And the winner is…

Well, the votes are in and we have chosen our Canadian Picture Book of the Year.  South Slope has selected We found a Hat by Jon Klassen as the winner! 

We chose this book because…

  • The pictures can tell the words and because the eyes of the turtles can make me laugh.
  • The author made unique illustrations because he made the turtles shell patterns different from each other.
  • It makes me feel like that other turtle who wants the hat to tell the truth of why he really wants the hat!
  • The pictures match the words and the pictures tell the story on their own. I also think it is very funny. (I like it very very much!) 
  • It makes me feel happy because it reminds me of my dad since he always wears a hat. 
  • It has powerful words.

In close second place was Town is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz and pictures by Sydney Smith. 

We chose this book because…

  • It makes me a little sad. I go to the graveyard to visit my grandfather, my father’s father.  He was a miner, too.
  • It reminds me that my town is by the sea.  And it is a peaceful book. 
  • It has unique and creative illustrations.  It makes me remember that I used to live by the sea.
  • I feel that I’m in the book and it repeats. 
  • The pictures make me feel calm.  

We enjoyed reading and talking about the other books as well.  When we were Alone was recently voted a winner in the Governor General Literary Awards. The Snow Knows was named the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book of the Year.  

We look forward to reading more great Canadian picture books next year! 

 

Canadian Picture Book of the Year

For the past few weeks several classes have been reading some fabulous Canadian picture books.  The books were chosen from the nominees for the Marilyn Baillee Picture Book of the Year as well as the Governor General’s Literary Awards nominees.  We created criteria to help us decide on what makes a great picture book. Then we read a different book each week and discussed how the book met the criteria for us.  Finally we will vote on our favourite.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the winner!