Lists Galore! - 2020 Beginning Reader Lists

The end of the year is a great time if you’re a list lover, especially in a year when it was more difficult to get ahold of new titles. There's a lot of joy to be found browsing through best of lists, award nomination lists, mock title lists, etc. There are always titles we’ve missed along the way and it’s thrilling to discover more great books for new readers! 

Here are some of the lists we've been browsing this year. Note: We’ve included some lists that combine beginning readers and early chapter books, however we’ve avoided lists that lump all children’s books together.

• 100 Scope Notes: 2020 Books by Geisel Winners
• Chicago Public Library: Best Fiction for Younger Readers of 2020
• Cybils Awards: 2020 Nominations: Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books
• Denver Public Library: Best & Brightest Beginning Readers of 2020
• Evanston Public Library’s 101 Great Books for Kids 2020: Easy Books and Early Chapter Books
• A Fuse #8 Production: 31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Easy Books and Early Chapter Books
• Nerdy Book Club: The 2020 Nerdies: Early Readers and Chapter Books

Have we missed any great lists? Let us know in the comments! 

Scholastic Acorn 2020 Titles

Scholastic Acorn has a number of new series, as well as additional titles to existing series, out this year. Their tagline, “Illustrated early readers that plant a love of reading” lets readers and their grown-ups know that these books are meant to support developing reading skills. All Acorn books use the same 6” x 7.25” trim size. Unfortunately, the stiffness of library bound copies can make it difficult to keep the book open and it’s easy to lose text and illustrations in the gutter. On the flip side, they fit so nicely into readers’ hands. Let’s take a look at the titles eligible for the Geisel this year. 

*Scholastic Acorn titles that are ineligible for the Geisel due to international illustrators are Shadow in the Woods and Other Scary Stories by Max Brallier, illustrated by Letizia Rubegni and The Fairylight Friends series by Jessica Young, illustrated by Marie Vanderbemden. I think both are wonderful, and hope that we’ll be able to highlight them in a post about ineligible titles later this blogging season. 

Book covers for Bumble and Bee series titles: Let's Play Make BEE-lieve; Don't Worry, BEE Happy; Let's BEE Thankful

Bumble and Bee series by Ross Burach 

Bumble, Bee, and their grumpy friend Froggy make their series debut in three titles this year. Each book contains three short stories that feature Froggy expressing disapproval at Bumble and Bee’s ridiculous antics. In Let’s Play Make BEE-lieve the two bees pretend to be farm animals, then pirates, and finally finish up with a game of hide-and-seek that turns into hide-and-sleep. Autumnal activities, including making an apple pie, carving pumpkins, and getting ready for hibernation are the focus of Let’s BEE Thankful. Finally, Don’t Worry, BEE Happy includes stories about best friend picture day, curing Froggy’s epic case of hiccups, and the fun of doing the waggle dance. An easy to read font and color-coded speech bubbles provide strong support for new readers. Unfortunately, sometimes the panel sequencing is confusing and readers may wonder if they’re supposed to read left to right across a full double-page spread, or the left hand page, top to bottom followed by the right hand page, top to bottom. Bolded text is used to convey emphasis, although at times the bolding was distracting more than helpful. Another challenge could be the vocabulary. Some words, such as “pretend” and “treasure” in Let’s Play Make BEE-lieve are introduced and then repeated several times. However, other words, such as “zebra” and “captain” are used just once. This series definitely has a lot of kid appeal, so maybe reading motivation will help readers push through some of the more challenging layouts and vocabulary. 

Book cover for Who Needs a Check Up?

Who Needs a Checkup? by Norm Feuti 

Harry is worried about his doctor’s checkup. He doesn’t want to go at all. Luckily, his best friend Hedgehog pretends to be a doctor to show Harry all the parts of a checkup. From testing reflexes (Harry’s favorite) to getting a shot that feels like a pinch (Harry’s least favorite), Hedgehog provides Harry with a way to process and prepare. Like the first two books in the Hello, Hedgehog series, Who Needs a Checkup? provides a platform for socioemotional learning, as well as supports for new readers. Sequential panels and color-coded speech bubbles make the all-dialogue text easy to follow. The font is especially supportive, with stick-and-ball A’s and straightforward G’s. While there’s a lot to recommend this book when thinking in terms of the Geisel criteria, I wonder will the title and cover really grab kids? Will the predictable plot create enough of a page-turning dynamic? 

