​30 books shortlisted for 'My Favorite Children's Books' final selection

"My Favorite Children's Books", a program for selecting fine children's books and encouraging reading which was initiated by the Shenzhen Children's Library and sponsored by 30 libraries across China including the Jilin Provincial Library, announced the 30 books nominated for final selection on June 1.

Selection for this year's program started in January and after two months, the organizing committee received recommendations of 3,951 books from 102 organizations and 57 individuals.

During the first-phase selection, 15 outstanding reading promoters in Shenzhen singled out 150 books for further selection, including 50 for the children's literature category, the picture books category and the knowledge books category.

During the second-phase selection, from May 26 to 28, a nomination committee consisting of famous experts and scholars appraised the books and nominated 30 books after also taking into consideration of the results of an online voting.

The 30 nominees featured a high proportion and higher quality of original books. For the children's literature category, the proportion of original books was 40 percent and for the picture books and knowledge books categories, the proportions were 30 percent.

In selecting the nominees, judges also considered the interests of different ages, so that children at every age of the primary school stage canfind books they are interested in. The subjects covered were also various. Books in the knowledge books category, for example, belonged to a wide range of subjects including life sciences, natural sciences, physics and social sciences.

The 30 nominees are now being available at designated sites for free reading and children can cast their votes online after reading them.

The Jilin Provincial Library, as one of the sponsors of the program, has recently put the 300 books on its shelves for readers to borrow.

The final voting results will be announced at the end of the year.