Educators often talk about choice in the classroom and how it can make all the difference in encouraging lifelong readers. Having titles for every taste at hand can be hard, so as we kick off Children’s Book Week, let 12,500 students from around the United States help narrow down your offerings.

The Children’s Choices program, a joint venture of the International Literacy Association and the Children’s Book Council, launched in 1974 and this year offers 100 favorite titles narrowed from more than 600.

The top vote-getters in the Beginning Readers category (ages 5–8) are Duck, Duck, Moose! (Disney-Hyperion), Eva and Sadie and the Worst Haircut EVER! (HarperCollins), Frances Dean Who Loved to Dance and Dance (Candlewick), How to Babysit a Grandma (Knopf Books for Young Readers), and A Pet for Fly Guy (Orchard/Scholastic). Young readers (ages 8-10) favored Claude at the Beach (Peachtree), The Glorkian Warrior Delivers a Pizza (First Second), Happy Birthday, Babymouse (Random House Books for Young Readers), Kali’s Story: An Orphaned Polar Bear Rescue (Arbordale), and Sisters (Graphix). Advanced readers (ages 11–14) chose The Dumbest Idea Ever! (Graphix), Ice Dogs (HMH Books for Young Readers), Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods (Disney-Hyperion), The Return of Zita the Spacegirl (First Second), and Temple Run: Race Through Time to Unlock Secrets of Ancient Worlds (National Geographic Society)as their favorites.

Choices voting is broken down by U.S. regions and is run by team leaders who coordinate book distribution and voting by students. In addition to the children’s list for school-age kids, there is also a Teachers’ Choices list and a Young Adults’ Choices list—more children’s and YA books chosen by, you guessed it, teachers and teens.

ILA is looking for team leaders for all of its Choices programs (Children’s, Teachers’ and Young Adults’). For more information, contact ILA’s Executive office.