Book covers for The Great Bunk Bed Battle and The Biggest Roller Coaster

Fox Tails series by Tina Kügler 

Kügler’s Snail & Worm Again was named a Geisel Honor title in 2018. This new series also features dual protagonists, but this time they’re fox siblings Fritz and Franny. In The Great Bunk Bed Battle the two compete to see whether the top or bottom bunk is best. The Biggest Roller Coaster features a trip to an amusement park and quest to find the tallest, fastest, loudest ride. Both books rely on color-coded speech bubbles, an easy to read font, and word repetition in short, simply constructed sentences. The illustrations are bright and enticing, reminiscent of Marc Brown’s Arthur series, with enough visual context clues to help readers along, but not so many that they’ll be “reading” the pictures instead of the text. I have a slight preference for The Biggest Roller Coaster because amusement parks have such kid appeal, but then again, there’s something magical about bunk beds. 

Book cover for Princess Truly: I Can Build It!

Princess Truly: I Can Build It! by Kelly Greenawalt, illustrated by Amariah Rauscher 

The third book in the Princess Truly series features a young protagonist with brown skin who loves to invent and build bringing a STEM perspective to beginning readers. A bouncy rhyme scheme and very short sentences support new readers, along with a clear, large font. The pastel illustrations are soft and inviting, a departure from the cartoon style of the other titles in this post. The tone is a bit didactic, “I am caring and smart. / I can build anything, / with my big helpful heart.” However, the whimsy and “rainbow power” of Princess Truly’s inventions creates a fun page-turning dynamic. 

Book covers for Frog Meets Dog, Hog on a Log, Goat in a Boat

Frog and Dog series by Janee Trasler 

Clearly meant for very new readers, the books in this series emphasize phonetics and decoding by relying heavily on rhyming words. In addition to Dog, there’s not one, but three frogs who encounter all sorts of misadventures together (the series title is a bit confusing, I must say). In Frog Meets Dog the friends meet for the first time and Dog tries to keep up with the leaping, jumping, and hopping of the amphibians with hilarious results. A greedy pig messes up fun games and fly-topped lunches in Hog on a Log. Finally, Goat in a Boat features a perilous sea journey, as well as a goat in a raincoat with a boat. While the sound repetition is strong, sometimes new words only appear once. Sometimes the plots are a bit chaotic, which could be overwhelming to new readers. If I were to pick a stand out, it would be Goat in a Boat. It has the strongest plot and the lost on a perilous stormy sea scenes add urgency that leads to a truly satisfying conclusion. 

Which Scholastic Acorn series or title is your favorite? Use the comments to let us know!

See The Cat: Three Stories About A Dog

 This book is a delight. Readers can tell right from the cover the sort of humor they are going to encounter here and this book does not disappoint. With three short chapters where the conflict between the invisible narrator and Max the dog resolves in a fresh way each time it’s the perfect length for slightly more confident young readers.

David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka manage to infuse this story with originality as the long-suffering Max – who opens Story Number Two with “Here we go again.” – engages with the narration in a new way with each tale, finding increasing agency until concluding the final story with a triumphant and contented nap. Teachers may particularly enjoy the way Max uses the power of writing to change the direction of the second story.

Is this one a strong Geisel contender? The use of word bubbles, plenty of white space, and clear cartoon style illustrations are all strengths we’ve seen in previous Geisel titles. The repetition of color and animal words speaks to context readers are likely to have, leaving them better prepared to appreciate the humorous moments. The relationship between the text and the pictures is more conversational than “the illustrations providing a clue to decode the text”, but with its original take on the narrator/protagonist conflict this one is certainly worth a look by the committee.

Thank You

As we head into the final stretches of 2020 and end of year lists start coming out, our thoughts are with all of you and everyone who has had to reinvent the ways they do things.

We’re thankful for reviewers and listmakers, helping us discover great titles in this unusual year.

We’re thankful for parents and teachers, teaching our new readers in new ways amid trying circumstances.

We’re thankful for postal workers, under new scrutiny in this election year but still getting books to our libraries and homes.

We’re thankful for authors, illustrators, and publishers dealing with cancelled book tours and conferences as they try to share the books they’ve lovingly and thoughtfully created.

We’re thankful for ALA staff and the book award committee members – Geisel and other committees – who are facing manuals with no instructions for not being in person for award discussions or balloting.

We’re thankful for library staff everywhere, reinventing their realities with their usual commitment to public service and flexibility. This has been really hard. We see you.

We’re thankful for library selectors facing shipping delays, buildings that were closed and not receiving deliveries, uncertain future budgets, and all the other challenges this year has brought.

