This is a list of the 2015 ISLMA Monarch Award nominees for K-3.

1. The Monarch Award 2015
Illinois’ K-3 Readers’ Choice Award

2. The 2005 Monarch Award

3. Monarch 2005 Winner
• Winner: David Gets in
Trouble by David Shannon
• Second: Hooway for
Wodney Wat by Helen Lester
• Third: I Will Never Not Ever
Eat a Tomato by Lauren
Child

4. Monarch 2006 Winner
• Winner: My Lucky Day by
Keiko Kasza
• Second: Diary of a Worm
by Doreen Cronin
• Third: Miss Smith’s
Incredible Storybook by
Michael Garland

5. Keiko Kasza 2006 Winner

6. Monarch 2007 Winner
• Winner: Superdog: The
Heart of a Hero by
Caralyn Buehner, illus.
by Mark Buehner (Dex)
• Second: I Ain’t Gonna
Paint No More by Karen
Beaumont
• Third: Falling for
Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox

7. 2007 Monarch Award Winner
• Mark Buehner, illustrator of Superdog: The Heart of a
Hero, accepts the 2007 Monarch Award for himself and
his wife/author Caralyn. The book has been re-named
Dex due to a copyright question.

8. Monarch 2008 Winner
• Winner: If I Built a Car
by Chris Van Dusen
• Second: Bad Kitty by
Nick Bruel
• Third: Fancy Nancy by
Jane O’Connor

9. Monarch 2009 Winner
• Winner: Once Upon a
Cool Motorcycle Dude
by Kevin O’Malley
• Second: Skippyjon
Jones by Judith
Schnacher
• Third: Superhero ABC
by Bob McLeod

10. Kevin O’Malley accepts the
2009 Monarch Award

11. Monarch 2010 Winner
• Winner: Scaredy Squirrel
by Melanie Watt,
• Second: Once I Ate a Pie
by Patricia MacLachlan &
Emily MacLachlan Charest
• Third: The Gingerbread
Girl by Lisa Campbell
Ernst

12. Monarch 2011 Winner
• Winner: Rhyming Dust
Bunnies by Jan Thomas
• Second: Two Bobbies: A
True Story of Hurricane
Katrina, Friendship and
Survival
• Third: Bad Kitty Gets a
Bath by Nick Bruel

13. Jan Thomas accepts the
2011 Monarch Award

14. 2012 Winner
• Winner: Shark vs. Train by
Chris Barton
• Second: Duck! Rabbit! by
Amy Kraus Rosenthal
• Third: Interrupting
Chicken by David Ezra
Stein

15. 2013 Winner
Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes
by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean

16. 2014 Winner
By Laura Murray
Illustrated by Mike Lowery

17. Monarch Award: Illinois’ K-3
Readers’ Choice Award
2013 Master List
Sponsored by the
Illinois School Library Media Association

18. Creepy Carrots!
by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown
The carrots that grow in
Crackenhopper Field are the
fattest and crispiest around and
Jasper Rabbit cannot resist
pulling some to eat each time he
passes by, until he begins hearing
and seeing creepy carrots
wherever he goes.

19. The Day the Crayons Quit
by Drew Dawait, illustrated by Oliver Feffers
When Duncan arrives at school
one morning, he finds a stack of
letters, one from each of his
crayons, complaining about how
he uses them.

20. Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin
Written & Illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuth
Two cousins, one in Mexico and
one in New York City, write to
each other and learn that even
though their daily lives differ, the
boys are very similar at heart.

21. Each Kindness
by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
When Ms. Albert teaches a
lesson on kindness, Chloe
realizes that she and her friends
have been wrong in making fun of
new student Maya's shabby
clothes and refusing to play with
her.

22. Frog & Fly: Six Slurpy Stories
Written & Illustrated by Jeff Mack
Through a series of easy-to-read
scenes, Frog always gets the
better of Fly but in the end, Fly
has the last word.

23. Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller
by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Matt Tavares
An illustrated biography of
Helen Keller, introducing
young readers to her life
and legacy, and including
quotations by Keller.

24. If I Built a House
Written & Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
Imaginative Jack describes the
kind of house he would build--one
with a racetrack, a flying room,
and a gigantic slide.

25. Jimmy the Joey:
The True Story of an Amazing Koala Rescue
by Rose, Deborah Lee, & Susan Kelly, illustrated by Susan Kelly
Jimmy the joey : the true story of
an amazing koala rescue / by
Deborah Lee Rose and Susan
Kelly ; photographs by Susan
Kelly.

26. Like Bug Juice on a Burger
by Julie Sternberg, illustrated by Matthew Cordell
As the days go on, nine-year-old
Eleanor realizes that maybe
being at summer camp isn't so
bad after all, and is full of special
surprises.

