SHOW ME AWARDS: THE ANNUAL AWARDS ALLOW CHILDREN TO VOTE ON THEIR FAVORITE BOOKS

Children in the first through third grades won't be voting in this fall's presidential election, but they can vote for their favorite author-illustrator of young children's picture books in the Show Me Awards.

The awards, sponsored by the Missouri Association of School Librarians, lets Missouri children determine who the award will go to by letting them vote on their favorite books.

The Show Me Awards committee looks at all the picture books geared for children in grades 1 through 3. Then the committee reads all the books published in a year and narrows the selection to about 10 books.

The committee selects the best books based on content, illustration and overall theme. But just because the initial list is selected by teachers doesn't mean that children don't enjoy them.

"Usually, good quality books are interesting books," said Ann Randolph, youth services coordinator at Cape Girardeau Public Library. "And teachers know what to look for and what kids like."

The list of 10 books is sent to libraries throughout the state, and children must read six of the 10 before they are eligible to vote. Then, it's just a matter of tallying up the votes to see who won.

And of course, any time a book receives an award, it encourages reading, said Elizabeth Ader, library director.

"When books receive awards that are widely publicized and librarians, parents and schoolteachers know about it," Ader said, "the books get more attention and are likely to be recommended and then read."

But the best part of the Show Me Awards is that the children decide who the winners are.

Ader said the children get excited about voting and that makes them more excited about reading the books.

"Then the kids see the books and say they voted for it and they can recommend it," Ader said.

In 1995, Robert San Souci won the award for his story "Sukey and the Mermaid." The 1996 award went to Tom Birdseye for "Soap! Soap! Don't Forget The Soap!"

"Sukey and the Mermaid" is a brief folk tale from South Carolina. It's one of the few authentic African-American folk tales involving mermaids.

"Soap" is an Appalachian folk tale about a boy who goes to the store to get some soap and he chants this as he's walking home, causing a chain of humorous mishaps.