Whether you read one book this year or a hundred. Whether you thrived amid the uncertainty of this year or just survived. We’re thankful for you and the work you’ve done, and the work you will do in the coming year.

Thank you award committees for taking on this work in a year where few of us have any energy to spare. We’ll be cheering you on from a distance in January and can’t wait to see your choices.

 

Comics Part 2

Last month our Comics Part 1 post introduced some comic contenders. This month I’m happy to bring you three more! 

Book covers for Noodleheads Lucky Day by Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, & Mitch Weiss, illustrated by Tedd Arnold, 
A Pig, a Fox and a Fox by Jonathan Fenske and Pizza & Taco: Who's the Best? by Stephen Shaskan 

Noodleheads Lucky Day by Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, & Mitch Weiss, illustrated by Tedd Arnold 

In 2018 Noodleheads See the Future was named a Geisel Honor. This year brings us the fifth title in the series, all about the many ways the Noodleheads accidentally change bad luck into good. Ever gullible, the brothers fall for every single one of Meatball’s tricks as they run errands for their mother and look for a kitten to adopt. All the stellar hallmarks of the series are present in this book: speech bubbled text, word repetition, clever ways of defining idioms, and humor galore. While much of the book is supportive for developing readers, there’s one section in particular that could present some challenges. When the brothers brainstorm names for their new kitten, they come up with increasingly ridiculously monikers. More familiar words like “Sky” and Cloudy” build up to “Hippopotamus”, “Blippopotamus”, “Gobbledygook”, and “Nincompoop.” That said, there’s an undeniable page-turning dynamic to this silly romp full of wordplay that certainly speaks to the award’s criteria. 

A Pig, a Fox and a Fox by Jonathan Fenske 

Pig and Fox are back for their third misadventure. Fox has a fox doll, perfect for playing tricks on Pig. As always, Pig manages to step away from each prank unscathed, while Fox is smooshed and bandaged by the end of the book. As with Geisel honor title, A Pig, a Fox and a Box (2016), Fenske brings such a wonderful sense of Seussian rhythm to the rhyming text, which helps readers predict final words in sentences. Speech bubbles are color coded and word repetition builds in the same way chapters build to the inevitable climax. The slapstick humor is augmented by fun illustrations, especially those showing pig’s porcine-inspired abode. Could Fenske snag another Geisel nod? We’ll have to wait and see! 

Pizza & Taco: Who's the Best? by Stephen Shaskan 

A new pair of friends joins the ranks of beginning reader dynamic duos in this humorous series starter. Pizza and Taco’s best friendship is threatened when their competition to be the best escalates. They extol their own virtues, give campaign speeches, and count votes, only to realize that while each one is best at different things, the one thing they are both best at is being best friends. The cartoonish illustrations use a combination of photographs of real food and digital techniques. The rest of the book seems to be a bit of a mash up as well. For instance, the font is supportive for developing readers, but the slangy language and vocabulary used might well fly over the heads of young readers. For example, Hamburger claims he’s a “write-in candidate” and later Pizza gripes, “Popular vote doesn’t count!” Personally, I have reservations about recommending a book that includes an election rife with dishonest candidates, name-calling, and outright cheating given the real-life election season we’re living through currently. But I have to say, I’ve had my fair share of conversations with K-2nd graders who absolutely love pizza and tacos, so perhaps the main characters alone will draw readers in.

Have we missed any stellar comics for beginning readers published this year? Let us know in the comments. 

#WeNeedDiverseBooks: Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter, and stories about Black lives are needed more than ever in media for all ages. Here on Guessing Geisel we’ve spoken about the need for greater diversity in books for beginning readers. While we celebrate the titles included in this post and published this year, there is certainly room across books for all ages for more diverse books, and particularly more stories about Black joy.

A newly launched series by accomplished duo author Kelly Starling Lyon and illustrator Nina Mata highlights an imaginative young Black boy, Ty, in two titles. Both feature helpful repetition to support beginning readers, and are described by the I Can Read schema as “ideal for sharing with your emergent reader”.

In All Aboard! Ty’s family is too busy to play, but once his train starts chugging along they reconsider and hop aboard! Mata’s illustrations do a delightful job of transitioning between Ty’s imagined, crayon-rendered landscape and more realistic scenes of his home.

In Zip, Zoom! Ty is learning to ride his new scooter in the park, which his imagination transforms into a crayon-rendered racetrack. Just when he is about to admit defeat, a new friend inspires him to keep going and they finish the imagined race together.

