Voice of Youth Award Books 2006-2007 3rd and 4th grades
Ada, Alma Flor. My Name is María Isabel. 1993.
There are already two Marías in María Isabel Salazar Lopez's new class
so her teacher just decides to call her Mary Lopez. It's hard enough
getting used to a new apartment, finding new friends, and learning new
school routines and now a new name as well? María can never think fast
enough to answer when called Mary and now her teacher probably thinks that
she knows nothing. How is she ever going to let her teacher know how
important her name is?
Caudill, Rebecca. Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charley? 1966.
Every day the most helpful child at Little School is given the honor
to "carry the flag" to the school bus. Charley Cornett is the curious type
of kid, always looking for new adventures, getting in all sorts of trouble
along the way, and not exactly very helpful. One day, though, Charlie
surprises everyone.
Child, Lauren. Utterly Me, Clarice Bean. 2002.
Clarice really is trying hard to concentrate, but her teacher Mrs.
Wilberton, does not agree: "A common housefly has got more ability to
apply itself!" Together with her "utterly best friend" Betty Moody,
Clarice is all set on doing her best ever on a special project for
Parents' Night. But things do not go as planned. Betty disappears into
thin air and in her place Mrs. Wilberton makes Karl, the worst behaved boy
in school, her new partner. Can things get any worse? Read more about Utterly Me, Clarice Bean in Kids' Books We Love!
Clifford, Eth. Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library. 1979.
Usually, libraries are safe, wonderful places for books. After their
car runs out of gas, Mary Rose and Jo-Beth trudge through the snow and
find a curious old library with a curious old librarian. When they get
locked in, the adventure begins. Don't miss the strange things that happen
on that long winter night!
Fleischman, Sid. McBroom Tells the Truth. 1998.
Just $10 for 80 acres of rich Iowa farmland? The McBroom family of 13
cannot believe their luck. When their farmland turns out to be a muddy
pond, the 80 acres are "…one piled on the other, like griddle cakes," the
family does not despair. After all, it happens to be the hottest day on
record and their new pond is perfect for jumping in and cooling off, or is
it? A sudden dry spell evaporates the water, leaving the McBrooms stuck in
soil so rich it can grow three crops every day!
Lindgren, Astrid. Pippi Longstocking. 1950.
Meet Pippi Longstocking: Just 9 years old, she lives with just her
horse and her monkey inside Villa Villekulla; no parents to tell her when
to go to bed, clean her room, do her homework, or even go to school for
that matter.
McKissack, Patricia. Run Away Home. 1997.
It's 1888 in Alabama. Twelve-year-old Sarah Crossman, daughter of a
part-Seminole woman and a freed slave, is sheltering an Apache boy, Sky,
who has escaped a train taking his tribe to an Indian reservation. Sky is
dying of swamp fever and Sarah and her mother hide him in their barn,
nursing him back to life. Can Sky find true freedom?
Namioka, Lensey. Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear. 1992.
Yingtao, the youngest Yang, practices his violin every day to be as
good as the rest of his family. But try as he may, his strings just go
"SCREECH"-- and playing baseball with his friends is so much more fun!
Yingtao's family has recently immigrated to Seattle from China and his dad
desperately needs more music students to make ends meet. If Yingtao ruins
the upcoming important recital, who will believe in his dad's ability to
teach?
Prelutsky, Jack. It's Raining Pigs and Noodles: Poems. 2000.
"Never never disagree
with a shark beneath the sea,
lest you feel a sudden crunch
and discover you are lunch."
Hilariously funny poems about animals, people, things, and "things
that never were (and one hopes never will be)."
Yolen, Jane. Merlin and the Dragons. 1995.
Plagued by horrible nightmares, Arthur cannot believe that he really
is the lawful King of England. He turns to Merlin for advice who tells him
a story of Emrys, another lonely boy with bad dreams. Emrys' dreams
predict the triumph of Uther Pendragon over the evil and cruel King
Vortigern by means of dragons and crumbling stone towers. What does all
this have to do with Arthur and will this tale help him be a more
confident king? Read more about Merlin and the Dragons in Kids' Books We Love!
