Current Missouri Building Block Award Nominees for 2016

For 2015 the Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award went to the book:

Naked!
by Michael Ian Black


The current nominees for 2016 are:

Simon's New Bed
by  Christian Trimmer

Vincent Paints His House
by  Tedd Arnold

Bunnies!!!
by  Kevan Atteberry

Little Penguin Gets the Hiccups
by  Tadgh Bentley

Rex Wrecks It!
by  Ben Clanton

Ragweed's Farm Dog Handbook
(Learn from the best!)
by  Anne Vittur Kennedy

I Don't Want To Be A Frog
by  Dev Petty

Get Out of My Bath!
by  Britta Teckentrup

The Whale in My Swimming Pool
by  Joyce Wan

Dad's First Day
by Mike Wohnoutka










Voting will take place from September 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016

Newbery Medal Winning and Honor Books From 2000 - 2016

2000 Medal Winner -  Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Honor Books:

• Getting Near to Baby by by Audrey Couloumbis
• Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm 
• 26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola 

2001 Medal Winner - A Year Down Yonder by by Richard Peck

Honor Books:

• Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer 
• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo 
• Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos 
• The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

2002 Medal Winner - A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

Honor Books:

• Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath 
• Carver: A Life In Poems by Marilyn Nelson

2003 Medal Winner - Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

Honor Books:

• The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer 
• Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff 
• Hoot by Carl Hiaasen 
• A Corner of The Universe by Ann M. Martin 
• Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan

2004 Medal Winner - The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a 

Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering

Honor Books:

• Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books)
• An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy

2005 Medal Winner - Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Honor Books:

• Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko 
• The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman 
• Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt

2006 Medal Winner - Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins 

Honor Books:

• Whittington by Alan Armstrong, illustrated by S.D. Schindler 
• Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• Princess Academy by Shannon Hale 
• Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson

2007 Medal Winner - The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, illus. by Matt Phelan

Honor Books:

• Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm, 
• Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson 
• Rules by Cynthia Lord

2008 Medal Winner -  Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

Honor Books:

• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis 
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt 
• Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

2009 Medal Winner - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illus. by Dave McKean

Honor Books:

• The Underneath  by Kathi Appelt, illus. by David Small 
• The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle 
• Savvy by Ingrid Law 
• After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

2010 Medal Winner - When You Reach Me  by Rebecca Stead 

Honor Books:

• Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice  by  Phillip Hoose 
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate  by Jacqueline Kelly 
• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon  by Grace Lin 
• The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg  by Rodman Philbrick

2011 Medal Winner - Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool 

Honor Books:

• Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm 
• Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus 
• Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen
• One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

2012 Medal Winner - Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos 

Honor  Books:

• Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai 
• Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

2013 Medal Winner -  The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Honor Books:

• Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz 
• Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin 
• Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

2014 Medal Winner - Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo 

Honor Books:

• Doll Bones by Holly Black 
• The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes 
• One Came Home by Amy Timberlake 
• Paperboy by Vince Vawter

2015 Medal Winner - The Crossover by Kwame Alexander 

 Honor Books:

• El Deafo by Cece Bell 
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

2016 Medal Winner - Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena

 Honor Books:

• The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
• Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
• Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Pete the Cat Story Time

Today we had a Pete the Cat story time

*marks the books we read

Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses  by Kimberly & James Dean*
Pete the Cat - Old MacDonald Had a Farm  by James Dean
Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes  by Eric Litwin*
Pete the Cat - Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star  by James Dean*
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons  by Eric Litwin*

For our craft we decorated a picture from Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses with Pete the Cat stickers

Extra activities:
Before we read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons I asked how many children were wearing buttons. We made a graph of who had buttons and who didn't. Then we counted the buttons everyone was wearing to see how many buttons there were.

We sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star while we read the book Pete the Cat Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

The Hero in Me

Today we talked about the hero inside of us and what it takes to be a hero besides being strong or fast. Heros have learned to take care of themselves as well as others. We decided it takes kindness, helpfulness, caring and love to be a good hero. We also talked about who we think is a good hero like; firemen, police, etc.

