California Young Reader Medal
The HERC Library at the Humboldt County Office of Education has some exciting news: local students can help choose the winner of a major California book award—the California Young Reader Medal! This is the 50th anniversary of this California program that encourages love of reading!
HCOE’s HERC library wants to help your students determine the winner of a prestigious California book prize: the California Young Reader Medal. Teachers read book nominations during read-alouds, students determine their favorite, and then vote.
HERC Library supplies the books, plus classroom-ready activities to engage students in fun ways to review and vote! This is a rare and fun opportunity where young readers get the final say, not adults.
Track the local Humboldt County polls as students cast their votes! Then, wait for the big reveal on May 1st to see if you picked a winner! All votes are due by April 1, 2026.
Whether you love adventures, laugh-out-loud comedies, graphic novels, or stories that make you think, there’s something for everyone. So dive into great books, gather your students’ voices, and be part of a reading celebration that stretches across the state.
Voting Update – Primary Books (Grades K-3)
Votes as of January. 15, 2026
Voting Update – Picture Books for Older Readers – 4th Grade and Up
Votes as of Jan. 8, 2026
Voting Update – Intermediate – Grades 3-6
Votes as of Jan. 8, 2026
See some student responses!
Kit Contents
Each kit for K-3 and Picture Books for Older Readers includes: One copy of each book, one ballot box, ballots, and “I Voted” stickers.
Intermediate kits are sent one book at a time, and include the ballots and “I Voted stickers.”
Primary Books (Grades K-3)
Endlessly Ever After, Laurel Snyder (author) & Dan Santat (illustrator), Chronicle Books, 2022.
Creepy Crayon!, Aaron Reynolds (author) & Peter Brown (illustrator), Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022.
Eyebrows of Doom, Steve Smallman (author) & Miguel Ordóñez (illustrator), Tiger Tales (Penguin Random House), 2022.
A Letter for Bob, Kim Rogers (author) & Jonathan Nelson (illustrator), Heartdrum (Harper Collins) 2023.
Yefferson, Actually, Katherine Trejo and Scott Martin-Rowe (authors) & Karla Monterrosa (illustrator), Lil’ Libros, 2021.
Picture Books for Older Readers
The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London’s Poop Pollution Problem, Colleen Paeff (author) & Nancy Carpenter (illustrator), Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster), 2021.
Let Liberty Rise! How America’s Schoolchildren Helped Save the Statue of Liberty, Chana Stiefel (author) & Chuck Groenink (illustrator), Scholastic Press, 2021.
Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion, Shannon Stocker (author) & Devon Holzwarth (illustrator), Dial Books (Penguin Random House), 2022.
Intermediate (Grades 3-6)
Coyote Lost and Found, Dan Gemeinhart, Henry Holt and Co, 2024.
Dogtown, Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko (authors); Wallace West (illustrator), Feiwel & Friends (MacMillian), 2023.
The Labors of Hercules Beal, Gary D. Schmidt, Clarion Books (Harper Collins), 2023.