With First Book & Every Child a Reader, Kids Choose Favorite Books of 2017
Kids and teens can “voice their choice” in the 11th Annual Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards now through May 6
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK (March 23, 2018) – Kids will choose the winners of the 2018 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards through a nationwide voting process where they can “voice their choice” now through May 6, First Book and Every Child a Reader announced today.
The Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards are the only national children’s book awards chosen exclusively by kids. The awards are part of Children’s Book Week, the nearly-100-year-old annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading, to be held this year from April 30th through May 6th.
First Book, the nonprofit social enterprise with a member network of more than 350,000 educators who exclusively serve kids in need, and Every Child a Reader, a literacy nonprofit dedicated to inspiring a lifelong love of reading, will encourage and provide in-classroom tools for educators to easily facilitate voting.
“Giving children and teens a voice in deciding the best of what was written for them is a key step to igniting the joy of reading,” said Kyle Zimmer, president, co-founder, and CEO of First Book. “Kids want to be heard. Listening to what they think about the books they read can go a long way in developing an engaged reader, and in educating us—the adults doing the writing and publishing—on what matters to them.”
Educators can find voting resources, including ballots, award badges, logos, and voting booth banners, at EveryChildaReader.net/choice. Finalists this year include The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas; and Turtles All The Way Down, by John Green. All finalists are available on the First Book Marketplace, First Book’s award-winning nonprofit ecommerce site.
“We are so happy to be partnering with the passionate people at First Book on the only national book awards voted on exclusively by kids and teens. We hope that thousands of kids and teens will ‘voice their choice’ by May 6!” said Shaina Birkhead, Programming Director for Every Child a Reader.
About First Book
First Book transforms the lives of children in need. Through a sustainable, market-driven model, First Book is creating equal access to quality education — making everything from brand new, high-quality books and educational resources, to sports equipment, winter coats, snacks, and more – affordable to its member network of more than 350,000 educators who exclusively serve kids in need. Since 1992, First Book has distributed more than 170 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families in more than 30 countries. First Book currently reaches an average of 3 million children every year and supports more than one in four of the estimated 1.3 million classrooms and programs serving children in need. With an additional 1,000 educators joining each week, First Book is the largest and fastest-growing network of educators in the United States exclusively serving kids in need.
Eligible educators, librarians, providers, and others serving children in need can sign up at firstbook.org/register. For more information, please visit firstbook.org or follow the latest news on Facebook and Twitter.
About Every Child a Reader
Every Child a Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy charity dedicated to inspiring a lifelong love of reading in children and teens across America, whose major national programs include: Children’s Book Week, celebrating 99 years April 30-May 6, 2018; the Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards; Get Caught Reading; and the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature program, in partnership with the Library of Congress.
About the Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards
This year’s 20 finalists are comprised of five finalists in three age categories: K – 2nd grade, 3rd – 4th grades, and 5th– 6th grades, plus five finalists in the teen category. The finalists were chosen in pre-voting by children with supervision by the International Literacy Association; teens nominated new books at TeenReads.com. The 2018 winners will be announced on May 30th in a ceremony at BookExpo. Follow #CCBA18 on social media.
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Contacts:
Audra Boltion, Boltion Group Public Relations audra@thebgpr.com
Shifa Kapadwala, EveryChildaReader.net Shifa.Kapadwala@CBCBooks.org
Melanie Boyer, First Book mboyer@firstbook.org (202) 639-0114
