Strong Showing For Comics In Children’s Choice Book Awards!

eacrcbcEvery Child a Reader (ECAR) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) have announced the finalists in the eighth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards (CCBA), the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens. Comics showed strongly in the finalist group, including nods for CBLDF board member Jennifer L. Holm and friends of the Fund James Kochalka, Raina Telgemeier, Jimmy Gownley, Ben Hatke, and Cece Bell.

Young readers across the country will determine the winners in all seven categories of the Children’s Choice Book Awards by voting online at ccbookawards.com from Tuesday, March 17, 2015, through Sunday, May 3, 2015. In 2014, more than 1.2 million votes were cast online by young readers. Winners will be announced during the 96th annual Children’s Book Week (May 4-10, 2015), during which CBLDF and comic book stores around the country will be creating special events celebrating comics and the joy of reading!

Comics placed in the following categories:

THIRD TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR (Three out of the five books in this category are graphic novels!)

  • Claude at the Beach by Alex T. Smith (Peachtree Publishers)
  • The Glorkian Warrior Delivers a Pizza by James Kochalka (First Second Books, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
  • Happy Birthday, Babymouse by Jennifer L. Holm, illustrated by Matt Holm (Random House Books for Young Readers)
  • Kali’s Story: An Orphaned Polar Bear Rescue by Jennifer Keats Curtis, illustrated by John Gomes (Arbordale Publishing)
  • Sisters by Raina Telgemeier (Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic)

FIFTH TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR

  • Ice Dogs by Terry Lynn Johnson (HMH Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group)
  • Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods by Rick Riordan, illustrated by John Rocco (Disney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group)
  • Temple Run: Race Through Time to Unlock Secrets of Ancient Worlds by Tracey West (National Geographic Children’s Books)
  • The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Gownley (Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic)
  • The Return of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke (First Second Books, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)

CHILDREN’S CHOICE DEBUT AUTHOR

  • Cece BellEl Deafo (Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams)
  • Natalie LloydA Snicker of Magic (Scholastic Press)
  • Katherine RoyNeighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands (David Macaulay Studio/Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
  • Piers Torday, The Last Wild (Viking Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)
  • J.A. White, The Thickety: A Path Begins (Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Here’s the full press release: 2015 CCBA Finalists PR

This Free Comic Book Day, comic book stores will be among the first to kick off Children’s Book Week (May 4-10, 2015), the annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading, by giving away over two million comics to younger readers! With more than two dozen kid-friendly offerings from a wide array of publishers, there’s a free comic book available to help every young reader get into the spirit of Children’s Book Week. Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes, and now comic book stores!

Diamond Comic Distributors and Comic Book Legal Defense Fund are joining forces with the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader to develop cross-industry promotion for Free Comic Book Day and Children’s Book Week (CBW). The Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader has named Free Comic Book Day as an official event, supported on its website, bookweekonline.com, and all social media and newsletter channels. Diamond will distribute CBW materials to more than 2,000 comic book stores and promote the event online using freecomicbookday.com, and all associated social media. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund will develop and promote events with member stores, make available free information resources including Raising A Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love to Read!, and promote Children’s Book Week events through its website, weekly newsletter, and print newsletter CBLDF Defender.

Help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work in 2015 by visiting the Rewards Zonemaking a donation, or becoming a member of CBLDF!

Charles Brownstein is the Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund