. Ruby proves to be an old soul and her narration is honest and heartfelt. Hope you will give it a read!
Stacey, Welcome to the blog and thanks for leaving such a helpful comment. I’ve never heard of “The Beat on Ruby’s Street”, but it sounds very interesting- thanks for the info and the link! I will definitely give it a read. I also love your idea of a mother – daughter book club and I would like to start the same thing with my daughter. So many good books out there to discuss.
I just read Wonder over the weekend, and it was darn good. I think our local library is using it as a junior book club pick this summer. Loved The Fault in our Stars. Loved, loved, loved it! I see that you did too, so I will have to go back over some of your previous posts. I started Cinder, but couldn’t get into it. I will probably try again. Couldn’t even get through Divergent, let alone make it to Insurgent. It was too slow for me. I got bored and moved on. I also recently read Eleanor & Park. That is pretty much a must-read if you liked The Fault in Our Stars. I’ve read a bunch of YA lately, but mostly I read regular adult fiction. Sometimes non-fiction, but mostly fiction. Have you read any Kate Morton books? Love her. I read The Secret Keeper this year. It was good, but The Forgotten Garden is my favorite of hers. Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler = fantastic-ness. Actually, two non-fiction winners for me were Bread & Wine by Shauna Neiquist and Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. PS – A mutual friend of ours (Kristen) introduced me to your blog. Love it!!
Welcome Jennifer! Nice to meet you! Thank you for your thoughts on the other award winners and some more suggestions for reading! I’m reading a lot of YA these days as well. I’ve never heard of Eleanor and Park or Kate Morton and really appreciate these and all of your other suggestions. I’ll have to thank Kristen for “introducing” us!
I’m not a big kid lit reader, but suspect I will become one in the coming years. I wish I was still teaching though, these would be great recommendations for my students.
Can’t wait to check out the kindergarten – 2nd grade recommendations. My 3 + y/o loves more complex stories, and we love reading them with her! Have a great weekend!