For nearly 60 years, the Georgia Children's Book Award has been vetting great reads for children from kindergarten through eighth grade. Every year, a committee meets for virtually and in person to determine the top 20 for picture books and chapter books for elementary and middle school students. I was so excited to find out, in June of last year, that I was chosen to serve on the 2024-25 Picturebook Committee to help select the 2026 award and wanted to give our Grice Connect readers a bird's eye view of this important process.
The Picturebook Committee currently has two co-chairs, Christine Tigue and Genise Vertus, one graduate assistant, Nancy Heiss, and seven committee members. Tigue and Vertus have been involved with GCBA for several years.
"I came to a conference as a graduate student at UGA and I've been plugged in ever since," Vertus explains.
"This is my 26th year in education," Tigue says. "I started coming to the conference over 20 years ago."
The committees meet virtually in August to discuss an overview of the plans for the upcoming year. A timeline was provided for us to nominate at least 12 books to read and discuss by the early October deadline.
Public nominations are also included and accepted until early September. Once we established a list of 100-120 picture books for initial consideration, the team committed to reading the books, taking notes on each title, and making a list of what would be the first round of advancements.
"We narrow it down to 40 and then we narrow it down to the top 20," Tigue says.
We voted and ranked our choices to 43 total books remaining, due in early December, according to a numerical system. Then, we were able to meet in person on UGA's campus.
After four hours of deliberation, the committees had their top 20 list of books and three alternates. Alternates are chosen in the event that a title on the list is not available in large quantities, which relies heavily on the publishing houses. Here are the K-4 Picturebook Finalists as well as the grades 4-8 chapter book finalists for 2026.
"The committee does narrow down the book choices, but I think it's important to highlight that we're all involved with children and we're testing these books out in story times and in classrooms, so the opinions that we're bringing to the meeting include children's voices as well," Heiss says.
Everyone in the state of Georgia has a vote on which book they feel should advance to the number one spot. This has historically mostly been done through librarians, teachers, other educators, and students in Athens and surrounding areas. However, both committees would like to spread the word so participation includes votes from every county in Georgia.
"Maybe [the misconception] is like this UGA thing, but it's a Georgia thing, it's a Georgia children thing," Vertus explains. "We want to get the best books in the hands of Georgia students all throughout the state."
"The public library connection is really a vital one," Dr. Sarah Kajder, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Georgia and Co-Chair of the 4-8 Committee, stresses.
"If we could increase the participation, that would be great," Vertus says. "This is the readers' time to have a say. Even with teachers, we're all in different areas of the state. If there's a book that you think is a quality book that speaks to the people who live in your area, nominate it."
The number one book for each category is ultimately determined by the students of Georgia.
"Kids usually pick the book that is the most fun," Tigue notes. "It may not be the best in literature, but it's going to be the one kids enjoy the most."
The GCBA book finalists are a key part of the annual Georgia Conference on Children's Literature, which is set to take place on Friday, March 21, 2025.
The highlight of the entire process and the committee's foremost goal is continuing to advertise lesser known titles that will make a difference in the lives of children.
"Books helped me through a whole lot," Vertus reflects. "That's why we need those quality picture books where kids can, whatever's going on at least for that little time, you can be in a different world, you can have a different experience, you can see somebody else's perspective; this is your opportunity to do that."
For more information or to cast your vote, please visit GCBA's website.