We look forward to future entries in this whimsical series.

2020 also bring additions to established series featuring Black characters, both own voices and those created by white authors and illustrators:

Christine Platt and Sharon Sordo added three titles to the Ana and Andrew Series early in the year: The Magic Violin, Going to Ghana, and The New Baby. Titles focus on African American culture and traditions and introducing readers to notable African American historical figures. In The Magic Violin, Frederick Douglass teaches Ana and Andrew the importance of practicing. In The New Baby, Granny explains to Ana and Andrew the significance of names in African American culture. In Going to Ghana the children learn about Gh anian Culture and the origins of the slave trade. For more confident and fluent readers ready to make the transition to chapter books, the Ana and Andrew series offers lessons in African American culture paired with Sordo’s joyful and vibrant illustrations. 

Dori Hillestad Butler and Nancy Meyers added a title to their Geisel honor-winning series:

In King and Kayla and the case of the Unhappy Neighbor Mr. Gary’s garden has been dug up by an unseen culprit! While Thor, Jillian’s dog is suspected, King and Kayla are on the case to clear his name. Another solid entry to a series with plenty of humor and heart, this title also features the short chapters perfect for young readers building up the confidence for longer titles. 

David Adler and Sam Ricks added two titles to their Geisel Award-winning Mo Jackson Series:

Swim, Mo, Swim! and Run, Mo, Run! which place perpetual underdog Mo Jackson in a field day swim race with extra ice cream on the line for the winning team, and track and field meet where a last minute snack brings Mo a bit of luck.  

We hope to see even more titles celebrating Black lives in upcoming seasons. 

And a resource recommendation before we go:

We recommend checking out the Kidlit Rally for Black Lives, held and recorded during Summer 2020 and hosted by The Brown Bookshelf as a resource for anyone who works with children, including parents, caregivers, librarians, and educators. Amanda attended this event live and found it profoundly informative and helpful, as well as hopeful. Follow The Brown Bookshelf for additional info about upcoming events, like a recent Black Lives Matter Q&A with authors Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, Jason Reynolds and Toshi Reagon.

Comics - Part One

There’s no doubt about it, comics and the Geisel Award go together like peanut butter and jelly! With honor titles like Sergio Ruzzier’s Fox and Chick: The Party and Other Stories, My Kite Is Stuck! And Other Stories by Salina Yoon, Emily Tetri’s Tiger vs Nightmare (just to name a few), and Laurie Keller’s Geisel winning We Are Not Growing!, there are a lot of comics for beginning readers to love. And yet, if your library is anything like mine, there’s a definite need for more comics for developing readers. They seem to fly off the shelves! So in today’s post I’m going to highlight a few beginning reader comics. Could one of them be the peanut butter to this year’s jelly? 

Book covers: Baloney and Friends by Greg Pizzoli, Chick and Brain: Egg or Eyeball? by Cecel Bell, Cookie & Broccoli: Ready for School by Bob McMahon

Baloney and Friends by Greg Pizzoli 

Given his Geisel track record -- Watermelon Seed (winner 2014), Good Night Owl (honor 2017), Book Hog (honor 2020) --, a new Pizzoli book always generates some Geisel buzz. In a combination of longer, multi-page stories and brief, single-page mini-comics, a pig named Baloney and his gaggle of animal friends support one another through swimming pool fun, magic show hilarity, and days when they’re feeling a bit blue. Color-coded speech bubbles match the color of each character, making it easy to follow the dialogue-driven stories. Although there’s occasional unfamiliar vocabulary and a word here and there printed in a decorative font, overall there’s much to appreciate in what promises to be the start of a new series. 

 

Chick and Brain: Egg or Eyeball? by Cece Bell 

Just last year Bell took home a Geisel honor for Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot. All the supporting elements from that honor title -- clever word repetition, a story arc that creates a wonderful page turning dynamic, and text printed in an easy to read font positioned in well-placed speech bubbles -- are once again present in the duo’s newest adventure. In four chapters of hilarious wordplay, Chick and Brain debate egg versus eyeball with an eleventh hour reveal that will have everyone giggling. Readers of the first book will be delighted to encounter Spot the dog, as well as a few new, completely original characters. While there are definitely nods to the first book, this title stands on its own quite well. 

