My fourth and fifth grade students ask me for good books all the time. Here's the latest update for the current school year.

1. Do you know any
good books…?
Dr. Mika
LRC Director
Beebe Elementary

2. Yes, I
do!
Today’s lesson will help you:
• Find a good book!
• Search the catalog
• Revisit popular series
• Think about great authors
• Use the Beebe Web Site
• Discover other book lists

3. Library Catalog
• Author, Subject, Title, or Series

4. Battle of the Books
• Over twenty years in District
203
• A literature challenge for
students in 4th & 5th grade
• Team of four become
experts on a list of 40 books
– 30 new
– 10 previous Battle book

5. • Link to official web site
• Book trailer
• 2nd Year on Battle List
• Also a Bluestem
Nominee
• Also a Rebecca
Caudill Nominee

6. Adventures of a South Pole Pig
By Chris Kurtz
Flora the pig ditches the sedentary
life on the farm for an adventure in
Antarctica, where she escapes the
knife and lives her dream of pulling
a sled with a team of dogs.

7. Bo at Ballard Creek
By Kirkpatrick Hill
It's the 1920s, and Bo was headed for
an Alaska orphanage when she won
the hearts of two tough gold miners
who set out to raise her,
enthusiastically helped by all the kind
people of the nearby Eskimo village.

8. Breathing Room
By Marsha Hayles
In 1940, thirteen-year-old Evvy Hoffmeister
and her newfound friends struggle to get
well at Loon Lake Sanatorium, where they
are being treated for tuberculosis.

9. Candymakers
By Wendy Mass
Four gifted twelve-year-olds, including
Logan, the candymaker's son, are set
to be contestants in the Confectionary
Association's national competition to
determine the nation's tastiest sweet,
but nobody anticipates that a
friendship will form between them.

10. Dog Called Homeless
By Sarah Lean
Fifth-grader Cally Louise Fisher stops
talking, partly because her father and
brother never speak of her mother who
died a year earlier, but visions of her
mother, friendships with a homeless man
and a disabled boy, and a huge dog ensure
that she still communicates.

11. Duke
By Kirby Larson
In 1944, Hobie Hanson's father is flying
B-24s in Europe, so Hobie decides to
donate his beloved German shepherd,
Duke, to Dogs for Defense in the hope
that it will help end the war sooner--but
when he learns that Duke is being
trained for combat he is shocked,
frightened, and determined to get his
dog back.

12. Each Little Bird that Sings
By Deborah Wiles
Comfort Snowberger is well acquainted
with death since her family runs the funeral
parlor in their small southern town, but
even so the ten-year-old is unprepared for
the series of heart-wrenching events that
begins on the first day of Easter vacation
with the sudden death of her beloved
great-uncle Edisto.

13. Egypt Game
By Zilpha Keatly Snyder
Melanie and April turn a deserted lot into
an imaginary Egypt where they spend
many hours enacting rituals and
consulting oracles, but there are real
dangers and problems lurking outside
their make-believe world that almost
bring their game to a disastrous end.

14. Ella Enchanted
By Gail Carson Levine
In this novel based on the story of
Cinderella, Ella struggles against the
childhood curse that forces her to
obey any order given to her.

15. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library
By Chris Grabenstein
Twelve-year-old Kyle gets to stay
overnight in the new town library,
designed by his hero (the famous
game maker Luigi Lemoncello), with
other students but finds that come
morning he must work with friends to
solve puzzles in order to escape.

16. Five Lives of Our Cat Zook
By Joanne Rocklin
As ten-year-old Oona and younger
brother Fred conspire to break their
sick cat Zook out of the veterinary
clinic, Oona tells the story of Zook's
previous lives.

17. Great Trouble: A Mystery of London,
the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel
By Deborah Hopkinson
Eel, an orphan, and his best friend Florrie
must help Dr. John Snow prove that
cholera is spread through water, and not
poisonous air, when an epidemic sweeps
across their London neighborhood in 1854.

18. Half a Chance
By Cynthia Lord
Lucy, with her mother and her
photographer father, has just moved to
a small rural community in New
Hampshire, and with her new friend
Nate she plans to spend the summer
taking photos for a contest, but pictures
sometimes reveal more than people are
willing to see.

