Each
year, Hawaii's elementary and middle school children vote for
their favorite fiction book and present the author with the
prized Nene Award. This is an exciting time filled with reading
and sharing, and voting for the best.
The
award began in 1959 when third graders at the University
Elementary Lab School decided to create a book award. The Nene
Goose, Hawaii's State Bird, was chosen for the award's motif.
That year, the children selected The Blue Mountain by Beth Lewis
as the first winner of the fledgling Nene Award.
The
guidelines for nominated titles were designed by the children
themselves:
- What is the best book you have read?
Would many children enjoy reading this book?
- Does the book have an interesting
story (plot), good writing (style) to help in the enjoyment
of the reading and memorable characters (people or animals)?
- Does the book have something important
to say (theme)?
- Is the author living?
By 1963,
the idea had spread to other schools throughout Hawaii and the
first state-wide Nene Award was presented in 1964 to author
Scott O'Dell for Island of the Blue Dolphins. Ever since
that time more children participate each year. Children in
public and private schools and in public libraries read and
vote. The award is sponsored by the Hawaii Library Association's
Children and Youth Section, the Hawaii Association of School
Librarians, the Hawaii State Public Library System, and the
Department of Education.
The
winning authors have been visiting Hawaii since 1994 -- Phyllis
Naylor (Shiloh), Bruce Coville (My Teacher is an Alien),
Jerry Spinelli (Maniac Magee), Constance Hiser (Ghosts
in Fourth Grade), Graham Salisbury (Under the Blood-Red
Sun and Barbara Robinson (Best School Year Ever.)
The authors meet with the children who voted for their books and
announce the next year's Nene Award winner. In 2003, Christopher
Paul Curtis entertained the children of Hawaii by sharing
stories about his 2002 Nene Award winner, Bud not Buddy.
Nominees
for the Nene Award were initially submitted by the children
themselves. Selection now consists of the top "votegetters,"
from the previous voting, and additional titles suggested by
public and school librarians. Approximately 30 titles comprise
the
Suggested Reading List
printed each year.
Teacher
and librarian resources, and feedback, are available online at
http://nene.k12.hi.us/
For more information, contact the Nene Award Committee c/o
Hawaii State Library, Children's Section at 478 South King
Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 or call 808-586-3510. (Revised
by Janet Yap, 2004).
Nene
Award Winners:
- 1964: Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
- 1965: Mary Poppins by Pamela
Travers
- 1966: Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
- 1967: no award given
- 1968: Ribsy by Beverly Cleary
- 1969: The Mouse and the Motorcycle
by Beverly Cleary
- 1970: Henry Reed's Babysitting
Service by Keith Robertson
- 1971: Ramona the Pest by
Beverly Cleary
- 1972: Runaway Ralph by Beverly
Cleary
- 1973: Sounder by William
Armstrong
- 1974: Jonathan Livingston Seagull
by Richard Bach
- 1975: Are You There God? It's Me,
Margaret by Judy Blume
- 1976: How to Eat Fried Worms by
Thomas Rockwell
- 1977: Freaky Friday by Mary
Rodgers
- 1978: Charlie and the Great Glass
Elevator by Roald Dahl
- 1979: Ramona and Her Father by
Beverly Cleary
- 1980: The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by
Paula Danziger
- 1981: My Robot Buddy by Alfred
Slote
- 1982: Superfudge by Judy Blume
- 1983: Bunnicula by Deborah &
James Howe
- 1984: Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade
by Barthe DeClements
- 1985: Jelly Belly by Robert
Kimmel Smith
- 1986: Be a Perfect Person in Just
Three Days by Stephen Manes
- 1987: Karen Kepplewhite is the
World's Best Kisser by Eve Bunting
- 1988: You Shouldn't Have to Say
Goodbye by Patricia Hermes
- 1989: Dear Mr. Henshaw by
Beverly Cleary
- 1990: Fudge by Charlotte Towner
Graeber
- 1991: There's a Boy in the Girls'
Bathroom by Louis Sachar
- 1992: The Whipping Boy by Sid
Fleischman
- 1993: Fudge-a-mania by Judy
Blume
- 1994: Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor
- 1995: My Teacher is an Alien by
Bruce Coville
- 1996: Maniac Magee by Jerry
Spinelli
- 1997: Ghosts in Fourth Grade by
Constance Hiser
- 1998: Under the Blood-Red Sun
by Graham Salisbury
- 1999: Best School Year Ever by
Barbara Robinson
- 2000: Harry Potter and the
Sorceror's Stone by J. K. Rowling
- 2001: Holes by Louis Sachar
- 2002: Bud, Not Buddy by
Christopher Paul Curtis
- 2003: The Bad Beginning by
Lemony Snicket
- 2004: Double Fudge by Judy
Blume
- 2005: Because of Winn-Dixie by
Kate DiCamillo
Who will be the Year 2006 winner? Join
other Nene readers in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades and
vote for your favorite book.
