VIRGINIA READERS' CHOICE BOOKS:   
Each winter our students participate in the Virginia State Reading Association's Young Readers' Choice program.  We use PTA book fair funds to buy two library sets of the Readers' Choice books.  Teachers share the books and read them to their classes.  Every child votes for his or her favorite book and then classes make posters charting their votes.  Votes from schools around the state of Virginia are tallied and a winner is announced.  Past winners include Once I ate a Pie  by Patricia MacLachlan and Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk.  Posters are hung in the main hallway so that we can all see the different classroom favorites.  The books are in great demand at checkout time.  If you visit the public library, any of the Readers' Choice nominees (from the current and previous years) would be excellent choices for story time at home.  The Virginia State Reading Association Web site has lists of past noninees and winners.


Some questions to discuss with children after reading these books are:

An enrichment activity would be to do some research at the public library to see what other books these authors/illustrators have published. Children can find things about the books that are similar and things about them that are different.

THE CALDECOTT MEDAL:
Each year the American Library Association has a committee that chooses one gold medal winner for the Caldecott Medal.  This award is given for the "most distinguished American picture book for children" and is a high honor in the field of children's literature.  There are also up to four silver Caldecott Medal winners, called Honor Books, each year.  At Mt. Daniel we study the Caldecott Medal and read many of the winners during library time.  Favorites are Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes for kindergarten and Snowflake Bentley  by Jacqueline Briggs Martin for first grade. As a follow-up activity, first graders enjoy looking at the Snow Crystals book that William Bentley created from his snowflake photographs. 


The ALA Web site has a list of Caldecott Medal gold and silver medal books.  They are fine choices to borrow from the public library and share with your children. 

Enjoy your reading activities! 

Ms. Viscardi
(Mt. Daniel Librarian)