Children Booklists
Show Me Readers Award
(Grades 1-3) Final Nominees 2026-2027
| Title | Author | Illustrator | Publisher |
| All the Books | Hayley Rocco | John Rocco | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
| Apple Pie Tired | Beth Charles | Hannah Brinson | Sleeping Bear Press |
| The Boy Who Found His Voice | Tyler Gordon | Tyler Gordon | Farrar Straus Giroux |
| Campingland | Ame Dyckman | James Burks | Two Lions |
| Itty Bitty Betty Blob | Constance Lombardo | Micah Player | Hippo Park |
| A Letter to My Best Friend | Yangsook Choi | Yangsook Choi | Farrar Straus Giroux |
| The Little Red Chair | Cathy Stefanec Ogren | Alexandra Thompson | Sleeping Bear Press |
| Porcupine Had a Fuzzy Sweater | Jody Jensen Shaffer | Angela Edmonds | Magination Books |
| Sinclair, the Velociraptor Who Thought He Was a Chicken | Douglas Rees | Galia Bernstein | Henry Holt and Company |
| The Yellow Bus | Loren Long | Loren Long | Roaring Brook Press |
Mark Twain Readers Award
(Grades 4-6) Final Nominees 2026-2027
| Title | Author | Illustrator | Publisher |
| And Then, Boom! | Lisa Fipps | Nancy Paulsen Books | |
| Carter Avery’s Tricky Fourth-Grade Year | Rob Buyea | Delacorte Press | |
| Heroes | Alan Gratz | Scholastic Press | |
| Light and Air | Mindy Nichols Wendell | Holiday House | |
| The Night Librarian | Christopher Lincoln | Dial Books | |
| The Night War | Kimberly Brubaker Bradley | Dial Books | |
| On A Wing and a Tear | Cynthia Leitich Smith | Heartdrum | |
| Popcorn | Rob Harrell | Dial Books | |
| The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night | Steven Banbury | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | |
| A Royal Conundrum (The Misfits #1) | Lisa Yee | Dan Santat | Penguin Random House Books for Young Readers |
| The Sherlock Society | James Ponti | Aladdin | |
| Slugfest | Gordon Korman | Balzer + Bray/HarperTeen |
Building Block Awards
Current Nominees 2025
| Title | Author | Illustrator |
| Towed by Toad | Awan, Jashar | Awan, Jashar |
| Ploof | Clanton, Ben | Musser, Any Chou |
| I Live in a Tree Trunk | Fleming, Meg | Scott, Brandon James |
| Dig, Dig, Dinosaur | Goswami, Anjali | Li, Maggie |
| Just One Flake | Jonker, Travis | Jonker, Travis |
| Mr. Fox’s Game of No | LaRochelle, David | Wohnoutka, Mike |
| The Quiet Forest | Offsay, Charlotte | Cushman, Abi |
| Peg Gets Crackin’ | Renfro, Jo | Renfro, Jo |
| Simon and the Better Bone | Tabor, Corey | Tabor, Corey |
| Bear’s Lost Glasses | Timmers, Leo | Colmer, David |
