Monarch Voting opens Feb 16!
Help students read as many as they can by Feb 15.
Voting in the LLC February 16 through 23.
Each year librarians across Illinois choose twenty books to be on the Monarch nominee list. Students in grades K, 1, 2, and 3 read as many of the books as they can and then vote for their favorite book. Voting takes place in the Whittier Library starting Feb 16.
Students must read at least five of the titles below to be eligible to vote.
Please encourage your children to read as many as they can. Reading together is a great way to encourage reading and share in conversations about books.
Click on the library links at the bottom to check title availability.
8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel ÷ 1 Dog = CHAOS by Vivian Vande Velde Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman
A dog chases a squirrel into an elementary school one night, creating monumental chaos.
Bad Kitty School Daze by Nick Bruel
When Kitty's owners have finally had enough of her bad behavior, it's time to ship her off to obedience school.
A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz
Breaking News: Bear Alert by David Biedrzycki
In this story, told in the form of a TV news show, bears emerge from hibernation demanding to be fed.
Building Our House by Jonathan Bean
A young girl narrates her family's move from city to country, where they live in a trailer while they build a house from the ground up, with help from relatives and friends.
A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina’s Dream by Kristy Dempsey
A girl growing up in Harlem in the 1950s, whose mother cleans and stitches costumes for a ballet company, dreams of becoming a prima ballerina one day.
The Dark by Lemony Snicket
Laszlo is afraid of the dark which lives in the same big, creaky house as him, until one night the dark pays him a visit.
Deep in the Sahara by Kelly Cunnane
In west Africa, an Arab girl who wants to wear a malafa, the veiled dress worn by her mother and older sister, learns that the garment represents more than appearance.
Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale
Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart
The Girl Who Heard Colors by Marie Harris
Because she has a special extra sense called synesthesia, Jillian sees colors whenever she hears sounds
Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball by John Coy
How James Naismith came to invent basketball at a Springfield, Massachusetts, high school in 1891 while teaching a rowdy gym class
If it Rains Pancakes: Haiku & Lantern Poems by Brian P. Cleary
Celebrates everyday things in the form of haiku and lantern poems.
Lost Cat by C. Roger Mader
Slipper the cat is left behind in the commotion when the lady she has always lived with moves, so Slipper sets out to find someone new to adopt.
Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash by Monica Brown
Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson
The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life by Lois Ehlert
The story of illustrator Lois Ehlert, beginning with her parents' support, her early experiments, and a look at her behind-the-scenes book-making processes.
A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant
The story of artist Horace Pippin describes his childhood love for drawing and the World War I injury that changed his dreams without breaking them.
This is a Moose by Richard T. Morris
Director Billy Waddler is trying to film a documentary about a moose, but that moose doesn’t plan to spend his life in the woods, and his animal friends help him prove his point.
The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli
After swallowing a watermelon seed, a crocodile imagines a scary outcome.