Last year District 65 and Roycemore's K and 1st graders selected from among 5 prospective Blueberry books to pick one Blueberry Votes winner. The 2024 Blueberry Votes winner was The Pelican Can! Now that the 2025-2026 school year has kicked off, Evanston's K-1st graders are once again pouring over a new set of 5 books to choose their Blueberry Votes winner! However, we are excited to open up the program to any K and 1st grade classes who wish to participate!
What is the Blueberry Award?
Founded in 2020 at Evanston Public Library, the Blueberry Award names the top nature and climate books for kids 3 - 10+, to help fill the eco-literature gap in the American Library Association's annual awards like the Newbery, Caldecott and Sibert Awards. With the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, the Blueberry Committee believes in equipping parents and teachers with the very best books that support kids' love of nature. We're hard at work reading and selecting for the 2025 Blueberry Awards--and we'd love some help from kids!
Here’s how Blueberry Votes works:
- The Blueberry Committee has preselected a list of 5 wonderful titles
- Teachers/librarians register your school by emailing msmeyer@cityofevanston.org.
- Teachers/librarians purchase or go to their local library to check out books.
- Teachers/librarians read each book to their class and the children vote on their favorite book.
- Teachers/librarians fill out the Blueberry Votes form with their name and contact information, school name and the breakdown of each book's number of votes as well as which title received the most votes. Forms must be received fully filled out by January 15, 2026.
Here are the 2025 Blueberry Votes books:
- Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka Con La Papa by Sara Andrea Fajardo
- Dawn by Marc Martin
- Poo Pile on the Prairie by Amy Hevron
- We are the Wibbly, A Tadpole's Tail by Sarah Tagholm
- Worm Makes a Sandwich by Brianne Farley
What will your school choose?