2020-21 Activity Booklet still in the works

 Sorry for the delay in posting the Activity Booklet for the 2021 NCCBA nominees.  Not only has our timeline gotten all catawampus, but we're also having to rethink the types of activities that belong in the booklet due to virtual learning!  Please bear with us.  As with everything else we've had to do this year to make sure the award continues, the Activity Booklet is evolving to meet the needs of our teachers/librarians and students.

We plan to have activities and read-alouds available by the end of the month.  Thanks for your patience!

2021 Picture Book and Junior Book Nominees

We are very pleased to announce the nominees for the 2021 North Carolina Children's Book Awards. 

Annotated Picture Book list
Annotated Junior Book list

Picture Books

Junior Books

Be Quiet! Higgins, Ryan T..  Los Angeles : Disney-Hyperion, 2017. The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs: the story of Ken Nedimyer and the Coral Restoration Foundation Messner, Kate. Illustrated by Matthew Forsythe.   San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 2018. The Day You Begin Woodson, Jacqueline. Illustrated by Rafael López.  New York : Nancy Paulsen Books, 2018. The Donkey Egg Stevens, Janet and Susan Stevens Crummel.  Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019. Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story Maillard, Kevin Noble. Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal.  New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2019. Going Down Home with Daddy Lyons, Kelly Starling. Illustrated by Daniel Minter.   Atlanta : Peachtree Publishers, 2019. The Good Egg John, Jory. Illustrated by Pete Oswald.  New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2019. Hair Love Cherry, Matthew A.. Illustrated by Vashti Harrison.  New York : Kokila, 2019. La Princesa and the Pea Elya, Susan Middleton. Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal.  New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2017. Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship Kensky, Jessica and Patrick Downes. Illustrated by Scott Magoon.   Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2018.

Aru Shah and the End of Time Chokshi, Roshani.  Los Angeles : Disney-Hyperion, 2018. Because of the Rabbit Lord, Cynthia.  New York : Scholastic Press, 2019. Cape Hannigan, Kate.  New York : Alladin, 2019. The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You Into Space and Back Again Wolf, Allan. Illustrated by Anna Raff.  Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2019. From the Desk of Zoe Washington Marks, Janae.   New York : Katherine Tegen Books, 2020. Harbor Me Woodson, Jacqueline.   New York : Nancy Paulsen Books, 2018. Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera Fleming, Candace. Illustrated by Eric Rohmann.   New York : Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Holiday House, 2020. Prairie Lotus Park, Linda Sue.   Boston ; New York : Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. Stargazing Wang, Jenny.  New York : FirstSecond, 2019. The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle Conner, Leslie.  New York : Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2018.

2020 Picture Book and Junior Book Winners

It took some creative thinking and a lot of hard work from teachers and librarians across the state for the children of North Carolina to vote for their favorites this year, but it's been done!  We have winners for the 2020 North Carolina Children's Book Award.

Can I Be Your Dog?, written and illustrated by Troy Cummings, is the winner of the picture book category with 5,377 votes.

 

Front Desk, written by Kelly Yang, is the winner of the junior book category with 532 votes.

 

The North Carolina Children's Book Award committee would like to thank all of the children who voted virtually through this website or their school librarians and teachers. We appreciate you all being flexible and making the extra effort to participate this year!

To see the voting summary for this year's awards, please go to the 2020 Results and Materials page.

The nominees for the 2021 awards will be released by mid-July!

Listen to the Picture Book Nominees

Listen to all of the 2020 North Carolina Children's Book Award Picture Book nominees and then vote!  Voting will end at the end of the day on May 31.
 
Click on the title or the caption under the book cover to listen to the book.

Because by Mo Willems (illus. Amber Ren) 
 

Listen to Because by Mo Willems

Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings 

Listen to Can I Be Your Dog by Troy Cummings

The Crayon Man: the true story of the invention of Crayola Crayons by Natascha Biebow (illus. Steven Salerno)

Listen to The Crayon Man by Natascha Biebow

Misunderstood Shark: Starring Shark! by Ame Dyckman (illus. Scott Magoon)

Listen to Misunderstood Shark by Ame Dyckman

Mixed: a colorful story by Arree Chung

Listen to Mixed: a colorful story by Arree Chung

Potato Pants! by Laurie Keller

Listen to Potato Pants! by Laurie Keller

The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet by Carmen Agra Deedy (illus. Eugene Yelchin)

Listen to The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet by Carmen Agra Deedy

Click here to listen to the author read the beginning of the book.

The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach

Listen to The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach

We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

Listen to We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds

Listen to The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds

Now that you've listened to all of the books, you may vote for your favorite (as long as you're a kid!)

2020 Picture Book Online Kid's Voting

 

Start Nominating books for the 2021 Awards!

It's time to start nominating picture books and junior books for the 2020-2021 North Carolina Children's Book Awards!  Nominations are generated by the children of North Carolina.  Teachers and librarians may help children enter their nominations or do it for them, but no teacher or librarian should enter their own favorites.  That's what makes this award so special - the books are nominated by kids and then voted on by kids to get to the top two books of the year!  Click on "nominate a book" to get started.

Kids may nominate more than one favorite.

NOMINATE A BOOK