RI Children's Book Award
March 30, 2022
https://olis.ri.gov/youth/ricba/winners.php
And the 2022 winner is...
2022 Voting Breakdown
2023 Nominees
Look for the annotated list and accompanying resources coming soon!
- The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson
- The Adventure Is Now by Jess Redman
- Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd
- Bartali’s Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy's Secret Hero by Megan Hoyt
- Bea is for Blended by Lindsey Stoddard
- Chunky by Yehudi Mercado
- Katie the Catsitter by Colleen AF Venable
- The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm
- Maya and the Robot by Eve Ewing
- The People’s Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art by Cynthia Levinson
- Playing the Cards You’re Dealt by Varina Johnson
- Saving American Beach: The Biography of African American Environmentalist Mavynee Betsch by Heidi Tyline King
- Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear by Trang Nguyen.
- Shark Summer by Ira Marcks
- She Was the First!: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm by Katheryn Russell- Brown
- Simon B’ Rhymin by Dwayne Reed
- Sona Sharma Very Best Big Sister by Chitra Soundar
- Unsettled by Reem Faruqi
- Unspeakable:The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford
- Willodeen by Katherine Applegate
Statement from the RI Children's Book Award Committee
The Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Committee, composed of Rhode Island teachers, school librarians, and public librarians, works annually to create a diverse list of nominated books using specific criteria. The committee is intentional in seeking books that affirm marginalized groups and champions stories and characters that reflect the lived experiences of Rhode Island youth as well as the larger world. The committee aims to provide an annual list of nominees that maintains diversity in race, gender, sexuality, family makeup, socioeconomic status, and ability. Nominee lists are thoughtfully curated with an anti-racist lens, to allow all youth to be seen and their voices actively heard. The Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Committee believes representation matters and strives to create mirrors, windows and prisms for all children.
A growing list of resources for addressing book challenges can be found on the RICBA LibGuide at https://olis-ri.libguides.com/ricba/challenges.
About the RI Children's Book Award
The award began in 1990 as a joint project of the Rhode Island State Council of the International Reading Association, the Rhode Island Library Association, and the Rhode Island Educational Media Association, under the coordination of the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services. Today, the Rhode Island Children's Book Award is co-sponsored by the School Librarians of Rhode Island (SLRI), the Rhode Island Library Association (RILA), and the Rhode Island Center for the Book at the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICFB), and is advised by the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS).Three public youth services librarians, three members of SLRI, and three members of RICFB are each chosen to each serve three year terms on the committee.
20 nominees are announced each spring. Public libraries, school libraries, and classrooms promote the award and share the nominees throughout the year. Voting takes place the following February and the winner is announced in March. Children in grades 3-5 who have read at least 3 books from the list of 20 nominees are eligible to vote. Voting takes place at participating schools and public libraries throughout the state.