Cookie & Broccoli: Ready for School! by Bob McMahon 

Starring a cast of talking foods with stick-like appendages and large expressive eyes, McMahon’s author-illustrator debut is jam-packed with jokes. From the first moment Cookie and Broccoli meet at school, it’s clear they are destined to become best friends whose opposite personalities complement one another. School day mischief and misunderstandings provide the backbone for this series starter. While the silly humor and friendly illustrations scream kid appeal, the sheer amount of text along with the many different decorative fonts used throughout the book may pose some barriers to a successful reading experience for new readers. 

 

As I close this post, I want to highlight the need for developing reader comics by BIPOC creators, as well as creators with/from other marginalized identities and communities. And we need those identities and cultures to be reflected in the books as well. Have you noticed something all of the titles mentioned in this post have in common? They all feature animals, plants, or other inanimate objects (with the exception of Brain, who is a walking, talking brain…), rather than human characters. I long for comics that provide windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors to new readers. That’s not to say that any of the titles or creators we’ve mentioned in this post aren’t Geisel-worthy, rather, let’s take note of these gaps. Make your voice heard by asking publishers to actively seek, publish and promote diverse comics by diverse creators.

And We're Back!

 What a year 2020 has been, right? Everything seems to have changed, from the way we check out library books (did anyone think curbside pickup would be the major trend this year?), to the way we do school (gentle, virtual hugs to all you teachers out there), to the way we buy groceries.  But one thing hasn't changed: kids are still learning to read, and they still need great books to help them on their way.

This year on Guessing Geisel, we're scaling back a little (which is why you're seeing this post in October instead of August), but we still want to bring you quality content to help you serve the beginning readers in your life. This year, you'll see more posts with groupings of titles, including diverse books, titles from previous Geisel winners, comic-style beginning readers, and so much more. We'll pick our favorites near the end of the year, and we'll all be watching the virtual YMA press conference in January!

Keep an eye out for new content starting next week.  Stay safe, stay healthy, and we'll see you here soon!

Congratulations! Tuning in for the Award Acceptance speeches

We have the opportunity this year to tune in to #TheBookAwardCelebration of ALSC award winners, including the Geisel Award recipients. If you missed the livestream premiere, the videos will remain on the ALA YouTube channel.

Watch live at ALA's Youtube Channel
We hope that you are all safe and well, and look forward to celebrating excellent books for children with you this year and always.

Job Well Done: The Guessing Geisel Co-Hosts React to the 2020 YMA Announcements

In this post, the co-hosts of Guessing Geisel (Amanda, Amy, Kahla, and Misti) share their thoughts and reactions to the 2020 Geisel Award winner and honor titles. 

Watching the YMAs

Kahla: I watched the livestream from my office, and although my coworkers were not all as enthusiastic about the awards I was, I filled in the gaps by texting reactions with colleagues and friends. The excitement at the conference was contagious, even through the screen!

Misti: I watched the livestream from my desk, as well. I always bring doughnuts on YMA day, and figure that my enthusiastic reactions are good entertainment for the rest of my department!

Amanda: I was tuning in to the livestream from home, feeding my baby and cheering on my friends and colleagues who did amazing work on their various committees. I was so excited that the livestream included shots of the waving committees standing to be recognized for their work. On a personal note, I was delighted to have read more of the award winners than I expected in this year when I’ve had my mind on other things. 

Amy: I was in Philadelphia watching the announcements unfold live! It’s always such a thrill to feel the excitement crackling through the room. In addition to shouting out with joy when favorite books were announced, I was also texting the other co-hosts and live tweeting for @GuessingGeisel. 

Stop! Bot! by James Yang

Amanda: I was surprised to see a picture book take the top spot this year as the beginning reader series just get stronger and stronger, but not surprised to see Stop! Bot! recognized. From its unique trim size that really supports the vertical movement of the story to the predictable layout of the word balloon on each spread, there’s much to celebrate in this imaginative book. 

Kahla: The beguiling simplicity of the text pairs wonderfully with the bustling illustrations, so full of little details that invite a second (or third) look. 

Amy: We included Stop! Bot! in our mock, but it only got a handful of votes, so this was a lovely surprise. I also love the trim size; to me it says something exciting and unique is inside. This is one I also wish I had been able to read with kids.

Misti: I, too, am looking forward to getting to know this book better -- I gave it a quick read when we put it on our mock list, but now I’ll be sure to go back and give it my full attention. 

Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot! by Cece Bell

Kahla: Graphic novels got a lot of attention across the board this year, and it’s great to see the comics format becoming more commonplace in the top Geisel spots. This one solidly hits the mark for creativity that engages kids in reading! 

