Oh MG News

Green Earth Book Awards: It’s time to submit your choices for the 2019 Green Earth Awards. You’ve got form now to December 3, 2018 – just one week from today! Judges are looking for strong work that conveys the message of environmental stewardship. The categories: picture book, children’s and young adult fiction, and nonfiction categories.

The short list comes out in March 2019, and the winners will be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2019. Winners receive $750 to the author and $750 to the illustrator/photographer (or $1,500 if the author and illustrator/photographer is the same person). In addition, Green Earth Book Award-winning books will be donated to Title I schools and military bases across the country. For more on how to submit, click here.

Meet Yasmin, by MUF’s very own Saadia Faruqi, makes the SLJ Best Books of 2018 list. Congratulations to Saadia for this wonderful distinction!

Celebrating Bookstores: It’s here! The #loveyourbookstore campaign, spearheaded by Dominique Raccah, publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks has begun. The challenge: Between November 10-16, go to your favorite bookstore, take a picture inside the store of your favorite book — or bookseller! Post on social media using the hashtag #loveyourbookstore. You can add a quote too! When you post, you’ll be entered to win some fabulous bookish prizes. Feel free to tag us when you do, so all of us at MUF can share tips on our favorite places to shop for great books.

The Benefits of Books: Not like we didn’t already know this, but new research supports the theory that children who grow up with books surrounding them at home grow up to be more literate adults The study is called Scholarly Culture: How Books in Adolescence Enhance Adult Literacy, Numeracy and Technology Skills in 31 Societies. Researchers analyzed data from 160,000 adults in 31 different countries and concluded that: “Growing up with home libraries boosts adult skills in these areas beyond the benefits accrued from parental education or own educational or occupational attainment.” The study, spearheaded by Dr. Joanna Sikora of Australian National University, showed that even adults who didn’t receive a university education but did grow up with a home library of at least 80 books showed on par literacy levels with those who went to university but didn’t grow up with books.