The Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award is a literature award created to recognize high-quality books for beginning and transitional readers in kindergarten through fourth grade. It is granted annually by the Maryland Library Association's Children's Services Division (CSD). The Children's Services Division initiated the award in 2004 as a means of identifying and promoting the best fiction and nonfiction books for beginning readers. The further intention in granting the award is to provide teachers, librarians, and caregivers with a resource list of excellent books for beginning readers, and to encourage publishers, authors, and illustrators to create high-quality, interesting, and beautiful books that will entice young readers.
Selection process The Award is decided by a committee made up of public librarians and school media specialists who examine qualifying literature published within the calendar year. The committee considers criteria such as legibility, vocabulary, visual and literary appeal, support matter (i.e. glossaries or pronunciation keys) and appropriateness to the needs of beginning readers. The committee selects one title each to receive the award in each of the following categories: Beginning Fiction Beginning Nonfiction Transitional Fiction Transitional Nonfiction
In addition, the committee generates an honor list of up to three titles for each reading level the award covers. Books that the committee feels are especially appropriate for reluctant older readers are indicated.
Anyone working in a Maryland public library, and members of the Maryland Library Association (MLA), the Maryland Association of School Librarians (MASL), or the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA), may nominate titles for the award. Eligibility guidelines and nomination forms are listed on the Blue Crab page of the Maryland Library Association website.
As of 2012, winners will be announced at the spring CSD Southern/Western Conferences in March and April, respectively. Prior to this year, winners were announced in October at the fall "Kids Are Customers, Too" conference. A Blue Crab Award author is frequently invited to speak at either the annual Maryland Library Association Conference in the spring or the Kids Are Customers, Too conference in the fall.
Blue Crab Book Award winners Year Beginning Fiction Beginning Nonfiction Transitional Fiction Transitional Nonfiction 2004 See Pip Point by David Milgrim Hunting Sharks by Kristin Nelson Stuart Goes to School by Sara Pennypacker Gretchen the Bicycle Dog by Anita Heyman 2005 Baa-Choo! by Sarah Weeks Platypus! by Ginjer Clarke Down Girl and Sit: Smarter than Squirrels by Lucy Nolan Choppers! by Susan E.Goodman and Michael Doolittle 2006 Hi! Fly Guy! by Tedd ArnoldChameleon, Chameleon by Joy Cowley photographs by Nic BishopThe Next-Door Dogs by Colby Rodowsky illustrated by Amy June BatesTurtle Tide: The Way of Sea Turtles by Stephen Swinburne illustrated by Bruce Hiscock 2007 Dirk Bones And The Mystery of The Haunted House by Doug CushmanEmperor Penguins by Patricia TrattlesPirate Mom by Deborah Underwood illustrated by Stephen GilpinTime for Kids: Butterflies! by David Bjerklie 2008 My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems Best Friends: The True Story of Owen and Mzee by Roberta Edwards illustrated by Carol SchwartzAbracadabra! Magic with Mouse and Mole by Wong Herbert Yee Who Likes the Rain? by Etta Kaner illustrated by Marie Lafrance 2009 Annie and Simon by Catharine O'Neill Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator by Sarah C. Campbell photographed by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up by Melissa Thomson illustrated by Frank Morrison Our Three Bears by Ron Hirschi photographed by Thomas Mangelsen 2010 Good Dog, Aggie by Lori Ries illustrated by Frank W. Dormer My People by Langston Hughes and Charles R. Smith, Jr. How Oliver Olson Changed the World by Claudia Mills illustrated by Heather Maione Never Smile at a Monkey: and 17 Other Important Things to Remember written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins 2011 We Are In a Book! written and illustrated by Mo Willems Just One Bite Written by Lola Schaefer, illustrated by Geoff Waring. Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst illustrated by Lane Smith Pika: Life on the Rocks Written by Tannis Bill Photographs by Jim Jacobson 2012 Max Spaniel: Best in Show written and illustrated by David Catrow Capybara Written by Anita Ganeri Labracadabra by Jessie Nelson and Karen Leigh Hopkins Dolphins Written by Kate Riggs 2013 The Fly Flew In Written and illustrated by David Catrow Welcome to the World, ZooBorns! by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz illustrated by Dan Santat Dreaming Up Written and illustrated by Christy Hale 2014The Watermelon Seed by Greg PizzoliHow Long? Crazy Ways to Compare Length byJessica GundersonOdd Duck by Cecil CastellucciMiracle Mud by David A. Kelly2015My New Friend is So Fun by Mo WillemsSea Otters by Margo GatesPigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey by Alex MilwayHandle with Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey by Loree Griffin Burns and Ellen Harasimowicz2016What This Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig by Emma J. VirjánWater is Water by Miranda PaulFrancine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon by Kate DiCamilloFur, Fins and Feathers: Abrahan Dee Bartlett and the Invention of the Modern Zoo by Cassandre Maxwell2017Duck, Duck, Porcupine! by Saline YoonPlants Can't Sit Still by Rebecca E. HirschWeekends with Max and His Dad by Linda Urban; illustrated by Katie KathWhoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton; illustrated by Don Tate 2018Life on Mars by Jon AgeeAnts Rule: The Long and Short of It by Bob BarnerWedgie & Gizmo by Suzanne Selfors; illustrated by Barbara FisingerIf Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams2019Pizza Pig by Diana Murray; illustrated by Maria KaripidouMapping Sam by Joyce HesselberthJasmine Toguchi, Drummer Girl by Debbi Michiko Florence; illustrated by Elizabet VukovicThe Sun is Kind of a Big Deal by Nick Seluk2020Birthday on Mars! by Sara Schonfeld; illustrated by Andrew J. RossWhat is a Refugee? by Elise GravelRumple Buttercup: A Story of Bananas, Belonging, & Being Yourself by Matthew Gray GublerSisters: Venus & Serena Williams by Jeanette Winter2021Arlo & Pip: King of the Birds by Elise GravelMy Stinky Summer by S. Bug by Paul MeiselKindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business by Lyla LeeSmall Matters: The Hidden Power of the Unseen by Heather Ferranti Kinser2022Thunder and Cluck Series: Friends Do Not Eat Friends by Jill Esbau,Let's Pop, Pop, Popcorn by Cynthia SchumerthJ.D. and the Great Barber Battle by J. DillardShe Persisted: Claudette Colvin by Lesa Cline-Ransom2023I'm a Unicorn by Helen YoonA Seed Grows by Antoinette PortisFrank and the Bad Surprise by Martha Brockenbrough and Jon LauBlood! Not Just a Vampire Drink by Stacy McAnulty and Shawna J. C Tenney2024How to Love a Pony by Michelle Meadows and Sawyer CloudYou Are a Raccoon! by Laurie Ann Thompson and Jay FleckThe Case of the Missing Tarts by Christee Curran-BauerButt or Face? by Kari Lavelle2025Pencil & Eraser : We Have a Dull-emma! by Jenny AlvaradoHow to Bird by Rasha HamidBodega Cats : Picture Purrfect by Hilda Eunice Burgos and Siara FaisonHow to Explain Robotics to a Grown-Up by Ruth Shapiro; illustrated by Teresa Martínez2026The Fire-Breathing Duckling by Frank CammusoPolar Babies by Maya MyersThe Truth About the Tooth Fairy by Leah CypressThe Urban Owls: How Flaco and Friends Made the City Their Home by Christopher Cooper and Cristen Adam
References
External links Official Blue Crab Award Page Children's Services Division of the Maryland Library Association Maryland Library Association Blue Crab Award Facebook Page