Massachusetts Children's Book Award facts for kids
The Massachusetts Children's Book Award is a special prize given every year to a book chosen by kids in Massachusetts. A group of experts creates a list of books, and then students get to vote for their favorite. This award was started in 1975 by Dr. Helen Constant. It is still supported by the School of Education at Salem State University. The main goal of the award is to keep kids in grades 4 to 6 excited about reading.
Kids in grades 4 to 6 (who are usually 9 to 12 years old) can vote for their favorite book. To vote, they need to read at least five books from the special list. This list now has 25 books, and they are all published within the last five years. Schools, often through their libraries, help organize the voting. Public librarians can also help kids who are homeschooled or whose schools don't participate. The book with the most votes wins the award, and the author receives a special plaque. Usually, four other books are named "honor books" because they also received many votes.
Teachers, librarians, and even publishers suggest books for the award. All the chosen books must be available in paperback. Other important things they look for include good writing, different types of stories, books that show different cultures, and books that kids will enjoy reading. For the 2014 award, the list had 25 books published between 2009 and 2013. Almost half of these were from 2011. There was also a guide that suggested which grade level each book might be best for, from low fourth grade to advanced sixth grade.
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History of the Award
The Massachusetts Children's Book Award program began during the 1975–76 school year. The very first winner was How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell. This book was three years old when it won. The first award conference happened on July 1 at Salem State College Library.
One year later, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume won the second award. About 5,000 students from 400 classes voted on 25 books. These books were suggested by teachers, librarians, and even kids themselves. The books that came in second to fifth place were also announced at a conference. Later that year, it was announced that kids in grades 4 through 9 would vote in the third yearly contest.
For six years, until 1983, there were two MCBA awards each year. One was for grades 4–6 (ages 9–12) and another for grades 7–9 (ages 12–15). For example, The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger won the grades 7–9 award in 1979. This book had been a runner-up in 1977 for the grades 4–6 award.
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing won the grades 4–6 award again in 1983. This is the only book to win two MCBA awards. Some older books, published in the 1950s and 1960s, also won awards, with the latest being in 1987. However, after 1995, the list of books was limited to those published in the five years before the award year. Since then, the winning books have been between one and five years old.
Nominees for the Award
2024-2025 MCBA Nominees
| Author | Title | Publication Year |
|---|---|---|
| David Aguilar, Ferran Aguilar | Piece by Piece: How I Built My Life (No Instructions Required) | 2022 |
| John David Anderson | Stowaway | 2021 |
| Andrea Beatriz Arango | Something Like Home | 2023 |
| Marie Arnold | The Year I Flew Away | 2022 |
| Annie Barrows | The Best of Iggy | 2020 |
| Kalynn Bayron | The Vanquishers | 2022 |
| Angela Cervantes | Lety Out Loud | 2019 |
| Johnnie Christmas | Swim Team | 2022 |
| Sophie Cleverly | A Case of Grave Danger | 2021 |
| Leslie Connor | Anybody Here Seen Frenchie? | 2022 |
| Reem Faruqi | Unsettled | 2021 |
| K. A. Holt | BenBee and the Teacher Griefer | 2020 |
| Ira Marcks | Shark Summer | 2021 |
| Pedro Martín | Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir | 2023 |
| Maulik Pancholy | Nikhil Out Loud | 2022 |
| Linda Sue Park | The One Thing You'd Save | 2021 |
| Lynne Rae Perkins | Violet & Jobie in the Wild | 2022 |
| Shawn Peters | The Unforgettable Logan Foster | 2022 |
| Liz Prince | Science Comics: Frogs: Awesome Amphibians | 2023 |
| A. J. Sass | Ellen Outside the Lines | 2022 |
| Phil Stamper | Small Town Pride | 2022 |
| Jane de Suza | When Impossible Happens | 2021 |
| Matt Tavares | Hoops | 2023 |
| Jasmine Warga | A Rover's Story | 2022 |
| Renée Watson | Ways to Make Sunshine | 2020 |
Winners of the Award
Authors with Multiple Awards
Louis Sachar has written three books that won the MCBA. These books were published between 1987 and 1998. They are There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger, and Holes. Several other authors have written two winning books. Also, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume is special because it won the award twice, in both 1977 and 1983.
