The Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award
The Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award, administered by the Youth Services Community of Interest of MLA, is presented annually to the author and illustrator of the picture book voted most popular by preschool children in Missouri's public libraries. Designed to encourage reading aloud to children from birth through kindergarten age, the award was first given in 1996. Parents and other caregivers are encouraged to read aloud to children from a list of ten titles selected annually by a group of Missouri children's librarians. Colorful posters, bookmarks, activity sheets, and a manual of great ideas add to the fun.
2012 Nominees
- Full list of 2012 nominees, including activity sheets
The 2011 Award
The children of Missouri have spoken! By an overwhelming margin, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean, is the winner of the 2011 Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award. For the second year in a row, nearly 20,000 children in schools and libraries across the state participated. Pete the Cat blew away the competition with a staggering 42% majority--a total of 8,297 children cast their vote for Pete. Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein came in 2nd place with 1,912 votes and Silly Tilly by Eileen Spinelli came in 3rd place with 1,532 votes.
Pete the Cat is the tale of a cat who keeps his cool (in more than one sense of the word) despite stepping into multiple messes. Clearly, Missouri's children agree with Pete that "It's all good!" Congratulations to Eric Litwin, James Dean, and our favorite cool cat!
The Missouri Building Block Committee wishes to heartily thank all of the teachers, librarians, parents, and caregivers who read to their kids and helped them vote. Your support is what made this award so very successful.