Children’s Book Committee

Young Reviewers Program

The Young Reviewers Program welcomes children from toddlers through high school students who read and review books that are currently being considered by the Children’s Book Committee (CBC). Started more than 20 years ago, the program supports the CBC’s longstanding mission to evaluate books for children, parents, librarians, and educators by focusing on how books can affect young readers.

Purpose of Becoming a Young Reviewer

Reviews help the CBC to create our Best Children’s Books of the Year lists and Children’s Book Awards. Some Young Reviewers have been in the program for years and many have highlighted their experience on school and scholarship resumés.

For more information about our program, please email youngreviewers@bankstreet.edu or click the button below to fill out our registration form.

Registration Form Submit a Review Children’s Book Committee

The Children’s Book Committee

Members of the CBC have a wide range of experience in the world of education, writing, and book publishing, but the voices of children through the Young Reviewers Program provide the committee with valuable insights into the literature we read throughout each year. Reviews are shared with committee members at weekly meetings and, at the end of the year, the CBC will consider many criteria when compiling the Best Children’s Books of the Year List, including the thoughts of our Young Reviewers. Excerpts from some reviews are shared on social media and at our awards ceremony in the spring.

Children's Book Committee March Pick

A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out

Author: Nicholas Day
Illustrator: Yas Imamura

The cataclysmic 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora triggered worldwide climate change and a chain of historical events including Mary Shelley’s creation of Frankenstein. Black-and-white multimedia illustrations. Extensive back matter.

Our Young Reviewer Says:

I loved this book very much because it taught me a lot about how history is connected. It taught me things that I have never known before. I would have never thought that a volcano eruption would eventually lead to a woman writing a novel called Frankenstein. Most of the time, I don’t really love very informative nonfiction books because after a while of reading, I get a bit bored. I found this book extremely special because every single page in it provided so much information, and yet I never could put the book down. I truly think that I’ve never spent so much time reading a non-fiction chapter book with eagerness.

–Aika, age 13, New York, NY

Past Monthly Picks