2017 Anna Dewdney Read Together Award Finalists

The first annual Anna Dewdney Read Together Award finalists were announced last week and I didn’t get a chance to post this yet, so here goes. Anna Dewdney, children’s book author and illustrator, most well-known for her series Llama Llama passed away last year of brain cancer at the age of 50. Sadly, much too soon for the children’s book world, but Penguin Young Readers, the Children’s Book Council, and Every Child a Reader created an award in memory of Dewdney that will continue her legacy for years to come.

The Anna Dewdney Read Together Award, “will be given to a picture book published in the U.S. during the previous five years that inspires empathy and connection and makes for an exceptional read-aloud.” Dewdney’s own books were about the everyday trials and tribulations of a young child’s llama’s life in which you feel empathetic toward his plight, and they also made amazing read alouds with such a great rhyme and rhythm.
The finalists are:

• Edward Gets Messy by Rita Meade, illustrated by Olga Stern (Simon & Schuster)
• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Putnam)
• Mother Bruce by Ryan Higgins (Disney-Hyperion)
• Toby by Hazel Mitchell (Candlewick)
• Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin (Holt)

The winner will be chosen during Children’s Book Week, a week to celebrate children’s literature and the announcement of the Children’s and Teen Choice Book Award at the end of the week. If you haven’t had a chance to read all five of these titles, stop by your local independent book store or local library to grab copies of them all to share with your family!