Check out this fun video introduction to each of the 2025 Towner Award-nominated books!

Choice Boards

WA State Towner Award 2024 Nominees (2024 copyrights) - Click the title to go to a Choice Board!!!

Do Bears Poop in the Woods?, by Huw Lewis Jones; illustrated by Sam Caldwell (Thames and Hudson)
The Gardener of Alcatraz, by Emma Bland Smith; illustrated by Jennifer Ely (Charlesbridge)
Good Eating: The Short Life of Krill, by Matt Tilley; illustrated by Dan Tavis (Tilbury House Publishers)
A History of Underwear with Professor Chicken, by Hanna Holt; illustrated by Korwin Briggs (Roaring Book Press)
The Sweetest Scoop: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Revolution by Lisa Robinson; illustrated by Stacy Innerst (Abrams Books)
Killer Underwear Invasion: How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation & Conspiracy Theories, by Elise Gravel (Chronicle Books)
Mega-predators of the Past, by Melissa Stewart; illustrated by Howard Gray (Peachtree)
Splash! Ethelda Bleibtrey Makes Waves of Change, by Elisa Boxer; illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley (Sleeping Bear Press)
Lion Lights, by Richard Turere and Shelly Pollock; illustrated by Sonia Marialuce Possentini (Tilbury House Books)
Washed Ashore: Making Art from Ocean Plastic, by Kelly Crull; photos by Kelly Crull (Milbrook Press)

WA State Towner Award 2023 Nominees (2021 copyrights) - Click the title to go to a Choice Board!!!

Battle of the Butts: The Science Behind Animal Behinds, by Jocelyn Rish; illustrated by David Creighton-Pester (Running Press Kids)
The Little Spacecraft That Could, by Joyce Lapin; illustrated by Simona Ceccarelli (Union Square Kids)
Brains! Not Just A Zombie Snack, by Stacy McAnulty; illustrated by Matthew Rivera (Henry Holt and Co.)
The Magic of Sleep: A Fascinating Guide to the World of Slumber, by Vicki Woodgate (DK Children)
Fourteen Monkeys: A Rain Forest Rhyme, by Melissa Stewart; illustrated by Steve Jenkins (Beach Lane Books)
Scurry! The Truth About Spiders, by Annette Whipple; illustrated by Juanbjuan Oliver and Franco Rivolli (Reycraft Books)
The Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee; by Julie Leung; illustrated by Julie Kwon (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
The Water Lady: How Darlene Arviso Helps a Thirsty Navajo Nation, by Alice B. McGinty; illustrated by Shonto Begay (Schwartz & Wade)
I Am Smoke, by Henry Herz; illustrated by Mercè López (Tilbury House Publishers)
Zion Unmatched, by Zion Clark and James S. Hirsch; illustrated by Juanbjuan Oliver and Franco Rivolli
(Candlewick)

WA State Towner Award 2022 Nominees (2020 copyrights) - Click the title to go to a Choice Board!!!

Beautiful Shades of Brown: The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring, by Nancy Churnin, illustrated by Felicia Marshall (Creston Books)
If You Take Away the Otter, by Susannah Buhrman-Deever, illustrated by Matthew Trueman (Candlewick)
Dinosaurs: Fact and Fable: Truths, Myths, and New Discoveries, by Seymour Simon (HarperCollins)
The Only Woman in the Photo: Frances Perkins and Her New Deal for America, by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Alexandra Bye (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
Eat Your Rocks, Croc!: Dr. Glider’s Advice for Troubled Animals, by Jess Keating, illustrated by Pete Oswald (Orchard Books)
The Pig War: How a Porcine Tragedy Taught England and America to Share, by Emma Bland Smith, illustrated by Alison Jay (Calkins Creek)
Equality’s Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America, by Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Magdalena Mora (Beach Lane Books)
Railway Jack: The True Story of an Amazing Baboon, by KT Johnston, illustrated by César Samaniego (Capstone Editions)
Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera, by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann (Neal Porter Books)
Your Place in the Universe, by Jason Chin (Neal Porter Books)

