Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy 

2015 CLEL Bell Awards Winners

February 5, 2015

We are happy to announce the 2015 CLEL Bell Picture Book Awards for Early Literacy! 

The five winning books consist of one title in each of five categories selected from a shortlist of 25 titles. Each category represents an early literacy practice: Read, Write, Sing, Talk, and Play. The books, in their content, theme, or design, support caregivers’ interaction with their children through these five early literacy practices. Research has shown that engaging children in these practices builds language skills and prepares children to become successful readers.

Early Literacy Practice: Read

 

Books Always Everywhere by Blatt.  Follow along with a diverse set of babies and toddlers as they fill their days with playing, sharing, and reading. Books Always Everywhere encourages families to see that books and reading can be joyful parts of their daily activities.    

For Early Literacy Activities Sheet about this book, click here.

Early Literacy Practice: Write 

The Crayon: A Colorful Tale of Friendship by Rickerty.Two quirky creatures take turns scribbling with crayons, mixing and naming colors as they go, in this humorous story about friendship. For young children, the scribbles in the illustrations and the conversations in the text model age-appropriate written and oral language skills.

For Early Literacy Activities about this book, click here.

Early Literacy Practice: Talk

Froodle by Portis. A bird leaves the usual chirps behind in a quest to find just the right new thing to say. Full of unexpected but fun made-up words, Froodle is a celebration of language and self-expression. 

For Early Literacy Activities about this book, click here.   

Early Literacy Practice: Sing

I Got the Rhythm by Schofield-Morrison. From storefront to park, an exuberant girl rejoices in the sounds and music she hears during a busy city day. Her actions show children how to listen closely to the world around them. The story's rhythmic language and rhyming words help build phonological awareness skills. 

For Early Literacy Activities about this book, click here.  

Early Literacy Practice: Play

Tea with Grandpa by Saltzberg. A young girl and her grandfather spend a delightful time together singing, having a tea party, and chatting. Tea with Grandpa stands as a wonderful model of child-directed, open-ended play and presents a positive example of how technology can help children maintain critical family relationships. 

For Early Literacy Activities about this book, click here.  

Cathy 

CLEL Bell Picture Book Awards Announced

The Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy announced the winners of the first-ever CLEL Bell Picture Book Awards. The winners are:

Early Literacy Practice: Read



Open This Little Book, by Jesse Klausmeier.

Readers open the cover to discover five characters, each with their own little book, all within the pages of the first. Open This Little Book celebrates the pleasures of reading, sharing, and having a book of your own.

Early Literacy Practice: Write



The Things I Can Do, by Jeff Mack.

Hand-written text and exuberant collages illustrate this story of a boy who takes great pride in his accomplishments. Reading skills and writing skills develop together, and the format of The Things I Can Do invites children to see themselves as authors as well as readers.

Early Literacy Practice: Sing



Nighty-Night, Cooper, by Laura Numeroff. 

A small kangaroo requests song after song to help him fall asleep, and his mother obliges by making up her own words to familiar tunes. Singing songs together is a powerful way to build phonological awareness skills and vocabulary, and Nighty-Night, Cooper models how a parent can use songs to create a comforting bedtime routine with a child. 

Early Literacy Practice: Talk 



Moo! by David LaRochelle 

A very vocal cow commandeers the farmer's car and sets off on an adventure. The entire story is told with just two words: Moo! and Baa! The speech bubbles and the very limited vocabulary help children make the critical connection between the words we say and the print on the page. 

Early Literacy Practice: Play



Nino Wrestles the World, by Yuyi Morales.  

Nino takes on all the toys in his room with and amazing series of lucha libre wrestling moves. When his sisters wake up from their nap, they challenge him to a match, too! Who will be victorious? Nino Wrestles the World joyfully demonstrates the language-rich, open-ended play that contributes to a child's narrative skills. 


The five winning books consist of one title in each of five categories representing an early literacy practice; Read, Write, Sing, Talk and Play.  The books, in their content, theme, or design support caregivers' interaction with their children through early literacy practices. Research has shown that engaging children in these practices builds language skills and prepares children to become successful readers. 

For more information, visit the CLEL Bell Awards webpage where you can see the 2014 shortlists and see the full nominations lists.   

Cathy