Amanda: I think it’s great that CeCe Bell thought that this one might be too weird for the committee, and that this riff on the classic “Dick and Jane” found a spot. I always appreciate when humor with high kid appeal is recognized. 

Misti: Oh, definitely! I always say that it’s so hard to write humor, and even harder to write it for beginning readers, so I love to see something funny taking home a prize.

Amy: There simply aren’t enough graphic novels for developing readers! I’m always happy to see a graphic novel recognized by the committee because I think it encourages the creation and publication of more. Also, a brain with legs just tickles me! 

Flubby is Not a Good Pet! by J.E. Morris 

Misti: This book was on my list from early on. I’m so glad to see it get recognition from the committee! (I'm also amused, while formatting this post, at the number of Geisel honored titles with exclamation marks this year. These books, emphatically, have something to say!)

Kahla: This book is satisfying on multiple levels, not the least of which is that there is simply something irresistible and timeless about fat, lazy cats. 

Amy: Agreed! I think kids can see the promise of a resistant cat in the title of a book can only lead to hilarity. I also appreciate the depiction of Flubby’s child owner with brown skin and hair. While not #OwnVoices, there’s still so little diversity in beginning readers that it’s notable. 

Amanda: What Kahla said! There’s not a word out of place in the pacing of this relatable story. I can’t wait to share this one with owners of bad pets everywhere. 

The Book Hog by Greg Pizzoli

Amanda: Pizzoli’s no stranger to the Geisel Award. Congrats to him and CeCe Bell for being the repeat honorees this year. How meta to recognize a story in which our main character learns to read “over time, and with practice” with an award for those engaged in that very learning themselves. 

Kahla: To echo Amanda, how cool to see a book all about the power of stories and libraries make one of the top spots for an award that celebrates learning to read! Especially when said story manages to tug at adult heartstrings while also hitting that kid-humor sweet spot with a nice toilet scene. 

Misti: This is a book with great kid appeal -- well, all-ages appeal, really!  I also love the learning to read connection in a Geisel honoree.

Amy: Pizzoli lives in Philadelphia, so I imagine it must have been a really cool experience to receive that phone call on Sunday and know that the YMAs were happening in his own city! I didn’t see him there (there were a lot of people!), but I hope he was able to be in the room to experience the excitement of a roomful of people going wild about his book! 

Other Thoughts

Amy: A little part of me is sad to say goodbye to this round of contenders, but another part of me is excited about all the amazing titles to come! I stopped at a lot of publisher booths to ask about upcoming Geisel contenders (see the @GuessingGeisel Twitter account for pics) and it’s gonna be a good year! 

Kahla: Can't wait for it! Thanks to everyone who helped fill this year at Guessing Geisel with great conversations. 

Misti: It’s been a great year on Guessing Geisel, and I echo Kahla’s thanks to all of our great guest contributors, and to those who read and comment.  We couldn’t do it without you!

Amanda: It’s very exciting to have the historic overlap between the CSK and Caldecott/Newbery picks! And what a delight to see Antoinette Portis (2007 Geisel Honor) take a Sibert honor, and Kevin Henkes (2014 and 2016 Geisel Honors) recognized with the Legacy Award.  Overall it feels like a pretty satisfying year! There will always be beloved books left out the selections, but job well done to the committees this year.

Congratulations, to the 2020 Geisel Award Winner and Honors!

The Youth Media Awards took place this morning. If you missed the announcements live, you will be able to view a recording here. 

Congratulations to the 2020 Geisel Award winner . . . . 

 

Stop! Bot!, by James Yang!

The honor books named are:

Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot! by Cece Bell

Flubby is Not a Good Pet!, by J.E. Morris 

The Book Hog by Greg Pizzoli

Congratulations to all of the book creators! Here at Guessing Geisel we’re still gathering our thoughts and will be back later with a longer reaction. For now, congratulations to committee chair Jean B. Gaffney, and to the members of the committee - Denise Davila, Melody T. Leung, Sara Pope, Kelly Finan Richards, Barbara S. Spears - on your selections. Thank you all for your dedication to recognizing the very best books for beginning readers!

Starting a Beginning Reader Book Club

Have you been enjoying the Guessing Geisel posts this year? Are you looking for fresh programming ideas? Why not squish them together by starting a book club for beginning readers!

I have now had two sessions of my newly-minted Beginning to Read Book Club, and although building a following for a new program can take time, I’m having a blast. My goal with this post is to share the resources I used in my planning, talk a bit about why such a book club can be a good addition to a programming lineup, and share what I’ve done so far and what I plan to try in the future.