19. Hana’s Suitcase
By Karen Levine
A biography of a Czech girl who died
in the Holocaust, told in alternating
chapters with an account of how the
curator of a Japanese Holocaust
center learned about her life after
Hana's suitcase was sent to her.

20. Helen’s Big World:
The Life of Helen Keller
By Doreen Rappaport
An illustrated biography of Helen
Keller, introducing young readers
to her life and legacy, and
including quotations by Keller.

21. Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace
By Nan Marino
When musical prodigy, Elvis Ruby,
completely freezes up on television,
he is forced to hide out in the
Pinelands of New Jersey and try to
find his way back to the music once
again with the help of a new friend.

22. Leepike Ridge
By N.D. Wilson
While his widowed mother continues
to search for him, eleven-year-old
Tom, presumed dead after drifting
away down a river, finds himself
trapped in a series of underground
caves with another survivor and a
dog, and pursued by murderous
treasure-hunters.

23. Matilda
By Roald Dahl
Matilda applies her untapped mental
powers to rid the school of the evil,
child-hating headmistress, Miss
Trunchbull, and restore her nice
teacher, Miss Honey, to financial
security.

24. Million Dollar Shot
By Dan Gutman
Eleven-year-old Eddie gets a chance
to win a million dollars by sinking a
foul shot at the National Basketball
Association finals.

25. MVP: The Magellan Voyage Project
By Douglas Evans
Twelve-year-old Adam Story is
challenged by the deposed ruler of
Babababad and his mongoose
companion to become the first
youngster to travel around the world in
forty days without an adult.

26. Never Say Die
By Will Hobbs
Fifteen-year-old half-Inuit Nick and his
white brother, Ryan, meet and share an
adventure on the Firth River in the
Canadian Arctic, facing white water, wild
animals, and fierce weather as Ryan
documents the effects of climate change
on caribou for National Geographic
magazine.

27. Numbed
By David Lubar
When a robot at the math museum
zaps their math skills, sixth-grader
Logan and his mischievous friend,
Benedict, must pass a series of
math challenges to retrieve their
knowledge.

28. One Dog and His Boy
By Eva Ibbotson
When lonely, ten-year-old Hal learns
that his wealthy but neglectful
parents only rented Fleck, the dog he
always wanted, he and new friend
Pippa take Fleck and four other dogs
from the rental agency on a trek from
London to Scotland, where Hal's
grandparents live.

29. One White Dolphin
By Gill Lewis
When a baby albino dolphin caught in
old fishing netting washes ashore,
Paralympics sailing hopeful Felix and
English school girl Kara work with
veterinarians and specialists to save
and reunite the dolphin with her
mother, setting off a chain of events
that might just save the reef from the
environmental effects of proposed
dredging.

30. Parrots Over Puerto Rico
By Susan Roth
A combined history of the
Puerto Rican parrot and
the island of Puerto Rico,
highlighting current efforts
to save the Puerto Rican
parrot by protecting and
managing this
endangered species.

31. Pi in the Sky
By Wendy Mass
Joss is the seventh son of the
Supreme Overlord of the Universe. His
older brothers help his dad rule the
cosmos, but all Joss gets to do is
deliver pies. That's right: pies. Of
course, these pies actually hold the
secrets of the universe between their
buttery crusts, but they're still pies.

32. Riley Mack and
the Other Known Troublemakers
By Chris Grabenstein
Eleven-year-old Riley Mack and his
friends, Briana, Mongo, Jake and Jamal
outwit the school bully, solve the mystery
of who stole the goldendoodle named
Poodle, and get evidence to help the FBI
catch bank robbers.

33. Salt
By Helen Frost
Twelve-year-olds Anikwa, of the Miami
village of Kekionga, and James, of the
trading post outside Fort Wayne, find
their friendship threatened by the rising
fear and tension brought by the War of
1812.

34. Short Seller
By Elissa Brent Weissman
While seventh-grader Lindy Sachs is
recovering from mononucleosis, her
father gives her access to his etrading
account as a way to pass the time and
she discovers that she has a knack for
buying and selling stocks.

35. Snicker of Magic
By Natalie Lloyd
The Pickles are new to Midnight
Gulch, Tennessee, a town which
legend says was once magic--but
Felicity is convinced the magic is still
there, and with the help of her new
friend Jonah the Beedle she hopes
to bring the magic back.

