It Only Takes One Good Book to Get Hooked on Reading

At Bookshare, we have a saying that “it only takes one good book to get hooked on reading.” This month we are celebrating special reading events and award-winning literature for 2016 to help members find a treasure trove of good books:

• Happy birthday to one of our favorite authors, Dr. Seuss, on March 2
• National Education Association’s Read Across America Day is a national initiative to spread the joy of reading to children and young adults
• The 2016 Youth Media Awards, presented by The American Library Association, recognize outstanding works of literature as well as authors and illustrators

2016 Youth Media Awards

This year’s award winners consist of original and creative works to help guide parents, educators, librarians, and Bookshare members to select the best reading materials for youth. Additional titles by the winning authors can be found in Bookshare’s ever-expanding collection. We encourage you to explore these books and share them with students so they can get hooked on reading for life.  A few of the award winners are listed below:

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear, written by Lindsay Mattick and illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book: Don’t Throw It to Mo!, written by David A. Adler and illustrated by Sam Ricks

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:

• Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, written by Laurie Ann Thompson and illustrated by Sean Qualls (for children ages zero to ten)
• Fish in a Tree, written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and The War That Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker (for middle school children ages eleven to thirteen)
• The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B, written by Teresa Toten (for teens ages thirteen to eighteen)

Laura Ingalls Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. The 2016 winner is Jerry Pinkney, whose award-winning works include The Lion and the Mouse, recipient of the Caldecott Award in 2010.

Margaret A. Edwards Award honors lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. David Levithan is the 2016 winner. His books include: The Realm of Possibility, Boy Meets Boy, Love is the Higher Law, How They Met, and Other Stories, Wide Awake and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizes an author, critic, librarian, historian, or teacher of children’s literature. Jacqueline Woodson is the winner who will deliver the 2017 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Woodson is the 2014 National Book Award winner for her New York Times’ bestselling memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming.

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults: Bone Gap, written by Laura Ruby, is the 2016 winner.

New to Bookshare?

Bookshare is the world’s largest online library of accessible ebooks for people with print disabilities and is FREE to all qualifying U.S. students. The Bookshare library has over 394,000 books and serves more than 380,000 members. To find out if a student qualifies, check out this link: Is Bookshare for Me?

If you are already a member, use our advanced search option to find a title quickly, explore the lists of special collections, or read about our latest collection of the Top 100 Picture Books with Image Descriptions.

Make March the month to get hooked on reading!