2017 Rebecca Caudill Award Winner!

Our winner of the Rebecca Caudill Award has been chosen. Fourth through eighth graders who read at least three of the nominated titles were able to vote.

And the Disney winner is...

And the official state winner was just announced. The Illinois 2017 Rebecca Caudill Award Winner is...

(For anyone who's interested, The War that Saved My Life  came in second for the state.)

Thank you to all who voted!

Illinois Student Choice Book Awards

Every year we are thrilled to participate in Illinois's Student Choice Book Awards.  In order to participate, students have to read a certain number of nominated titles in order to vote in February (the Rebecca Caudill) or March (the Bluestem or Monarch.)

All second and third grade classes at Disney are reading books from the Monarch nominee list.  There are some fabulous books this year!  As we read the books we also have lessons related to the books including research and writing responses.  We are keeping track of what we've read using a poster for each class.

Find this year's list of titles here.

The Bluestem Award is for 3rd-5th graders and opens up a world of chapter books.

Find this year's list of titles here.

The Rebecca Caudill is for 4th-8th graders and includes longer and more in-depth works.

Find this year's list of titles here.

Students have been hearing book talks about the nominated titles and have been practicing their note-taking skills as they write down what each book is about.  Students can check these books out from our library, the public library, or can even find them as e-books in both collections.  As they read these books, students can sign their names to the Bluestem and Caudill Hall of Fames in our library.

  

What I'm Reading Now: Catching up on Bluestem/Caudill

I've been trying to finish up all of the books for this year's children's choice awards as well as a couple of Battle of the Books Titles.  Jonathan Stroud's The Whispering Skull is just because I'm absolutely loving this series.  I think we're going to need more copies of Kwame Alexander's Booked.  The Crossover is so widely read here and I have no doubt that Booked will be just as adored!

What I Read This Summer

One of my favorite things about the summer is having more time to read.  Although I didn't read everything that I took home this summer (it was a huge stack of books!) I did read several books that I absolutely LOVED.  I couldn't put down Jonathan Stroud's The Screaming Staircase. How often do you find a book that's truly unique and unlike anything you've read before? The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E. K. Johnston was so different and absolutely blew me away.  With one exception I really enjoyed everything I took home this summer.  (Even librarians have books that just aren't for them and one I took home just wasn't!)  Take a look below.

And the winners are: Rebecca Caudill Award

Disney's choices for the Rebecca Caudill Award:

Third Place Tie:
Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans
and
Rump by Liesl Shurtliff

Second Place:  See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles

First Place:  Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Illinois's Rebecca Caudill Winners:

Third Place: Hidden by Helen Frost

Second Place: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

First Place: Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

Bluestem and Rebecca Caudill Hall of Fame!

Wondering who has been reading the Bluestem and Rebecca Caudill Nominees?  Check out the hall of fame posters in the front of the library to see.

Illinois Children's Choice Awards

The Disney library is happy to be providing our students the opportunity to participate in the Illinois Children's Choice Awards.  These awards ask students to read a certain number of books from a list of nominated titles and then vote for their favorites.

The Monarch Award is open to students in Illinois in K-3 who have read at least 5 of the nominated titles.  I will be sharing these books with my second and third grade classes.

The Bluestem Award is open to students in Illinois in grades 3-5 who have read at least 4 of the nominated titles.  I am book talking these titles to my students and they will have the choice to read the books in time for the vote in March.  

   

Bluestem Nominees

Bluestem Nominee Spines

The Rebecca Caudill Award is open to students in Illinois in grades 4-8 who have read at least 3 of the nominated titles.  I have book talked these books to my 6th-8th graders and they will have the choice to read the books in time for the vote in February. 

Rebecca Caudill Nominees

Rebecca Caudill Nominee Spines

We have several copies of the books here in our library and they can be found at the public library as well.

The links to the individual award sites as well as past Disney winners are on our library wiki.

Library Wiki Bluestem, Caudill, Monarch Awards

Happy reading!