Sunday Salon: Red Clover Nominees (February 7, 2010)

You can see other Sunday Salon posts and join in on the fun at The Sunday Salon.

I love this time of year at my school. This coming week is I Love To Read and Write Week. During this week, we have guest readers coming into the classrooms reading all the Red Clover nominees. The Red Clover Award is an award that is voted on by the children of Vermont. The children hear all the nominated picture books and then vote on their favorite one. The results from all the schools are tabulated and then the winner is announced in April. Some past winners include Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Knuffle Bunny, and The Great Fuzz Frenzy.

This year’s nominees:

• A Couple of Boys have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee
• Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: a Tall, Thin Tale by Deborah Hopkins
• Finding Home by Sandra Markle
• How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham
• Owney, the Mail Pouch Pooch by Mary Kerby
• Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City by Janet Schulman
• Sandy’s Circus: a Story about Alexander Calder, by Stone, Tanya Lee
• Silent Music: a Story of Baghdad by James Rumford
• The Chicken of the Family by Mary Amato
• Wangari’s Trees of Peace by Jeannette Winter

I have not read any of the nominated books yet. I’m hoping to curl up with them on Monday and check them out.

The kids in my class always love participating in the voting. They take it very seriously. When the winner is finally announced over the loud-speaker, you can hear cheers throughout the school while in the hallways you also overhear kids discussing the results: Should that book have won or a different one and why? I love hearing kids talk about books!

Have you read any of these books? Which one would you vote for?