It’s Friday, and I’m doing course prep, so it’s time to practice productive procrastination and bring back Lesson Plan Friday (LPF). Remember how I made a graphic for it and everything?

(I just checked and my last LPF post was in 2014 and I used it exactly four times, so I surely made that a thing, didn’t I? 😂)

At any rate, I am working on the independent reading guidelines (think Book Riot’s Read Harder or Popsugar* reading challenges) for my children’s lit class, and I feel like I need to clean up/combine/add some categories. (I got the idea to use contract grading for independent reading from Elisabeth. Thank you, Elisabeth! The students love it.) For example, I require that students read a Schneider Family Award or Honor book, but then as optional reading, I have that they can read a book about a person with a physical disability and a book about a person who is neurodivergent, which are both technically covered by that award.

[From the award criteria definition: Dr. Schneider has intentionally allowed for a broad interpretation by her wording, the book “must portray some aspect of living with a disability, whether the disability is physical, mental, or emotional.”]

The categories are new for the students, but not for me, so I could be just making more work for myself (The Akilah Brown story) or it could be that I want to push myself and the students more. So, obviously, that’s where you, the reader, come in. I crowdsourced the first version of the list, and that worked so well I’m doing it again.

I have most of the ALA award categories covered (students do a research project for Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, and Pura Belpré, which is why they’re not listed) and some of the other biggies.

Here’s what I have right now:

REQUIRED

(Students are required to read at least one book that fulfills these categories)

1. A Newbery Award or Honor book
2. A Printz Award or Honor book
3. A banned or frequently challenged children’s book (baby to YA)
4. A middle grade or YA retelling of a fairy tale, folktale, or myth as told by an author who is a member of the global majority
5. A middle grade or YA sci-fi novel with a female protagonist by an author who is a member of the global majority
6. A book of poetry (can be a novel in verse)
7. An NCTE Orbis Pictus Award or Honor book
8. A book published before 1980
9. A graphic novel
10. A horror book
11. A YA biography, autobiography, or memoir
12. A true crime book (nonfiction only)
13. A how-to book
14. A book by a Native/Indigenous author
15. The first book in a new-to-you series
16. A movable book
17. An alphabet book
18. A counting book
19. A concept book
20. A preschool or elementary title from the ALA Rainbow Book List
21. A nonfiction title from Rise: A Feminist Book Project
22. A Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal Award or Honor book
23. A Schneider Family Book Award or Honor book
24. A National Book Award Winner, Finalist, or Longlist book
25. An epistolary novel

OPTIONAL

(Students can opt in to read at least one book from some of these categories for a higher grade)

1. An Odyssey Award winner or finalist
2. An ALEX Award winner
3. An Edgar Award winner or nominee
4. Historical fiction by a Jewish author not about the Holocaust
5. A short story collection or anthology (can be a novel told in short stories)
6. A book co-written by two or more authors
7. A book with a main character or protagonist with a physical disability
8. A book with a main character or protagonist who is neurodivergent
9. Historical fiction by a Black author not about slavery or the Civil Rights Movement
10. A book published the year you were born
11. A transgender narrative (fiction or nonfiction) by a transgender author
12. A female/female or female/nonbinary romance
13. A book that you didn’t know was the basis of a movie or TV show (published any year)
14. A book recommended to you by a family member or friend (published any year)
15. The last book in a series
16. A prequel to a series
17. One of Prof. Brown’s faves:
    • A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty
    • The Grounding of Group 6 by Julian F. Thompson
    • Monster by Walter Dean Myers
18. A realistic YA book set someplace other than the U.S., UK, or Canada
19. A book by an author who has written 20+ books
20. A book with 500+ pages
21. A wordless picture book or graphic novel
22. A ghost story
23. A book about addiction
24. A book with magical realism
25. A holiday story

What are some types of books you think people studying children’s literature should push themselves to read? Hit me with your best suggestions!

*I’m going to add a book about college to the list after glancing over that link, so good thing I wrote this post, eh?