A sixth grade interdistrict committee reads all five books, meets with their librarians at lunchtime to discuss the books, evaluates them, and votes on a winner. The winner of the Sterling Children's Choice Book Award is announced during National Library Week in April. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Poppy by Avi, and Honus and Me by local author, Dan Gutman. In the past, the committee has read and evaluated such books as Superfudge by Judy Blume, The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling , Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary, Matilda by Roald Dahl, From the Mixed - up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, Shiloh and Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, The Haunted Mask by R.L. Stine, and Poppy and Rye by Avi. Kids' Zone - short texts for shared and guided reading.
Children have the opportunity to respond by e-mail to authors and illustrators.
There are also educational online word games. Each page of a book has an image from the film and the text. Pumpkin Patch - children from around the world wrote poems and produced pictures about pumpkins. Links to other children poetry sites. Children's Storybooks Online - Find illustrated stories, riddles, coloring pages, and list of related sites .