Volunteer State Book Award Nominees Primary Division Grades K-2

I had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn, Ill. by Julia Denos When a girl outgrows her favorite dress, her mother helps her to alter it into something new so that she can keep wearing her favorite piece of clothing.

Me and My Dragon by David Biedrzycki A child tells all the reasons why a small, fire-breathing dragon would make an excellent pet and how to take proper care of it.

Tweak, Tweak by Eve Bunting, ill. by Sergio Ruzzier While out for a walk, Mama Elephant answers her child's questions about a monkey, a frog, a songbird, a butterfly, and a crocodile while teaching about Little Elephant too.

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo, Ill. By David Small Elliot feels a kinship with the penguins at the aquarium and wants to take one home with him. So he does!

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon, ill. by Jake Parker. A young superhero describes his awesome powers which he then demonstrates as various foes arrive on the scene.

Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed by Eileen Christelow The Five Little Monkeys cannot resist reading, even after Mama tells them it is time for bed.

14 cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy, Ill. by Thomas Gonzalez A gift of fourteen cows are given by the Maasai people of Kenya to the U.S. as a gesture of comfort and friendship in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Worms for Lunch? By Leonid Gore Readers can follow a curious worm through die-cut pages to discover what different animals like to eat for lunch.

Perfect Square by Michael Hall A perfect square that is perfectly happy is torn into pieces, punched with holes, crumpled, and otherwise changed but finds in each transformation that it can be something new and still be happy.

Cows to the Rescue by John Himmelman After helping the Greenstalk family get to the county fair, the cows busy themselves by finding solutions to many other problems that arise during the day.

Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins This book presents an illustrated discussion of what not to do around various dangerous animals, with warnings about petting a platypus, touching a tang fish, or pulling a python's tail.

Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz This book contains photographs and true stories of Rose, Izzy, Frieda, and Lenore, four dogs that perform various jobs on Bedlam Farm.

Oh, Harry! By Maxine Kumin, Ill. By Barry Moser Harry the horse finds his patience tested by a young troublemaker named Algernon. When Algernon gets into a sticky situation, Harry is tempted to leave the boy to fix the mess on his own.

The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon; Ill. by Lynne Avril Ginny's eyes play tricks on her, making her see everything double, but when she goes to vision screening at school and discovers that not everyone sees this way, she learns that her double vision can be cured.

Pierre, the Penguin by Jean Marzollo, Ill. by Laura Regan Pierre the penguin lost his feathers and was too cold to swim in the water until biologist Pam came up with an idea to get Pierre to swim again.

Me….Jane 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.

Detective Blue by Steve Metzger, Ill. By Tedd Arnold Little Boy Blue grows up to be a top-notch detective and his latest case has him searching for Miss Muffet with the help of their nursery rhyme friends.

Blackout by John Rocco Neighbors gather on the roof after the power goes out on a hot night in the city and start having so much fun not everyone is happy when the lights go back on.

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Ill. by Tom Lichtenheld Two unseen characters argue about whether the creature they are looking at is a rabbit or a duck

Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman, Ill. by Beth Krommes An illustrated exploration of various examples of spirals appearing in nature, looking at snail shells, flower petals, elephant tusks, crashing waves, and more.