First and foremost, I must give credit to the lovely ladies at Jbrary (truly, where would we all be without them?) Not surprisingly, they have a post about starting a beginning reader book club, and it was invaluable to me during the planning phase. Another useful resource is this SLJ article about beginning reader book clubs around the country. And finally, all of the wonderful Guessing Geisel reviews this year served as both inspiration and resource as I put together my list of titles for the coming months.

Book clubs are in many ways a natural fit for libraries: we get to show off our collection, talk about books we like with folks in our community, connect members of the community with one another, and create positive library experiences. I wanted to offer a literary program to fill the gap between storytime and the book clubs we offer for older kids. I also wanted to demystify the beginning reader section for patrons and showcase an often confusing and intimidating collection.

Given that this was a new program for my library and I wasn’t sure what reading levels might show up to the first meeting, I decided to start with the basics: the Elephant and Piggie series. I pulled several titles from the series and set them up on a table, and also set up a craft. I borrowed heavily from Jbrary for the structure of my meetings, so I won’t recreate that here; the only differences are that I don’t have participants register for the program, and I don’t always have multiples of the titles, so instead I’m using series where I can order several and let the kids all pick a different one (or more!) to check out if they want. They don’t need to read anything ahead of time to participate. At the meetings, we decide which title from the series we want to read together, and how we want to read it—I can read it to them, they can read it to me, or we can all take turns reading a page. So far they have always chosen to read at least some of it themselves.

I had one reader show up to the first session, and although he was able to read longer books, he enjoyed the Elephant and Piggie titles, and we spent some time decoding the images and speech bubbles and talking about the characters. Meeting two showcased the Pig in a Wig books, and this time I had three participants of slightly varying reading levels. All were comfortable reading the books, so after we had read the first few pages, we paused and spent a few minutes noticing the rhyme scheme and guessing what might happen on the next page based on that pattern. We also talked about the end papers—which in this series provide clues to the content of the story—and used the end papers to make educated guesses about what might happen in the titles from the series that we hadn’t read together.

Next meeting I plan to branch out into nonfiction, with the slightly more challenging Disgusting Critters series by Elise Gravel. Other series I’d like to explore in the coming months include Charlie and Mouse and Fox and Chick, both of which will be useful in introducing chapters and talking about themes and character in greater depth.

Has anyone else started a club for beginning readers? Anyone else thinking about it? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

Lists Upon Lists!

Guessing Geisel’s mock results have been announced, but that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped reading Geisel contenders! If you’re looking for more great contenders, or simply want to read more beginning readers, here are a few lists of favorite 2019 beginning reader titles. 

• If you live anywhere near Portland, OR you still have time to register for Oregon Library Association’s Children’s Services Division Mock Geisel Award Workshop (registration closes on January 15). They have a great shortlist! 
• Michele over at Mrs. Knott’s Book Nook has been reading books for developing readers all year. She’s sharing her favorites using the hashtag #road2reading.
• 100 Scope Notes’ Travis Jonker names his favorites in his annual Geisel Prediction Post.
• The CYBILS (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) has posted their list of nominees for their Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books category. Winners will be announced in February. 
• Betsy Bird posted her favorites Easy Books as part of her 31 Days, 31 Lists series (side note: Betsy is also one of our guest contributors!). 
• Finally, you can see mock results for many awards collected on the ALSC blog. At the time of writing, there weren’t any mock Geisel results posted, but I’m sure the results will be rolling in soon. 

Whether you held a mock with colleagues, students, we’d love to know what titles you picked, as well as your results. Please share in the comments below! 

We Have a Mock Winner (and Honors, too!)

We here at Guessing Geisel are happy to announce the official winner and honor titles for the 2020 Guessing Geisel Mock!

Book cover for Fox + Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier

Winner: Fox + Chick: The Quiet Boat Ride and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier

Book covers for mock honor titles

Honors:

• Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot by Cece Bell 
• Penny and Her Sled by Kevin Henkes
• Charlie & Mouse Even Better by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Emily Hughes 

For the first time in Guessing Geisel history we arrived at our mock winner and honor titles after just one round of balloting! Using the same weighted point system as the Real Committee (4 points for each first choice vote, 3 points for each second choice vote, and 2 points for each third choice vote), we were able to clearly see our winning and honor titles. Out of 36 ballots, Ruzzier’s delightfully witty duo garnered 64 points, a full 8 points ahead of the crowd! Or, another way to look at it is 19 out of 36 people included Fox + Chick on their ballot!

