Monarch Award:

Illinois K-3 Readers

Choice Award
2016 Master List
Sponsored by the
Illinois School Library Media
Association

2015 Monarch Award

Winner

8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel 1 Dog = CHAOS

by Vivian Vande Velde
Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman

A dog chases a
squirrel into an
elementary
school one
night, creating
monumental
chaos.

Bad Kitty School Daze

by Nick Bruel

When Kitty's
owners have
finally had enough
of her bad
behavior, it's time
to ship her off to
obedience school

A Boy and a Jaguar

by Alan Rabinowitz
Illustrated by Catia Chien

Young Alan
struggled with
stuttering, only able
to speak fluently to
animals. Learn how
he promised at a
young age to find
his voice to be their
advocate.

Breaking News: Bear Alert

By David Biedrzycki
In this story,
told in the form
of a TV news
show, bears
emerge from
hibernation
demanding to
be fed.

Building Our House

by Jonathan Bean

A young girl
narrates her
family's move from
city to country,
where they live in a
trailer while they
build a house from
the ground up, with
help from relatives
and friends.

A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerinas Dream

by Kristy Dempsey
Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

A girl growing up
in Harlem in the
1950s, whose
mother cleans
and stitches
costumes for a
ballet company,
dreams of
becoming a prima
ballerina one day.

The Dark
by Lemony Snicket
Illustrated by Jon Klassen
Laszlo is afraid
of the dark
which lives in
the same big,
creaky house as
him, until one
night the dark
pays him a visit.

Deep in the Sahara

by Kelly Cunnane
Illustrated by Hoda Hadadi

In west Africa, an
Arab girl who
wants to wear a
malafa, the
veiled dress worn
by her mother
and older sister,
learns that the
garment
represents more
than

Dreaming Up: A Celebration of

Building
by Christy Hale
Poetry,
illustrations, and
photos that show
how kids'
constructions,
created through
play, are reflected
in architecture
around the world.

Feathers: Not Just for Flying

by Melissa Stewart
Illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen

Warmth,
cushion and
shade are just a
few of the uses
these sixteen
birds have for
feathers other
than flying.

The Girl Who Heard Colors

by Marie Harris
Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Because she has

a special extra
sense called
synesthesia,
Jillian sees colors
whenever she
hears sounds

Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym

Class Invented Basketball
by John Coy
Illustrated by Joe Morse

How James
Naismith came to
invent basketball
at a Springfield,
Massachusetts,
high school in
1891 while
teaching a rowdy
gym class

If it Rains Pancakes: Haiku & Lantern Poems

by Brian P. Cleary
Illustrated by Andy Rowland

Celebrates
everyday things in
the form of haiku
and lantern
poems.

Lost Cat
by C. Roger Mader

Slipper the cat

is left behind in
the commotion
when the lady
she has always
lived with
moves, so
Slipper sets out
to find someone
new to adopt.

Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash

by Monica Brown
Illustrated by Sara Palacios

A unique, spunky
girl plans a oneof-a-kind birthday
party and hopes
her abuelita
(grandma) will be
able to come
from Peru to join
the festivities.

Nelson Mandela
by Kadir Nelson

A biography of
the former South
African president
best known for
his political
activism and
fight to end
apartheid

The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life

by Lois Ehlert

The story of
illustrator Lois
Ehlert, beginning
with her parents'
support, her early
experiments, and
a look at her
behind-the-scenes
book-making
processes.

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin

by Jen Bryant
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

The story of artist

Horace Pippin
describes his
childhood love for
drawing and the
World War I injury
that changed his
dreams without
breaking them.

This is a Moose
by Richard T. Morris
Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

Director Billy
Waddler is trying to
film a documentary
about a moose, but
that moose doesnt
plan to spend his
life in the woods,
and his animal
friends help him
prove his point.

The Watermelon Seed

by Greg Pizzoli

After swallowing
a watermelon
seed, a
crocodile
imagines a
scary outcome.