36. Sugar
By Jewell Parker Rhodes
In 1870, Reconstruction brings big
changes to the Louisiana sugar plantation
where spunky ten-year-old Sugar has
always lived, including her friendship with
Billy, the son of her former master, and the
arrival of workmen from China.

37. The Thing About Georgie
By Lisa Graff
Georgie's dwarfism causes
problems, but he could always rely
on his parents, his best friend, and
classmate Jeanie the Meanie's
teasing, until a surprising
announcement, a new boy in
school, and a class project shake
things up.

38. Three Times Lucky
By Shelils Turnage
Map on inside covers. Washed ashore
as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North
Carolina, Mo LoBeau, now eleven, and
her best friend Dale turn detective
when the amnesiac Colonel, owner of a
cafe and co-parent of Mo with his cook,
Miss Lana, seems implicated in a
murder.

39. True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
By Kathi Appett
Twelve-year-old Chap Brayburn, ancient
Sugar Man, and his raccoon-brother
Swamp Scouts Bingo and J'miah try to
save Bayou Tourterelle from feral pigs
Clydine and Buzzie, greedy Sunny Boy
Beaucoup, and world-class alligator
wrestler and would-be land developer
Jaeger Stitch.

40. Ungifted
By Gordon Korman
Due to an administrative mix-up,
troublemaker Donovan Curtis is sent to
the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a
special program for gifted and talented
students, after pulling a major prank at
middle school.

41. Wanderville
By Wendy McClure
To escape rumored terrors in Kansas, New
Yorkers Jack and Frances, eleven, and
Frances's brother Harold, seven, jump off
an orphan train in 1899 and help new
friend Alexander to build Wanderville, a
safe place for homeless children.

42. Warriors
By Joseph Bruchac
An Iroquois boy known on the
reservation for his talent at the sacred
game of lacrosse moves to
Washington, D.C., with his mother and
grows frustrated with the misleading
statements about Native Americans
that his new lacrosse coach makes.

43. What the Moon Said
By Gayle Rosegren
When Esther's family moves to a farm
during the Great Depression, she soon
learns that there are things much more
important than that her superstitious
mother rarely shows her any affection.

44. Winter Sky
By Patricia Reilly Giff
Almost twelve-year-old Siria, who
chases firetrucks in the middle of the
night to ensure her fire fighter dad's
safety, learns about bravery one winter
as she tries to mend a broken
friendship.

45. Worm Whisperer
By Betty Hicks
Ellison Ellis Coffey, a lonely fifth-grader,
discovers he might have the special gift of
talking to bugs and decides to use his
ability to win his town's annual Woolly
Worm Race.

46. Where are they this year?

47. Bluestem Nominees
2015
PowerPoint created by
Katie Lawrence and Brian Wilson
Bluestem Steering Committee
Original design by Michelle Johnson
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

48. Chained
by Lynne Kelly
In order to help his family,
Hastin takes a job in a
circus taking as an
elephant caretaker.
However, when he
discovers that the circus
owner is being cruel to a
little elephant, he tries to
find a way to save the
creature! Can he? Set in
India! (248 pages)

49. 49
A Dog Called Homeless
by Sarah Lean
Cally Fisher decides to
stop speaking because
talking won’t bring
back her mother, or get
people to listen to her
either. After 31 days,
Cally sees a vision of
her mother, and meets a
scruffy dog. Will new
friendships and her new
dog help Cally begin to
hope again? (224 pages)

50. Dogs on Duty: Soldiers’ Best Friends on the
Battlefield and Beyond
by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Throughout history,
dogs have helped
soldiers on the
battlefield. Learn how
these canine helpers
are trained to assist
people in the military.
Packed with
photographs! (48
Non-fiction! pages)

51. Drita, My Homegirl
by Jenny Lombard
Lonely Drita moves
from war-torn Kosovo
to New York City
where she struggles to
learn English. She
meets funny rebel
Maxie, who has a sad
secret she tells no one.
Will these two girls
overcome their
differences and become
friends? (135 pages)

52. The Dunderheads
by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by David
Roberts
A bunch of misfit
students have the
meanest teacher in the
world, Miss
Breakbone! When she
goes too far, they
decide it is time to
teach her a lesson!
Will they pull off their
plan? (56 pages)
Quick read and funny!

53. Frindle
by Andrew Clements
Nicholas decides to play
a trick on his dictionary-loving
teacher by
inventing a new word for
“pen.” Soon everyone
starts using the word
“frindle” and his teacher
is not happy! Will things
spin out of control? (105
pages)
Funny!