*notes the books we read

I Can Do It Myself!  by Diane Adams*






Big Mike's Police Car  by Leslie McGuire

A Visit to The Police Station  by Patricia J. Murphy*







I Like Myself!  by Karen Beaumont*

Pooh's Hero Party  by Isabel Gaines*







I'm Gonna Like Me - Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem  by Jaime Lee Curtis & Laura Cornell

Firefighters  by Cecilia Minden

Try Reading Something Different this Summer

This summer try reading something different than you've ever read before. Graphic novels are fun to read. If you've ever read a comic book, then you know what I mean. The Windsor Branch has a collection of graphic novels just for kids. You can find books about superheroes, presidents, fairy tales, mysteries and sports. Since our summer reading program is focusing on superheroes this year here is a list of titles you might find interesting.

 The Avengers
Medieval Women
by Jeff Parker

Batman The Brave and the Bold
Batman Versus the Yeti!
by J. Torres











Captain America
Man out of Time
by Mark Waid













Justice League Unlimited
Poker Face
by Adam Beechen

Iron Man Armor Wars
Down and Out in Beverly Hills (Part 1)
by Joe Caramagna

Superman Adventures
Distant Thunder
by Scott McCloud

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Michelangelo
by Brian Lynch

Thor Tales of Asgard
The Boyhood of Thor!
by Stan Lee










X-Men First Class
Magneto
by Howard Chaykin

Good Books to Read for Summer

Summer is almost here! Keep up your reading skills while enjoying a great book. You can participate in the library's summer reading program and earn free books and other prizes. 

Our theme this year is "Every Hero has a Story" for kids and "Unmask" for teens. Each branch will be offering many fun programs for kids and teens 

Here is a list of picture books you might enjoy reading this summer:

Frog & Friends: Best Summer Ever  by Eve Bunting

Cheers for a Dozen Ears: a Summer Crop of Counting  

by Felicia Sanzari Chernesky

Summer  by Emily C. Dawson

The Night Before Summer Camp  by Natasha Wing

I See Summer  by Charles Ghigna

Summer Days and Nights  by Wong Herbert Yee

Summer Beat  by Betsy Franco

Blackout  by John Rocco

It's Sunny Today  by Kristin Sterling

I am Extremely Absolutely Boiling  by Lauren Child

Beaches and Bicycles: a Summer Counting Book  by Rebecca Fjelland Davis

When Fireflies Come  by Jonathan London

It's Summer!  by Susan Swan


Here is a list of fiction books for chapter readers:

The Summer I Saved the World--in 65 Days  by Michele Weber Hurwitz

Great Good Summer  by Liz Garton Scanlon

Catboy Goes to Camp  by L.A. Campbell

Quinny & Hooper  by Adriana Brad Schanen

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Summer Vacation  by Tom Greenwald

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer  by Megan McDonald

Summer at Forsaken Lake  by Michael D. Beil

Lawn Boy  by Gary Paulsen

Summer School!: What Genius Thought That Up?  by Henry Winkler

My Life as a Book  by Janet Tashjian

One Lucky Summer  by Laura McGee Kvasnosky





Here is a list of non-fiction books:

Mosquitoes are Ruining my Summer: and Other Silly Dilly Camp Songs  by Alan Katz                                                                                                  
Freedom Summer: the 1964 Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi
by Susan Goldman Rubin

Get a Summer Adventure Job  by Ryan Jacobson

Summer Solstice  by Ellen B. Jackson

Swifter, Higher, Staonger: a Photographic History of the Summer Olympics  by Sue Macy

Summer: an Alphabet Acrostic  by Steven Schnur

The Longest Day: Celebrating the Summer Solstice  by Wendy Pfeffer

Kylie Jean Summer Camp Craft Queen
by Marne Ventura and Marci Peschki




                                             

Current Building Block Award Nominees for 2015

These are the picture books that have been picked for the 2015 Missouri Building Block Award Nominees:

Digger Dog 
written by William Bee
illustrated by Cecilia Johansson

Naked! 
written by Michael Black
illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi






                                                    

This Book Just Ate My Dog 
written by Richard Byrne

Row, Row, Row Your Boat 
written by Jane Cabrera

Down by the Barn 
written by Will Hillenbrand

Oh So Brave Dragon 
written by David Kirk

Buddy and the Bunnies in: 
Don’t Play With Your Food 
written by Bob Shea

I’m My Own Dog 
written by David Ezra Stein

Bear Sees Colors 
written by Karma Wilson
illustrated by Jane Chapman

Hooray for Hat! 
wirtten by Brian Won