SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books
Where do I even begin? This somehow got past me this year, so we’re in the think of round 1 matches right now. A little background behind this fun event – The School Library’s Battle of the Kids’ Books is a competition among 16 of the very best titles published in children’s literature of the year. For more FAQs check the SLJ website. The books are then judged by some of the biggest names in kid lit. Don’t believe me? Check out the judges this year:
- Duncan Tonatiuh
- Lulu Delacre
- James Dashner
- Varian Johnson
- Tanya Lee Stone
- Jane Yolen
- Nova Ren Suma
- Brendan Kiely
- Javaka Steptoe
- Eliot Schrefer
- Cynthia Kadohata
- Sara Farizan
- Ellen Oh
- Sabaa Tahir
- Kwame Alexander
And the titles they’ll be judging:
- Freedom in Congo Square
- Freedom Over Me
- Thunder Boy Jr.
- When Green Becomes Tomatoes
- Ghost
- The Girl Who Drank the Moon
- Makoons
- March: Book Three
- Samurai Rising
- Some Writer!
- Wet Cement
- When the Sea Turned to Silver
- Anna and the Swallow Man
- The Lie Tree
- The Passion of Dolssa
- The Sun is Also a Star
Each day a battle is judged and a book is declared the winner of that round. The hardest part, for me, would be that the judges are judging some amazing books against each other. For example, how do you compare Ghost by Jason Reynolds with The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. Two books that were written beautifully and completely differently, where do you begin? But the judges, do just that, they judge. So, each day there’s a judge’s post with their reason behind their decision.
We’re moving into the second round today, so have no fear if you missed round one like I did! It’s fun to see authors in this different light as they try and judge two amazing books against each other… follow along for the ride!