What about that OTTER Award?

The Washington Library Media Association, or WLMA, is sponsoring a new Washington State award - The OTTER Award.  As a member of the newly formed committee, I have been reading transitional chapter books from the last two years as often as possible.  Also, I have been working on our new website - https://otteraward.wikispaces.com/ - where you will be able to find information about the award and list of the nominees for 2017 after April 23.

Here are a few more possible titles:



In this quiet story, Eleanor deals with new friends, stage fright, dog discipline, and honesty issues.  A new girl moves to her class, and Eleanor's best friend, Pearl, becomes Ainsley's new friend.  Eleanor has a difficult time sharing her best friend, and takes it out on everyone from Ainsley to her own family.  To make matters worse, Eleanor's dog is sent off to Doggy Boot Camp, which may be Eleanor's fault.  Matthew Cordell's illustrations are wonderful and add just enough to the story to help the transitional reader make connections to the text.



This is the first in a fast moving, magical series set in the Kingdom of Bracken.  Drake is a simple farm boy, who is one day picking onions and the next training a dragon.  He did not know that dragons, wizards, or magical stones existed until he is taken to King Roland's dungeon and sees all of these unbelievable sights for himself.  Then he finds out that he has been chosen to train a dragon, along with three other chosen children.  Together they are the Dragon Masters, and their adventures begin.  Illustrations and text spacing make this an easy to read and follow story, and I believe that the story will be appealing to many students.

Check out these books at your library or find them at your local bookseller.

OTTER Award for transitional readers

As we get close to choosing the first official OTTER Award nominees, I have been looking for more books that fit our criteria.  We have about 25 books on our short list, and here are a couple more that I liked.



Cornelia Funke is one of my favorite authors for older readers, so I was excited to read this newer book for younger readers.   Emma finds a mysterious bottle floating in the ocean and then is taken away to a magical Arabian-like place with flying carpets, caliphs, and dromedaries. She must save her new friend, the Blue Genie, and retrieve his nose ring, the source of his power.  The vocabulary is a little out of reach for most students in first or second grade, but the story is fun and full of adventure, so they may be able to use the context to figure out the meanings.



I enjoyed this story of Kaz, a young ghost, who gets blown out of the only house he has ever known, and Claire, an inquisitive young girl, who is living with her grandmother while her parents leave for extended periods of time to do their jobs. Claire happens to live in the library where Kaz finds himself once the wind has stopped.  Claire can also talk to ghosts, only she is not supposed to tell anyone that.  Kaz and Claire become friends and find that they enjoy solving mysteries together, which leads to the other books in this humorous and fun series.

You can find these books and many others at your local library or independent bookseller.