The 2023 Rhode Island Children's Book Award (RICBA) winner is ALLERGIC by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Nee Nutter.
In ALLERGIC, we meet Maggie, who is the odd one out. Her parents are preoccupied with the new baby they’re expecting, and her younger brothers are twins and always in their own world. Maggie thinks a new puppy is the answer, but when she goes to select one on her birthday, she breaks out in hives and rashes. She’s severely allergic to anything with fur!
Can Maggie outsmart her allergies and find the perfect pet? With illustrations by Michelle Mee Nutter, Megan Wagner Lloyd draws on her own experiences with allergies to tell a heartfelt story of family, friendship, and finding a place to belong.
The RI Children's Book Award:
The Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Committee, composed of Rhode Island teachers, school librarians, and public librarians, works annually to create a diverse list of nominated books for students in grades 3-5. Over the year, we invite students to read the current list of nominations, and then vote on their favorite in February. The Cumberland Public Library hosts a monthly book club for grades 3-5 called Rhodey Readers, where we read a selection from this list each month. But whether or not you are in Rhodey Readers, we encourage kids to try out some books from this great list of nominees.
Here are the 2024 Nominees:
- A Comb of Wishes by Lisa Stringfellow
- A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
- Amazing Landmarks: Discover the hidden stories behind 10 iconic structures by Rehka S. Rajan, illustrated by Alex Asfour
- Expedition Backyard by Rosemary Mosco, illustrated by Binglin Hu
- Fighting for YES!: The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann by Maryann Cocca-Leffler, illustrated by Vivien Mildenberger
- Flipping Forward Twisting Backward by Alma Fullerton
- Forest Fighter: The Story of Chico Mendes by Anita Ganeri, illustrated by Margaux Carpentier
- Going Places: Victor Hugo Green and His Glorious Book by Tonay Bolden, illustrated by Eric Velasquez
- Growing Pangs by Kathryn Ormsbee and Molly Brooks
- Keepunumuk: Weeâchumun's Thanksgiving Story by Danielle Greendeer, Anthony Perry, and Alexis Bunten, illustrated by Garry Meeches Sr.
- Killer Underwear Invasion! by Elise Gravel
- Marya Khan and the Incredible Henna Party by Saadia Faruqi, illustrated by Ani Bushry
- Miles Lewis: King of the Ice by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Wayne Spencer
- Nothing is Little by Carmella Van Vleet
- Singing with Elephants by Margarita Engle
- Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas
- The Button Box by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani Williams
- The Whale Who Swam Through Time: A Two-Hundred-Year Journey in the Arctic by Alex Boersma and Nick Pyenson, illustrated by Alex Boersma
- When Winter Robeson Came by Brenda Woods
- Zia Erases the World by Bree Barton
More information on these books can be found in our library catalog or at the RICBA webpage.
Blog Category:
