All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.

Michele Knott of Mrs. Knott's Book Nook and I kicked off a new reading challenge at the beginning of the year. To read about the challenge you can check out my initial post here.

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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the American Library Association's Midwinter Conference. I love Midwinter. I get to connect with friends, talk with publishers about new releases coming out, sit in on the Children's Notables Discussion and meet with other members of the Schneider Family Book Award Jury. On Friday, my committee spent hours discussing out short list and choosing winners. I will do a post later this week on the winning books for the Schneider Award and tomorrow, I will post about the Sibert Award books.

Since we started the #Road2Reading, I walked around the exhibit hall looking specifically for early readers and transitional chapter books. At each booth, I would ask the publisher reps to show me what they had that was coming out.

Last week, I shared just a little about the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award. You can read the post here. Below are some of the books spotted in the wild at ALA Midwinter or found their way into my suitcase.

Before I cover the winners, I wanted to talk a little bit more about the purpose and criteria of the award. The information below comes from the Geisel Manual which is found here.

From the manual:
The Theodore Seuss Geisel Award was established in 2004, to recognize those books for beginning readers which meet a particularly high standard of excellence.

Purpose: The Theodore Seuss Geisel Award recognizes the author and illustrator of a book for beginning readers who, through their literary and artistic achievements, demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading.

Terms: The Award is to be given annually to the author and illustrator of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature that encourages and supports the beginning reader published in English in the United States during the preceding year.

Critera:
In identifying the most distinguished children’s book for beginning readers, committee members will consider the following important elements and qualities:
* The subject matter must be intriguing enough to motivate the child to read;
* The book may or may not include short "chapters";
* New words are added slowly enough to make learning them a positive experience;
* Words are repeated in an easily recognizable pattern to ensure knowledge retention;
* Sentences are simple and straightforward;
* There is a minimum of 24 pages. Books are not longer than 96 pages;
* The illustrations demonstrate the story being told;
* The design of the book includes attention to size of typeface, an uncluttered background that sets off the text, appropriate line length, and placement of illustrations;
* The plot advances from one page to the next, and together with the illustrations, creates a "page-turning" dynamic.
* The book creates a successful reading experience, from start to finish;
* The book is respectful and of interest to children
* The book shows excellent, engaging and distinctive use of both language and illustration.

Based on the above terms and criteria, this year's Geisel Committee selected four (4) honor books and a winner.