One of my colleagues is at the Children's Literature Conference at NIU as I speak and he just texted us the results of the 2008 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award and the 2008 Monarch Award. (Of course, I had to blog it right away...)
Ahem.
Drumroll, please...
For the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award:
In third place, we have MVP* by Douglas Evans.
In second place, we have The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn.
And our first place WINNER is... Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick!!
For the Monarch Award, which is for K-3rd grade:
In third place, we have Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor.
In second place, we have Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel.
And our first place WINNER is... If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen!!
The children of Illinois have spoken!!!
I'm a bit surprised by the Caudill results, but I'm overjoyed that Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie won. That book kept me amused and riveted at the DMV, of all places. It definitely deserves an award. What do you think, Illinois teachers and librarians? Were you surprised by the results? What would you have voted for?