Voice of Youth Award Books 2004-2005 3rd and 4th grades
Patrick Skene Catling. The Chocolate Touch. 1979.
Imagine! Everything John Midas' lips touch turns into chocolate:
chocolate broccoli, chocolate bacon and eggs. Deliciously perfect until he
gets thirsty and can’t get a plain, unflavored glass of water. Read more about The Chocolate Touch in Kids' Books We Love!
Andrew Clements. The Landry News. 1999.
Fifth grader Cara Landry is new at Denton Elementary. Hard enough, but
things get worse when she is assigned to Mr. Larson's room. His teaching
consists of distributing worksheets to the students before retreating to
drink coffee and read the newspaper all day. Disappointed and angry, Cara,
a budding journalist, takes matters into her own hands and publishes a
biting editorial in her very own newspaper: The Landry News. Read more about The Landry News in Kids' Books We Love!
Sharon Creech. Love That Dog. 2001.
Jack has no interest in Mrs. Stretchberry's poetry project. After all,
"Boys don’t write poetry. Girls do." Read his journal entries, all in free
verse, to find out what it takes for him to change his mind and maybe even
add his name to his compositions.
Eleanor Estes. The Hundred Dresses. 1944.
Why would Wanda Petronski, a poor, motherless, immigrant girl, wear
the same faded blue dress to school every day? After all, Wanda brags she
has 100 beautiful dresses hanging in her closet. Her classmates do not
believe her and tease her relentlessly. Does anyone come to her rescue?
Sid Fleischman. Bandit’s Moon. 1998.
"Buenas tardes, Calico." Newly orphaned Annyrose is paralyzed with
fear when she turns around and faces feared Mexican bandit Joaquin
Murieta. She realizes that he mistakes her for a boy he had been searching
for and takes this chance to escape her vicious caretaker. Her dream is to
locate her lost brother Lank in California's gold-digging territory. Will
she succeed? Read more about Bandit's Moon in Kids' Books We Love!
Johanna Hurwitz. Class Clown. 1987.
Lucas Cott loves to come up with new ideas that make his third grade
classmates laugh, especially when he feels bored or restless during class.
When his teacher, Mrs. Hockaday, sends a note home to his mother
complaining about his obstreperous behavior, he tries very hard to
improve...with even more comic results.
Mary Labatt. Spying on Dracula. 1999.
Sam, a mystery-loving, shaggy sheepdog is new in town. When
10-year-old Jennie starts showing her around, they discover that they
share a very special secret: Jennie can 'hear' Sam's thoughts. This leads
them to investigate the bizarre happenings inside the spookiest house
around. Read more about Spying on Dracula in Kids' Books We Love!
Patricia Lauber. What You Never Knew About Fingers, Forks, &
Chopsticks. 1999.
In 1669, King Louis XIV of France ruled that knives had to have
rounded ends. Why? People were accustomed to carrying knives around with
them for eating purposes, but after-dinner arguments had caused too many
stab wounds. Read all about how humans around the world have eaten from
the Stone Age until modern times and "Never, ever try to eat soup with a
fork."
Megan McDonald. Judy Moody. 2000.
It's the first day of third grade, but Judy Moody is "in a mood. A bad
mood." Things go downhill when yucky Frank (who likes to eat paste) gets
the seat across the aisle from her. Can a homework assignment to create a
"Me collage" actually improve Judy’s life?
Pam Muñoz Ryan. Riding Freedom. 1998.
This is the true story of Charlotte Parkhurst, the only girl living in
a harsh New Hampshire orphanage in the mid 1800s. The overseer, Mr.
Millshark, despises her more than ever when she beats out all the boys in
a horse race and he condemns her to grueling kitchen work. Is her love of
horses and her fierce determination and courage going to be enough to
fulfill her dream of freedom?
