CYBILS AWARDS Finalists: Early Chapter Books

 I hope you read my post earlier this week to share my thoughts about one of the EASY READER finalists for CYBILS AWARD for Early Chapter Books. If not, HERE it is!

(If so, you can skip this next section which was offered last time.)

From CYBILS, found here: 

"The Easy Reader / Early Chapter Book category includes the spectrum of titles for early children just learning to read and ranges from very basic books for emergent readers to longer, illustrated titles for kids who are not quite ready for kids who are not quite ready to read middle-grade novels on their own.

For easy reader nominations, we look for leveled readers with controlled vocabularies. These are books designed for kids to build vocabulary (e.g., "sight words") and practice their reading. Often they are parts of series with reading-related titles, such as “Step into Reading” or “I Can Read” and they can usually be identified by their large type, simple sentence structure, and colorful illustrations on every page. Easy readers are typically 32-64 pages in length. Well-known easy readers include series like Bink & Gollie and Elephant & Piggie.

Early chapter books (also called beginning chapter books or short-chapter books) can be a little bit more difficult to identify. Many books have chapters (including a lot of middle-grade novels), but only books designed for developing readers belong in this category. Compared to easy readers, early chapter books are a bit longer (up to 160 pages or so), and they have fewer illustrations. Instead of full-color pictures on every page, they may have just a few black and white line drawings sprinkled throughout the text. What distinguishes them from novels is that beginning chapter books use large print, short chapters, and simple plots, and they rely heavily on dialogue. Popular beginning chapter books include the Princess in Black, Dory Fantasmagory, and Magic Tree House series."

To see ALL the CYBILS categories with clickable links to their descriptions, check HERE.

Candlewick Press, 2023

Let's get right to the finalist title I was honored to write about, TOO SMALL TOLA GETS TOUGH, by author Atinuke and illustrated by Onyinwe Iwu.

TOO SMALL TOLA GETS TOUGH is a unique early chapter book set in Lagos, perhaps one of the largest urban areas in the world but rarely portrayed in typical American texts. In this series, and now this title, Tola's loving family is portrayed realistically in both dialect and circumstances that provide a window into daily life that is not unusual for the time and place portrayed. In this case it is set in circumstances surrounding the outset of the Covid pandemic and lockdown. 

The most unusual part of this early chapter book is not the rarity of material in this locale, or this cultural portrait, but the fact that Tola is the central character, yet the older siblings/family/characters carry the storylines through several chapters. Those sequences portray challenges that are much older than young Tola would have faced. In fact, though, this is a valuable presentation that proves to be engaging, appealing, and broadening in the natural and authentic way in which the story is told and the events unfold.

For more information about the other CYBILS finalists in this category (and others), click HERE.

Stay tuned for the announcement about the actual WINNERS in each category, shared on social media and online on the CYBILS blog, HERE.  And share the book love for any books you love!