Text Sets

WA State Towner Award 2019-20 Nominees (2018 copyrights) - Book Set Lists in PDF

Avalanche Dog Heroes: Piper and Friends Learn to Search the Snow by Elizabeth Rusch
The Bee Book by Charlotte Milner
Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by Helaine Becker
The Hen Who Sailed Around the World: A True Story by Guirec Soudée
Highest Mountain, Smallest Star: A Visual Compendium of Wonders by Kate Baker, illustrated by Page Tsou
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World by Susan Hood
Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Melissa Iwai
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I Know Exactly What You Are by Julia Kregenow, illustrated by Carmen Saldaña
What Do They Do with All That Poo? by Jane Kurtz, illustrated by Allison Black
What's on Your Plate?: Exploring the World of Food by Whitney Stewart, illustrated by Christiane Engel

WA State Towner Award 2018-19 Nominees (2017 copyrights) - Book Set Lists in PDF

Beauty and the Beak: How Science, Technology, and a 3D-Printed Beak Rescued a Bald Eagle by Deborah Lee Rose
Book of Bones: 10 Record-Breaking Animals by Gabrielle Balkan
Danza! Amalia Hernández and El Ballet Folklórico de México by Duncan Tonatiuh
Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty
Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability by Shane Burcaw
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating
The Hidden Life of a Toad by Doug Wechsler
The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson
This Book Isn't Safe by Colin Furze
This Is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World by Matt Lamothe

WA State Towner Award 2017-18 Nominees (2016 copyrights) - Text Sets in PDF

Alpha Bravo Charlie: the Complete Book of Nautical Codes by Sara Gillingham
Animals by the Numbers: a Book of Animal Infographics by Steve Jenkins
Best in Snow by April Pulley Sayre
Circles by David Adler
Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan
The Great Monkey Rescue: Saving the Golden Lion Tamarins by Sandra Markle
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy
Pink is for Blobfish: Discovering the World's Perfectly Pink Animals by Jess Keating
Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton
Will's Words: How William Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk by Jane Sutcliffe

All 10 Text Sets in one file (PDF)

WA State Towner Award 2016-17 Nominees (2015 Copyrights) - Text Sets in PDF

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tontatiuh
Mama Built a Nest by Jennifer Ward
My Country 'Tis of Thee by Claire Rudolf Murphy
Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle by Cheryl Bardoe
Handle with Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey by Loree Griffin Burns
Neighborhood Sharks by Katherine Roy
Plastic Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by Patricia Newman
Underworld: Exploring the Secret World Beneath Your Feet by Jane Price
Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos by Stephanie Roth Sisson
Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart

Brochure_Towner_2016.pdf

WA State Towner Award 2015-16 Nominees (2014 copyrights) - Text Sets in PDF

The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest, and Most Surprising Animals on Earth by Steve Jenkins
Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss and illustrated by Yuko Shimizu
Best Foot Forward, Exploring Feet, Flippers and Claws by Ingo Arndt
Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit Up the World by Elizabeth Rusch and Illustrated by Oliver Dominguez
The Great American Dustbowl by Don Brown
Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate
Meat Eating Plants: Toothless Wonders by Ellen Lawrence
Shimmer and Splash by Jim Arnosky
Volcano Rising by Elizabeth Rusch and Illustrated by Susan Swan
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laban Carrick Hill and illustrated by Theodore Taylor III

WA State Towner Award 2014-15 Nominees (2013 copyrights) - Text Sets in PDF

A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn DeCristofano
A Rock Is Lively by Dianna Hutts Aston
Castle: How It works by David Macaulay and Sheila Keenan
Eight Days Gone by Linda McReynolds
Giant Squid: Searching for a Sea Monster by Mary Cerullo
Island: A Story of the Galápagos by Jason Chin
Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm
Snakes by Nic Bishop
The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle
What We Wear by Maya Ajmera