Statewide Book Award Winners Announced

Earlier in March, K - 2nd grade students voted for the Iowa Goldfinch Award book winner after several weeks of read alouds and activities. Favorites like Ivan: The Remarkable Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole were contenders, but in the end, Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio was the DC Elementary building winner.

Students in Grades 3 - 5 also voted on the Iowa Children's Choice Award book after listening to read alouds of I Survived: The Great Chicago Fire, Dash, and Loot. If students had also read a second nominee, they were eligible to vote. Winning the Iowa Children's Choice Award at DC Elementary was Loot by Jude Watson.

Iowa teacher librarians met today for their annual conference and state-wide winners were announced. A drum roll please. . . the Iowa Goldfinch winner was The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak. Statewide, 152 elementary schools participated in the voting with almost 6,250 votes submitted!

And the Iowa Children's Choice winner was I Survived: The Great Chicago Fire by Lauren Tarshis. This book was the second place vote getter among DC Elementary students. Statewide, 218 schools participated in the voting with more than 17,100 votes submitted! 

Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2017 - 2018 state award nominees. Remember, if you read two books on the list, you'll be eligible to vote. These great books make for some good summer reading!