54. Gregor the Overlander
by Suzanne Collins
In this action-packed
fantasy, Gregor and his
2-year-old sister fall into
an underground world.
There they meet bats
and cockroaches…and
evil rats who want to
take over the world! Can
Gregor save humankind
against these vicious
rodents? (311 pages)
First in a series!

55. If You Lived Here:
Houses of the World
by Giles Laroche
Imagine living inside a
mountain, or in a home
where you could catch
fish from your bedroom
window. This book
takes you all over the
world, showing you the
coolest of houses!
Which house would you
choose as your favorite?
(32 pages) Non-fiction!

56. Liar & Spy
by Rebecca Stead
After he moves into a
new apartment
building, Georges
meets Safer, a boy who
says he is a great spy.
They start spying on
neighbor Mr. X, who
may or may not be
completely evil! What
will they discover
about this possibly
dangerous man? (180
pages)

57. Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute
by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
The new substitute
teacher seems to be up
to no good! Who will
save the school? Why,
the crime-fighting
Lunch Lady and her
brave assistant Betty
will! Which supercool
gadgets will she use to
save the day??? A funny
graphic novel! (95
pages) Funny, first in a series, and a quick read!

58. Niagara Falls, or Does it
by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
Hank Zipzer does not
like to read or write.
When asked to compose
an essay about his
summer vacation, he
decides to build a model
of Niagara Falls
instead! What happens
when he shows off his
epic project? (137
pages)
Funny and first in a series!

59. 59
Night of the Twisters
by Ivy Ruckman
12-year old Dan Hatch
finds himself at home
with his baby brother
and his best friend
Arthur when tornado
sirens begin to go off.
Hiding in the basement,
the three boys face
multiple twisters in a
night none of them will
ever forget. An exciting
story about survival and
strength. (160 pages)
Based on a true story!

60. 60
The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate
Ivan has spent most of
his life in a circus-themed
mall. He has his
art, his friends and he
can even watch TV.
When a baby elephant is
brought in to draw in
more customers, Ivan
begins to view his life in
a new light. Can he find
a way to save them all?
Newbery Medal Winner.
(320 pages)
Based on a true story! Short
chapters and illustrations.

61. 61
Rich: A Dyamonde Daniel
Book
by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by R.
Gregory Christie Dyamonde Daniel
cannot wait to enter the
library’s poetry contest
with her friend Free.
They could do so many
great things with the
$100 prize! When they
discover their classmate,
Damaris’ secret, they
have to decide whether
winning, or helping their
new friend is more
important. (95 pages)

62. 62
Shiloh
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
When Marty discovers a
beagle in the hills behind
his house he falls in love
at first sight.
Unfortunately Shiloh
belongs to a cruel man,
Judd Travers. As Marty
protects Shiloh the
secrets and danger grow
greater. Read this classic
to find out if Marty can
ever have Shiloh for
good. (144 pages)

63. Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio
by Peg Kehret
63
The true story of how
Peg Kehret battled polio
when she was twelve
years old. Surviving the
initial paralysis brought
on by the illness, Peg
then had to learn how to
walk again. A story of
strength and courage in
the face of an uncertain
future. (179 pages)

64. The Stonekeeper
by Kazu Kibuishi
When a terrible creature
lures their mother away
from their new home,
Emily and Navin find
themselves on a
dangerous mission. They
must rescue her from an
underground world full
of talking animals,
robots and demons. (192
pages)
64
First in a graphic novel series!

65. The Truth About Poop
by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by Elwood H.
Smith
65
A fascinating look at one
of the more private
bodily functions. Learn
how far a skipper
caterpillar can shoot its
poop as well as about all
of the substitutes there
have been for toilet
paper in history. Full of
hilarious illustrations
too! (48 pages)

66. Wild River
by P.J. Petersen
Ryan, a video game
addict, finds himself in a
real life adventure when
a camping trip with his
older brother Tanner
goes horribly wrong.
Can Ryan save his
brother and brave the
wilderness on his own?
(128 pages)
66

67. Wonderstruck
by Brian Selznick
67
This is the story of Ben
and Rose. Though they
live 50 years apart, both
wish for different lives
and set out on quests to
find what they are
missing. Ben’s story is
told in words, while
Rose’s is told in
dynamic illustrations.
(608 pages)
By the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret!

