Illinois Reads: A Reading State of Mind

After spending the last three weeks decompressing and rejuvenating from last school year, I have been slowly starting to catch up on some literature that has naturally piled up during the past couple of months. While skimming the Preliminary Program for the Illinois Reading Council Conference (October 1-3, 2015, in Peoria, Illinois) last night, I came across a cool advertisement for Illinois Reads, a statewide literacy initiative for all ages, from toddlers to adults.

While the Land of Lincoln can certainly be frustrating on many levels (see the recent political stalemate in Springfield), Illinois Reads sounds like a pretty enlightening program, especially for students and teachers with some down time this summer. Essentially, the program consists of different age bands in which there are six books to read. The selections seem quite interesting, especially if you are a fan of Star Wars or the 1985 Chicago Bears (no to the former, heck yes to the latter).

Besides offering exposure to new books, the Illinois Reads program provides opportunities to participate in book clubs, online blogs, Skype visits and author events. For more information about participating, visit Illinois Reads.

Here are the age bands and title selections for Illinois Reads. Even if you are not formally participating in the program, checking out the title selections may spark some curiosity at the very least. I have officially put Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football on my reading list.

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Illinois Reads - Age Bands and Title Selections

Birth - Age 4

• Classic Bedtime Stories - il Scott Gustafson

• hello! hello! - by Matthew Cordell

• If You Were a Panda Bear - by Florence Minor, il Wendell Minor

• May There Always Be Sunshine - by Jim Gill, il Susie Signorino-Richards
• Pugs in a Bug - by Carolyn Crimi, il Stephanie Buscema
• Toes, Ears & Nose - by Marione Dane Bauer, il Karen Katz
  

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Kindergarten through Second Grade

• Ben Franklin's Big Splash - by Barb Rosenstock, il D. Schindler
  
• Carnivores - by Aaron Reynolds, il Dan Santat
• Edward Hopper Paints His World - by Robert Burleigh, il Wendell Minor
• Little Lucy Goes to School - by Ilene Cooper
  
• Lion, Lion - by Miriam Busch, il Larry Day
  
• Tales for Very Picky Eaters - by Josh Schneider
  

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Third Grade through Fifth Grade

• Iggy Loomis, Superkid in Training - by Jennifer Allison
• On the Wings of Heroes - by Richard Peck
• Rump - by Liesl Shurtliff
• The Sixty-Eight Rooms - by Jeffrey Brown
  
• Star Wars Jedi Academy - by Jeffrey Brown
  
• What the Moon Said - by Gayle Rosengren 
  

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Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade

• 33 Minutes - by Todd Hasak Lowry
  
• The Art of Secrets - by James Klise
• The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia - by Candace Fleming
  
• Inhuman - by Kat Falls
  
• The Mark of the Dragonfly - by Jaleigh Johnson
  
• The Ugly One - by Leanne Stratland Ellis

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Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade (High School)

• Boundaries - by Sally M. Walker
• Fault Line - by Christa Desir
• In the After - by Demitria Lunetta
• Looking for Alaska - by John Green
  
• Rotters - by Daniel Kraus
• Wicked Girls - by Stephanie Hemphill
  

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Adult

• The Borrower - by Rebecca Makkai
• The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted - by Elizabeth Berg
  
• Heroes Are My Weakness - by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
• Identical - by Scott Turow
  
• Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football -               by Rich Cohen
• While Beauty Slept - by Elizabeth Blackwell