Children's Choices is a project of a joint committee supported by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the Children's Book Council (CBC). IRA is a non-profit educational organization whose members include classroom and reading teachers, school administrators and supervisors, parents, college/university faculty, and others who are dedicated to improving reading instruction and promoting literacy worldwide. CBC is a non-profit organization that encourages the use and enjoyment of books and related literacy materials for young people. Its members are U.S. publishers and packagers of trade books for children and young adults and producers of book-related materials for children.
Begun in 1974, Children's Choices has three goals:
- To develop an annual annotated reading list of new books that will encourage young people to read.
- To help teachers, librarians, booksellers, parents, and others find books that young readers will enjoy.
- To provide young readers with an opportunity to voice their opinions about the books being written for them.
How are these goals reached? Each year, 10,000 schoolchildren read and vote on the newly-published children's and young adults' trade books that they like best. About 700 books are sent to five review teams located in different regions of the United States. Each team consists of a children's literature specialist, who acts as the Team Leader, and one or more classroom teachers or school librarians, plus 2,000 local schoolchildren.
Throughout the school year, the books are read to or by the children; their votes are tabulated in March by the Team Leaders and the Children's Book Council, and the approximately 100 most popular titles are announced at the International Reading Association Annual Convention.
Each year's annotated list of Children's Choices is published in the October issue of The Reading Teacher, a journal about preschool and elementary school reading published by IRA. The list is designed for use not only by teachers, librarians, administrators, and booksellers, but also by parents, grandparents, caregivers, and everyone who wishes to encourage young people to read for pleasure.
For single copies of the current annotated list of Children's Choices, send a self-addressed 9" x 12" envelope plus US$1.00 to the address below. For multiple copies of annotated lists, send US$9.00 for 10 copies, US$50 for 100 copies, or US$185 for 500 copies. All prices include shipping and handling. Checks, payable to the International Reading Association, should be sent to:
Dept. EG
International Reading Association
800 Barksdale Road
P.O. Box 8139
Newark, DE 19714-8139
U.S.A.
For more information about the International Reading Association, visit the IRA website.