2016 Magnolia Children's Choice Award Winners

The Magnolia Children's Choice Award winners were announced Wednesday at the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival in Hattiesburg. The mission of the awards is "to introduce the children of Mississippi to current children's literature and to instill a love of reading." If your child attends kindergarten-12th grade, check out the book in their grade level chosen as this year's favorites by Mississippi schoolchildren:

The Princes and the Presents

written by Caryl Hart 

illustrated by Sarah Warburton

Magnolia Children's Choice Award, K-2 grade winner 

A spoiled little princess wants tons of presents on her birthday,

but ends up discovering what is really important.

 

Wolf

written by Valerie Hobbs 

Magnolia Children's Choice Award, 3-5 grade winner 

An older sheepdog helps his beloved master protect their livestock from a wolf.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

written by Chris Grabenstein

Magnolia Children's Choice Award, 6-8 grade winner

A treasure hunt at a lock-in in a library proves to be too much fun.

We Were Liars

written by E. Lockhart

Magnolia Children's Choice Award, 9-12 grade winner

A twisty, turny, suspense-filled novel that teens will love!

You can read more about the awards and past winners on the Magnolia Award website. Be sure to follow the awards on Facebook and Twitter to keep up on their latest news! Until next time, happy reading!

Magnolia Award: Children's Choice for Mississippi

Have you heard about the Magnolia Award? It is the children's choice award for the state of Mississippi. Each February, students across the state vote on their favorite book of the year. The list of nominations for 2015 is here. I've been reading the nominees and let me tell you--I can't wait until the winners are announced at the Fay B.Kaigler Children's Book Festival in April! You can peruse the previous winners below to see what a great job the kids have done choosing:

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Kate DiCamillo, author
2010

Knucklehead
Jon Scieszka, author
2011

43 Cemetery Road:  Dying to Meet You
Kate Klise, author
Sara Klise, illustrator
2012

Hot Rod Hamster
Cynthia Lord, author
Derek Anderson, illustrator
grades K-2, 2013

Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to NOT Reading
Tommy Greenwald, author
grades 3-5, 2013

Countdown
Deborah Wiles, author
grades 6-8, 2013

Big Mean Mike
Michelle Knudsen, author
Scott Magoon, illustrator
grades K-2, 2014

The Book of Blood:
From Legends and Leeches to Vampires and Veins
H. P. Newquist, author
grades 3-5, 2014

Divergent
Veronica Roth, author
grades 6-8, 2014

By the way, you can keep up with news about the Magnolia Award on their Facebook page. Happy reading!

Mississippi's Kids And The Need To Read

Saturday, I spent some time at the Mississippi Library Commission's booth at the Mississippi State Fair. Along with my coworker, we talked to many of our fellow Mississippians about library services in our fair state. We saw a lot of younger library users, too, who were eager to grab our offerings of finger puppets, library activity books, and crayons. Let me tell you--these kids are reading! They love books and they love to talk about them. Some of the favorite authors and books we heard about were the Captain Underpants books by Dav Pilkey, the Junie B. Jones books by Barbara Park, and the Heroes of Olympus books by Rick Riordan. It's simply wonderful to listen to a fourth-grader stumble over his words because he's so terribly excited to tell you about a book he just read. This is exactly why the Magnolia Award has been created.

The Magnolia Award's purpose is "to introduce the children of Mississippi to current children's literature and instill a love of reading." At this time, children in grades 3, 4, and 5 can vote for their favorite book out of a list of ten nominees. (Each year, any adult can nominate children's books for the award. There are some basic criteria; you can read about them here.) Starting in 2013, children in kindergarten through 8th grade will be able to weigh in with their choices.

This is the list of nominees for 2012:

1. Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) by Lisa Lee
2. Calvin Coconut: Zoo Breath by Graham Salisbury
3. Dying to Meet You: 43 Cemetery Road Book by Kate Klise
4. Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell
5. Hallelujah Flight by Phil Blinder
6. Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco
7. Small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O’Connor
8. Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog by Eileen Beha
9. A Whole Nother Story by Cuthbert Soup
10. Wild Card by Tiki Barber

Voting is in February of 2012 and the winner will be announced in April at the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival. Children need to have exposure to at least half the books on the list in order to vote. (They can either read the books themselves or listen to them.) Luckily, the Mississippi Library Commission has ordered all ten books! Boy, I wish I could vote!

http://www.usm.edu/childrens-book-festival/magnolia-award