The Monarch Award is the Illinois Children's Choice book award for students in grades K-3 sponsored by the Illinois State Library Media Association. The Monarch symbolizes the growth, change, and freedom becoming a reader brings. The monarch butterfly is also the state insect.
The Bluestem Readers Choice Award sponsored by the Illinois State Library Media Association is designed for students in grades 3-5. Named in honor of Big Bluestem which is the state prairie grass, each yearly list of 20 nominees include both timeless classics and current titles.
The Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award (RCYRBA) is a program sponsored by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English, the Illinois Reading Council, and the Illinois School Library Media Association. The program is named after children's author Rebecca Caudill, who lived and worked in Urbana, Illinois. Books honored by this award are selected by a popular vote taken of students between grades 4-8 in the State of Illinois.