As with the Real Committee, we decided there would be no limit (or requirement) for the number of honor titles to be named. Per the award manual, once a winning title has been chosen through the balloting process, the committee then turns their attention to Honor Books.

“The committee first considers whether or not to select Honor Books. If it decides there are to be none, the selection process is complete. If Honor Books are to be chosen, the selection process proceeds. At this point, certain choices present themselves:

• Whether or not to use the winning selection ballot to choose Honor Books. The committee looks at titles with the next highest number of points. 
• Whether or not to ballot one more time. Only one additional ballot is allowed.” 

In this case, we looked at the titles with the next highest number of points on our first ballot. All sitting between 43-56 points, each of our mock honor books were at least 15 points ahead of the next contender (Let’s Have a Sleepover at 28 points). This 15 point gap felt big enough to merit a cut off point. You can see the point tally below.

Ballot tally

Other interesting balloting results:

• Each of our 12 contenders got at least 2 votes. 
• Our readers also voted for two write in titles: Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis and Snail & Worm: All Day by Tina Kügler. 
• Fox + Chick and Chick and Brain both had 10 first place votes, but differed in numbers of second and third place votes. 
• The mock winner and all the honor titles were created by authors and illustrators with works named Geisel Award winners or honor books in previous years. Ruzzier for the first Fox + Chick title (2019, honor), Bell for Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover (2013, honor), Henkes has had two brushes with Geisel fame: Waiting (2016, honor) and Penny and Her Marble (2013, honor), and Snyder and Hughes took home the medal in 2018 for the first Charlie & Mouse title. 
• For more about balloting and reballoting, check out Amanda’s previous post) 

Now all we can do is eagerly anticipate the announcement of the real YMAs on Monday, January 27, 2020, at 8 a.m. ET. We hope you'll join us in live streaming online or watching (and cheering!) in person at ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia, PA.

What's It Like to Be on the Geisel Committee #5

Today's guest blogger, Julie Danielson, writes about picture books at her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, and reviews for Kirkus, BookPage, The Horn Book, and Tennessee's Chapter 16. She is one of the bloggers at The Horn Book's Calling Caldecott and is a Lecturer for The University of Tennessee's School of Information Sciences. 

This is an exciting time of year for the Real Geisel Committee, who are making final nominations for the award — and who will soon meet behind closed doors to start deliberations and pick the big winner and Honor books.

Angela Frederick, Librarian at Nolensville High School in middle Tennessee, is familiar with the thrill of working as a team on a Geisel committee. She was a member of the 2019 committee, the one that gave the Geisel Award to Corey R. Tabor's Fox the Tiger, which her committee described as being "an inviting tale of the power of transformation and friendship." (You can see the Honor books listed here.) Angela has served on multiple award committees, including the 2015 Printz committee, and she chaired the 2013 Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults.

But I wanted to find out from her what it was like to serve on the Geisel committee, so we talked via email about her experience.

JD: Are Geisel committee members asked to read professional materials on evaluating beginning readers prior to committee work?

AF: There is a manual for the committee, and there is a suggested reading list of articles and books written by various leaders in the field. I myself read Robin Smith's articles and Kathleen Horning's From Cover to Cover, among other articles from School Library Journal and Booklist, etc.

JD: Child appeal is a part of the Geisel criteria. When you did your committee work, how often were you getting feedback from children about books you read?

AF: Several committee members were working directly with children in school or public library settings and were using the books in storytimes or lessons.

JD: Do you have any beginning reader pet peeves?

AF: I dislike when difficult vocabulary words are included in an otherwise easy-to-decode text. I feel like this can discourage a new reader who is having success with the other words. I also don't like when sentences continue on to the next page before ending.

JD: How did serving on the committee affect your work as a librarian, generally speaking?

AF: It helped me understand another aspect of the power of literature to help children on their journey to becoming readers. A book that can be read to a child by an adult is often written differently than a book that a young reader can read on their own.

JD: You've served on other committees. What is one way in which serving on the Geisel committee differs from other committee work you've done?

AF: The criteria was much more specific than some of the other committees, so that the field of choices was narrowed down quickly.

JD: What's the most memorable or valuable thing you learned from your committee work?

AF: I think the most valuable thing I learned is how to recognize an early reader of quality. I was also reminded of how a great committee working together can be such a lovely experience.

JD: What is your very favorite beginning reader book?

AF: Geisel 2019 Award Winner Fox the Tiger by Corey Tabor, of course!