And the Children's Choice Book Award finalists are...

The fourth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards has announced the 30 finalists in six categories, including Author and Illustrator of the Year. The Children's Choice Book Awards is the only national children's book awards program where winning titles are selected by young readers of all ages.

Children and teens are now able to cast their vote for their favorite books, author, and illustrator at bookstores, school libraries, and at www.BookWeekOnline.com until April 29, 2011.

“This year’s outstanding roster of finalists represents the voices of over 16,000 children and teens, who read and selected the titles – fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels,  picture books - that appealed to them the most,” said Robin Adelson, Executive Director at The Children’s Book Council. “I’m eager to see which titles will emerge as the winners!”

The Children’s Choice Book Award winners will be announced LIVE at the annual Children’s Choice Book Awards Gala on May 2 at The Lighthouse in New York City as part of Children’s Book Week (May 2-8, 2011), the oldest national literacy event in the United States.

Check out the finalists...

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year:

• Even Monsters Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott (Walker)
• Hot Rod Hamster by Cynthia Lord, illustrated by Derek Anderson (Scholastic Press)
  
• How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills (Schwartz & Wade/ Random House)
• Little Pink Pup by Johanna Kerby (Putnam/Penguin)
• Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (Little, Brown)

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year:

• Babymouse # 12: Burns Rubber by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random House)
• Bad Kitty vs. Uncle Murray: The Uproar at the Front Door by Nick Bruel (Roaring Brook/Macmillan)
• Encyclopedia Mythologica: Gods & Heroes by Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda (Candlewick)
• Finally by Wendy Mass (Scholastic Press)
• Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf/Random House)

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year:

• Big Nate: In a Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce (HarperCollins)
• It's a Book by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook/Macmillan)
• The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1) by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion)
• Smile by Raina Telgemeier (Graphix/Scholastic)
• Zebrafish by Peter H. Reynolds and FableVision (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)

Teen Choice Book of the Year:

• Burned (House of Night, Book 7) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin/Macmillan)
• Fang (A Maximum Ride Novel) by James Patterson (Little, Brown)
• Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press)
• Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, Book 5) by Richelle Mead (Razorbill/Penguin)
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (Dutton/Penguin)

Author of the Year:

• Cassandra Clare for Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, Book 1) (McElderry/Simon & Schuster)
• Suzanne Collins for Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) (Scholastic Press)
• Jeff Kinney for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth (Amulet/Abrams)
• Stephenie Meyer for The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (Megan Tingley/Little, Brown)
• Rick Riordan for The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, Book 1) (Disney-Hyperion)

Illustrator of the Year:

• Robin Preiss Glasser for Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique (HarperCollins)
• Loren Long for Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters (Knopf/Random House)
• Nancy Tillman for Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan)
• David Wiesner for Art & Max (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Mo Willems for Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)