2014 CLEL Bell Award Winner Announcement

Yesterday, February 5, 2014 the winners of the CLEL Bell Picture Book Awards for Early Literacy were announced.  If you didn’t even know this award existed, have no fear!  CLEL stand for Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy and it’s mission is,  “All children deserve the joy of reading and the skills in life that literacy brings. Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy is passionately committed to strengthening children’s literacy through library services and community advocacy.”  The Bell Picture Book Awards for Early Literacy was created in 2012 and this is the first year that winners have been chosen.

A shortlist was selected on December 20, 2013 with five titles in each of the five categories of early literacy – read, write, sing, talk, and play.  From these 25 books, the committee selected one winner for each category.  All of the books on the shortlist are great examples of early literacy skills that each child needs to be ready for kindergarten.  The winners are:

Read – Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier; illustrated by Suzy Lee

Write – Moo! by David LaRochelle; illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

Sing – Nighty-night, Cooper by Laura Numeroff; illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

Talk –  The Things I Can Do by Jeff Mack

Play –  Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales

I’m thinking I’ll have to take a closer look at the titles and see how I can incorporate them into my story times as well as educating fellow librarians, parents, and caregivers that this award exists!  Early literacy is so important to young children and I’m so glad that Colorado Libraries have taken this initiative.  For more information, take a look at the CLEL website!