MCBA History

The Massachusetts Children's Book Award program was inaugurated during the 1975–76 school year and the first winner was How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell, which was then three years old. One year later Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume won the second poll. That year 5000 students in 400 classes voted on 25 books "nominated by teachers, librarians, and youngsters". For six years then, to 1983, there were a pair of MCBA determined by votes of children in grades 4–6 and in grades 7–9. The grades 7–9 winner in 1979, The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger, had been the runner-up in 1977, voted by grades 4–6 only.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing won the grades 4–6 award again in 1983, the only book to win the MCBA twice. Four books published during the 1950s and 1960s were winners, as late as 1987 ). After 1995, however, the Master List was limited to books published during the five-year span ending that year (that is, 1992 to 1996 for the 1997 award). The winning books since then have ranged from one to five years old.

Check out the table below to see past MCBA winners. Find out more about the titles or authors by clicking on them.