27. A Little Book of Sloth
Written & Illustrated by Lucy Cooke
Text and photographs introduce
readers to the sloth by
introducing them to several of
the animals that live in a sloth
sanctuary in Cost Rica.

28. Look Out, Jeremy Bean!
by Alice Schertle, illustrated by David Slonim
Jeremy Bean has a problem. Several,
in fact. But a kid like Jeremy Bean can
come up with some pretty unusual
solutions, such as putting a bug in his
pocket, wearing a lamp shade on his
head, hiding in the school janitor's
closet, and collecting everyone's
shoes. If you're looking for adventure
with a laugh along the way, meet
Jeremy Bean!

29. Me…Jane
Written & Illustrated by Patrick McDonnell
Holding her stuffed toy
chimpanzee, young Jane
Goodall observes nature,
reads Tarzan books, and
dreams of living in Africa and
helping animals. Includes
biographical information on
the prominent zoologist.

30. Each Kindness
by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Lena Blackburne loved
baseball. But he didn't love the
ways players broke in new
baseballs. Tired of soggy,
blackened, stinky baseballs, he
found a better way. Thanks to a
top-secret mud recipe, Lena
Blackburne Baseball Rubbing
Mud was born.

31. Mo Willems Presents: That is Not a Good Idea
Written & Illustrated by Mo Willems
Illustrations that resemble a
silent film tell the story of a
plump mama goose who is
invited to dinner by a hungry fox
while her babies try to warn her
that it is a bad idea.

32. Nic Bishop Spiders
Written & Illustrated by Nic Bishop
Naturalist Nic Bishop provides an
in-depth examination of snakes,
featuring full-color images, and
sharing details on the
characteristics, habitats, and
abilities of various species of
reptiles.

33. Over and Under the Snow
by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
During a cross country ski trip
through the winter woods,
adventurers can discover all sorts
of animals living under the snow.

34. Penny and Her Marble
Written & Illustrated by Kevin Henkes
Penny feels guilty after taking a
beautiful blue marble that she
sees in Mrs. Goodwin's grass, but
gets a pleasant surprise when
she goes to return it the next day.

35. The Princess and the Pig
by Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Poly Bernatene
When a new baby princess
accidentally changes places with
a piglet, both of their lives are
forever changed.

36. Prudence Wants a Pet
by Cathleen Daly, illustrated by Stephen Michael King
Prudence is determined to have a
pet in spite of her parents'
objections, but a branch, a twig, a
car tire, and even her baby
brother fail to make her dreams
come true.

37. Take Me Out to the Yakyu
Written & Illustrated by Aaron Meshon
A little boy's grandfathers, one in
America and one in Japan, teach
him about baseball and its rich,
varying cultural traditions.

38. The Monarch Award Supports
Common Core
• As a K through grade 3 award, the twenty
books on the Monarch list support the
English/Language Arts Strands. The
following are examples from second
grade. You can use the I-Sail document to
reflect a specific grade level.

39. Reading Literature -
Key Ideas and Details
• CC.2.RL.1 Ask and answer such questions as who,
what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate
understanding of key details in a text.
• CC.2.RL.2 Recount stories, including fables and
folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their
central message, lesson, or moral.
• CC.2.RL.3 Describe how characters in a story respond
to major events and challenges.
• Craft and Structure
• CC.2.RL.4 Describe how words and phrases (e.g.,
regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply
rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

40. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
CC.2.RL.7 Use information gained from the illustrations
and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate
understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
CC.2.RL.9 Compare and contrast two or more versions
of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different
authors or from different cultures.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
CC.2.RL.10 By the end of the year, read and
comprehend literature, including prose and poetry,
in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently,
with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the
range.

41. Reading Informational
Text - Key Ideas and
Details
• CC.2.RI.1 Ask and
answer such questions as
who, what, where, when,
why, and how to
demonstrate
understanding of key
details in a text.
• CC.2.RI.2 Identify the
main topic of a multi-paragraph
text as well as
the focus of specific
paragraphs within the text
Range of Reading and
Level of Text
Complexity
• CC.2.RI.10 By the end of
year, read and
comprehend
informational texts,
including history/social
studies, science, and
technical texts, in the
grades 2–3 text
complexity band
proficiently, with
scaffolding as needed at
the high end of the range.

42. Reading Foundational Skills
Fluency
• CC.2.RF.4 Read with sufficient accuracy
and fluency to support comprehension.
• CC.2.RF.4.a Read on-level text with
purpose and understanding

43. Monarch Award:
Illinois’ K-3 Readers’ Choice Award
Sponsored by the
Illinois School Library Media Association
http://www.islma.org/monarch.htm
dsmma@frontiernet.net