68. Where are they this year?

69. Rebecca Caudill
• Born in KY, later moved to TN
• One of ten children, both
parents were teachers
• She graduated from Wesleyan
College and received her
master's degree from
Vanderbilt University in 1922.
• She taught English in high
school and college and worked
as an editor for a time.
• She published her first book for
children, Barrie and Daughter,
in 1943.

70. Rebecca Caudill
• Illinois Children’s Choice Book Award Gr. 4-8
• Books nominated by children
• Master list of 20 titles is sent to participating
elementary and middle schools
• Students read the books on the list and vote
for their favorites each February
• Votes are sent to the award committee, which
compiles the final tally
• Winning title is announced in March
• Plaque is given to the author of the winning
book

71. 2014 Rebecca Caudill Vote Tallies - Statewide
Wonder: 4657
The Running Dream: 2944
A Tale Dark and Grimm: 2315
Mockingbird: (Mok'ing-bûrd): 1350
Ways to Live Forever: 1315
How They Croaked: The Awful...: 1250
The Apothecary: 1203
Close to Famous: 1069
The Lions of Little Rock: 1051
The Hunt for the Seventh: 901
Ghetto Cowboy : 885
I, Emma Freke: 757
The Outcasts: 671
Boys Without Names: 645
Bamboo People: 590
Okay for Now: 567
Candy Bomber: The Story of the...: 550
Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax...: 350
Words in the Dust: 317
Breaking Stalin's Nose: 287
23,674

72. Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award

73. Grades 5-8
2015
Joan Bauer
Joan Bauer

74. Grades 6-8
2015
Steve Sheinkin

75. Grades 5-8
2015
Tommy Greenwald

76. Grades 4-8
2015
Chuck Close

77. Grades 6-8
2015
Matthew J. Kirby

78. Grades 5-7
2015
Kathryn Fitzmaurice

79. Grades 4-5 2015
Dorothy Hinshaw Patent

80. Grades 5-8
2015
Jennifer A. Nielsen

81. Grades 4-6
2015
Joanne Rocklin

82. Grades 7-8
2015
Marie Lu

83. Grades 5-8
2015
Linda Sue Park
Born in Urbana, Illinois!

84. Grades 6-8
2015
Clare Vanderpool

85. Grades 5-8
2015
Will Hobbs

86. Grades 4-6
2015
Katherine Applegate

87. Grades 5-8
2015
Lynda Mullaly Hunt

88. Grades 5-8
2015
Randi Barrow

89. Grades 5-8
2015
Ellen Potter

90. Grades 4-8
2015
Jessica Day George

91. Grades 5-8
2015
Gordon Korman

92. Grades 5-8
2015
Tim Green

93. ALA’s Newberry Award
• Named for the 18th century
bookseller John Newberry
• First children’s book award in
the world (1921)
• Awarded annually to the most
distinguished children’s
literature published the previous
year.

94. Other Lists
• Anderson’s Bookshops
– Kid’s Picks
– Mock Newberry List
• Naperville Public Library
– General Book Lists
– Children’s Book Awards
• Lisle Public Library
– Literature Links

95. Mr. Mika’s Favorites
• Hey, you’re the librarian!
What are you reading?
• Library Thing
• Do you have a
recommendation?
– Alex Rider Series
– Geronimo Stilton
– Warriors Series
– …and more!

96. LRC Online
• Book Lists
• Series Books
• Books made into Movies
• Rebecca Caudill
• Anderson’s Book Lists
• Naperville Public Library
• Mr. Mika’s Favorites!

97. References
• Book covers used without permission for promotional
purposes in educational setting only.
• Book summaries retrieved from Follett’s Titlewave Database:
http://www.titlewave.com/login/
• LCPS. 9138112. 2012. Battle of the Books, Lenoir County
Public Schools. Elementary Battle of the Books. Web. 7 Sept.
2013.
• “More old books…” by guldfisken (Creative Commons
License: Attribution)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92269864@N00/398144161
• “Stack of Books Design Template” available from Microsoft
Online Templates http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/
templates/TC011594401033.aspx?pid=CT101427471033
• School Clipart. "Pupil, Student Reading a Book."
Cartoon. Clip Projects. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2012.
http://www.clipproject.info/Clipart_Schule_Seite_3.html.