Children's Choices for 2001: a project of the International Reading Association and The Children's Book Council. (Cover Story).

What is the Children's Choices project?

Each year 10,000 school children from different regions of the United States read and vote on the newly published children's and young adults' trade books that they like best. The Children's Choices for 2001 list is the 27th in a series that first appeared as "Classroom Choices" in the November 1975 issue of The Reading Teacher (RT), a peer-reviewed journal for preschool, primary, and elementary levels published eight times a year by the International Reading Association (IRA). This list is designed for use not only by teachers, librarians, administrators, and booksellers, but also by parents, grandparents, caregivers, and everyone who wishes to encourage young people to read for pleasure.

Children's Choices is a project of a joint committee supported by IRA and The Children's Book Council (CBC). IRA is a nonprofit educational organization whose members include classroom and reading teachers, school administrators and supervisors, parents, college/ university faculty, and others who are dedicated to improving reading instruction and promoting literacy worldwide.

The Children's book Council is the nonprofit professional association of U.S. publishers and packagers of books for young people. It encourages childhood literacy through sponsorship of national programs including Young People's Poetry Week and the 92-year-old annual observance, Children's Book Week, as well as working cooperatively with other professional associations.

In 1969, IRA and CBC formed a liaison committee to explore areas of mutual interest to reading teachers and publishers. Among the committee's initial charges was the development of a core selection of trade books for the classroom. This list of Children's Choices has remained an important activity of the committee, which each year produces this child-selected bibliography identifying titles that can be used successfully in reading programs, can be related to the classroom curricula, and are known to engage children.

How are books selected and annotated?

More than 700 books were evaluated by children for Children's Choices for 2001. The books to be tested were selected by publishers from the books they published in 2000 and were sent to five review teams located in different regions of the United States. Each team consisted of a children's literature specialist plus one or more classroom teachers who in turn worked with other classroom teachers, school librarians, and 2,000 children. Throughout the school year the books were in classrooms, being read to or by children.

Children's votes were tabulated in March, and the top 99 titles for 2001 were announced at the International Reading Association Annual Convention in May. The review teams provided an annotation for each title on the list.

What bibliographic information is provided?

Books selected for the Children's Choices list have been grouped by reading levels:

Beginning readers (ages 5-6)

Young readers (ages 6-8)

Intermediate readers (ages 8-10)

Advanced readers (ages 10-13)

Users should note that many books read easily by beginning readers are also enjoyed by more advanced readers, and many titles for advanced readers are accessible to intermediate and younger readers or can be read aloud in the classroom.

The title, author, illustrator, publisher, ISBN (International Standard Book Number), and price are provided for each book as well as a brief annotation prepared by a review team. All books listed are hardcover unless otherwise noted. Prices are accurate as of late spring 2001; they are subject to change without notice. These abbreviations are provided for easy reference:

 
Ill. by   illustrator of the book 
Pb.       a paperback book 
ISBN      Identifies books and facilitates 
          purchasing titles from 
          bookstores, wholesalers, or 
          publishers 
(library) the ISBN, followed by the 
          price, for the library edition 
          of a book 
(trade)   the ISBN, followed by the 
          price, for the edition of the 
          book available from booksellers 
pp.       page count 
F.        paperback is forthcoming 
          but not yet available 

All books on this list should be available through your local library or a local bookseller.

Beginning Readers

Bear's Christmas Star

Mireille D'Allance. Ill. by the author.

Students will connect with Bear, who always seems too small to help Papa. This beautifully illustrated story reminds us that even the tiniest child can help at Christmas. (Team 4)

Margaret McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster. 28 pp. ISBN 0-689-83826-3 (trade). US$12.95. CANS 19.25.

Blue Rabbit and Friends

Christopher Wormell. Ill. by the author.

While searching for a new home, Blue Rabbit discovers that his friends can find perfect homes with a little exchanging. However, it's adventure, not a home, that Blue Rabbit finds. (Team 1)

Phyllis Fogelman Books/Dial Books for Young Readers. 32 pp. ISBN 0-8037-2499-3 (trade). US$14.99. CAN$24.99. Pb., Puffin, F.

Captain Bob Sets Sail

Roni Schotter. Ill. by Joe Cepeda.

This brave captain makes taking a bath an exciting adventure. The illustrations will make you believe you are on the voyage of your life! Your interest will be captured through the use of alliteration and rhyme. (Team 4)

Anne Schwartz Books/Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 32 pp. ISBN 0-689-82081-X (trade). US$16.00. CAN$23.50.

Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck

Lisa Westberg Peters. Ill. by Sam Williams

Arriving at the pond too early makes a little duck's dreams of spring bring the season in faster. Descriptive words in this story will have young children reading along. (Team 2)

Greenwillow Books. 32 pp. ISBN 0-688-16179-0 (library). US$15.89. ISBN 0-688-16178-2 (trade). US$15.95. CAN$23.95.

Dr. Duck

H.M. Ehrlich. Ill. by Laura Rader.

What does a doctor do when he gets sick? If he's lucky enough to have friends for patients, they help him recuperate. Students can anticipate the rhyming patterns of the remedies. (Team 2)

Orchard Books. 36 pp. ISBN 0-531-30254-7 (trade). US$14.95.

Dr. Pompo's Nose

Saxton Freymann & Joost Elffers. Ill. with photos by the authors.

It's as simple as the nose upon your face. These realistic pumpkin characters will delight readers both young and young at heart. This simple lost-and-found tale has an interesting twist at the end. (Team 4)

Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic. 32 pp. ISBN 0-439-11014-9 (trade). US$15.99. CAN$22.99.

Drip, Drop (An I Can Read Book)

Sarah Weeks. Ill. by Jane Manning. Drip, drop is the rain pattering inside the mouse's home. He cannot sleep for the drip, drops. Children will love the play with language and the funny illustrations of the mouse trying to save his home from flooding. (Team 5)

HarperCollins. 32 pp. ISBN 0-06-028524-9 (library). US$14.89. ISBN 0-06-028523-0 (trade). US$14.95. CANS 19.95. Pb., Harper Trophy, F. ISBN 0-06-443597-0. US$3.95.

Duck in the Truck

Jez Alborough. Ill. by the author.

The duck needs help to get his truck unstuck from the muck. So the frog, sheep, and goat try their best to get the truck back on track. The use of pattern and rhyme add to this humorous tale. (Team 5)

HarperCollins. 32 pp. ISBN 0-06-028685-7 (trade). US$14.95. CAN$19.95. Pb., Harper Trophy. ISBN 0-06-443833-3. US$5.95.

Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car

Eileen Christelow. Ill. by the author.

Five monkeys work to get their car ready for sale. When it ends up in the swamp, the monkeys use their wits to sell it to the crocodiles. This rhyming tale will bring chuckles right to the end. (Team 1)

Clarion Books. 32 pp. ISBN 0-395-92566-5 (trade). US$15.00.

Froggy Goes to Bed

Jonathan London. Ill. by Frank Remkiewicz.

Froggy, like most children, needs to do just one more thing before bedtime, then one more, and one more. Patient to the end, Frog Mom makes each situation work out just right. (Team 1)

Viking Children's Books. 32 pp. ISBN 0-67088860-5 (trade). US$15.99. …