ELEMENTARY 

INFORMATION & RESOURCES

What books will we read?

Where do the book lists come from?

Central Rivers Area Education Agency's purpose in hosting this competition is to provide students 1) the opportunity to read high-quality, high-interest, diverse texts and 2) access to an award-winning author they can learn from and interact with. With these goals in mind, and based on past coach and student reader feedback, the planning team uses books from the Iowa Children's Choice Award list and Iowa Teen Award list.  

Central Rivers Area Education Agency BoB relies on the expertise, knowledge, and experience of our Iowa Association of School Librarians (IASL) colleagues on the award committees.  Further, the books that receive these awards are nominated by students across the state of Iowa.  It is because of this nomination and selection process that we do not alter or vet the lists for our competition. 

We know that some of the books on the middle school list are of a more mature theme and contain language that might not suit all readers. Coaches always have the authority to select which students might read particular books and/or which books their teams might not read. The BoB planning team, however, will not censor books from the book lists the IASL creates.

You can learn more about the book lists on the "Awards" page of the Iowa Association of School Librarians website.

How do we register?

Registration for 2023-2024 opens on December 1, 2023, and closes on February 2, 2024.

Registration can be found here.

What should we know about registration?

• Each team must submit a registration form. The registration cost is $40.00 per team. 

• If extenuating circumstances occur that do not allow you to register before February 2nd, 2024, the registration cost will increase to $65.00 per team and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the planning team. It's possible you may not be able to participate if you miss the deadline.

• Buildings may register MORE THAN ONE TEAM. (Yes, that's correct. 😉 We've decided to open it up to multiple teams from a building this year and see how it goes.) If you have more than six students who'd like to compete, create another team and register them for your building.

• Teams should be sure they register for the correct competition. (The Google Form for the elementary and middle schools competitions look identical except for the title.)

How do we know which teams are participating?