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(Laura Stewart’s photo of her BCCCA displays at both of her libraries at Charles F. Tigard Elementary and Mary Woodward Elementary in the Tigard-Tualatin School District.)

2024 is BCCCA's 22nd Year! 

This award, sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Libraries (OASL) is named in honor of Oregon born, children’s author Beverly Cleary. April 12^th would have been Beverly Cleary’s 108^th birthday. In her very full life, she brought enjoyment to countless young readers and their parents. We encourage families to celebrate her life by reading her books and to participate in the BCCCA contest, which was created in her honor. 

Today, the BCCCA Committee is proud to announce that over 1,639 Kindergarten through Middle School students from Oregon participated in voting for their favorite 2023-2024 BCCCA title!  A huge shout-out of thanks to all the public, parochial, private schools and public libraries, school library staff and classroom teachers who promoted and encouraged their readers to participate in voting for their favorite Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice Award nominee! 

The 2023-2024 BCCCA Winner is……   

Back-To-School Blitz  (Twins vs Triplets #1) by Jennifer Torres 

Peace-loving David gets stuck in the middle of a prank war when his neighbors—the Romero Twins and the Benitez Triplets—vie for playground domination!             

Announcing the 2024-2025 BCCCA Nominees…… 

The Astronomically Grand Plan (Astrid the Astronaut #1) by Rie Neal. 

Astrid is determined to be the first astronaut with hearing aids in space! She can’t wait for the school year to start so she can put her Astronomically Grand Plan into action! She and her best friend, Hallie, are going to be in their first year of Shooting Stars, a club dedicated to all things space. Astrid’s big sister has told her all about it, and this year, there is a big, wonderful prize: a trip to a real-life space camp! But Astrid’s Grand Plan isn’t off to a great start: it turns out Hallie is more interested in the art club, Petite Picassos! And Astrid isn’t sure that her goal of exploring space will happen the same way without her BFF by her side. Can Astrid figure out a way to complete her mission? 

Esme’s Birthday Conga Line  by Lourdes Heuer. 

Esme always has a plan. She loves to problem-solve and when her grandparents don’t plan a birthday party for her, Esme jumps into action! She gets a little help from her cat, El Toro, and a LOT of help from her neighbors in the topmost best building. In the end,  Esme gets the birthday party of her dreams.  

Expedition Backyard: Exploring Nature from Country to City by Rosemary Mosco and Binglin Hu. 

Each day, two best friends- Mole and Vole venture out into the world – never forgetting their nature journal! – to see what they can find in their own backyard. From pigeons to swamp milkweed, these two explorers get to know every part of their local environment. But after an accidental move from the country to the city, Mole and Vole worry that everything will be different. As they explore, they discover plants to look at and animals to meet in their new home as well. This nonfiction graphic novel uncovers that nature is everywhere- no matter where you live.  

Fenway and the Bone Thieves (Make Way for Fenway #1)  by Victoria J. Coe. 

Fenway is a little dog with a GIANT personality.There’s nothing better than a brand-new bone! And nothing worse than sneaky squirrels trying to steal it! But Fenway is smarter than those squirrels, and he finds the perfect place to hide his bone.The only problem is the hiding place might be too hard for Fenway to find, too!  

King of the Ice (Miles Lewis #1)  by Kelly Starling Lyons. 

Miles Lewis loves science and sports. But when his teacher announces a class field trip to an ice skating rink to learn about physics, he isn’t so excited. He’s never ice skated before, and his friend RJ won’t let him forget it. RJ even challenges him to a bet: If Miles skates without falling, RJ will put a “Miles is the man” sign on his backpack. But if Miles falls, he has to put one on his that says the same about RJ. Miles can barely focus on the bet, though, because he suspects his beloved Nana has plans to move out of his family’s house—and that’s just too much to bear. Can he keep his cool with all the pressure from RJ while finding a way to make his grandma stay? 

Mayra Khan and the Incredible Henna Party (Mayra Khan #1)  by Saadia Faruqi. 

Marya's eighth birthday is coming up in a week, and all she wants is an over-the-top birthday party just like the ones Alexa, her rich neighbor, always throws. When Alexa parades into school with fancy invitations, Marya can't help herself--she claims that she's having the most epic henna party ever. Now she has to convince her family to make it happen. Enter Operation Help the Khans! Marya's siblings clearly need help with their projects. Maybe she could cook dinner for her parents, or clean her grandmother's room? Except everything Marya does seems to end in disaster. Will Marya and her family be able pull it together and throw the best party ever?!   

The 2024-2025 BCCCA Slideshow with educational links for the six BCCCA Nominees can be found as on our updated Nominees page. 

The 2024-2025 BCCCA Student Paper Ballot is here with voting details. As well as the spine labels, Newberg Public Library’s Amanda Lambs’s flyer and bookmarks can be found on our Support Materials page. Official voting for the 2024-2025 BCCCA titles opens next year on March 15, 2025 and closes on April 10, 2025.  The BCCCA Animoto will be posted later on during the summer. 

Keep on Reading! 

With kind thanks,                   

Libby Hamler-Dupras   BCCCA Committee Chair 

[email protected] 

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Hello everyone! 

• This award is named in honor of author Beverly Cleary.  In her very full life of 104 years, she brought enjoyment to countless young readers and their parents. The world will miss miss her sorely. We encourage families to celebrate her life by reading her books and to participate in the BCCCA contest, which was created in her honor.
• Find the Nominees for 2024-2025, start reading, listening, and most of all -- enjoy!  

If you have any questions, please contact the BCCCA Chairperson at [email protected].

Enjoy the books and your time together!  

The Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award (BCCCA) sponsored by OASL (formerly OEMA)  is named in honor of Beverly Cleary, the Oregon born children's book author. Children of all ages may vote each spring for their favorite title from the list of nominated books.  The winning title is announced on Beverly Cleary's birthday, April 12. Nominations include books targeted to the reading ability of 2nd and 3rd graders or a little higher.  Watch the OPB video: Discovering Beverly Cleary

History:

The idea behind the Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award (BCCCA), sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Libraries (then the Oregon Educational Media Association), began in the summer of 2001 when Jann Tankersley invited some OEMA friends to discuss the possibilities of creating a children's choice award.  Jann is a long-time OASL member and Library Teacher at Dayton Elementary School. This group of friends decided to name the award after Beverly Cleary, the Oregon born author, who wrote books for the age group that was being targeted. With Beverly Cleary’s permission, the award was created.

Links of interest:

Walking with Ramona

Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden

Follow in the Footsteps of a Beloved Children's Author

Grant Park & Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden

Timeline:

The BCCCA Committee meets every Spring after reading all of the nominated books. Titles may be nominated by students, teachers, teacher librarians, public librarians and other interested readers. The chair must be a current member of OASL (formerly OEMA) and be a Teacher-Librarian. The committee is composed of teacher librarians and public librarians, classroom teachers, and others interested in Children's literature. 5-10 books are selected for the yearly nominations list. The list will be made available in the Spring of each year.

Book Selection:

Rationale: this award is to encourage reading by highlighting good quality literature (fiction and nonfiction) written at an approximately 2nd – 3^rd grade reading level, taking into account text, format and the illustrations of the books. This contest will encourage books that students may not otherwise find on their own and are not necessarily the popular best sellers.