| Announcing the Winners of the 2020 LLL Award |
| The Extensive Reading Foundation (ERF), an unaffiliated, not-for-profit organization that supports and promotes extensive reading in language education, takes pleasure in announcing the winners of the 16th Annual Language Learner Literature (LLL) Award for books published in 2019. An international jury chose the winning book in each of six categories, taking into account the Internet votes and comments of students and teachers around the world. The judges’ comments are followed by reactions from readers of these books.
All books mentioned on this page can be ordered online in Japan thorough the ETJ Book Service: https://www.etjbookservice.com/extensive-reading-foundation/. View a 15-minute video of the awards here. |
Very Young Learners
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Here Come the Unicorns Author: Adam Kardos Illustrator: Omar Iván de Loera Chávez Publisher: AAS Press ISBN: 9784910155074 |
| Jurors’ comment: The story is set after a robot invasion. Two little kids who are trying to save the Earth from them, with the help of unicorns, are the lead characters. It is a multiple-path adventure style and you have to make choices on which page to read next depending on how you want to treat this adventure. The vocabulary is simple, and the story is engaging with original full-color illustrations that help comprehension. This fun and strange story is both entertaining and educational because it can make little readers think about the importance of keeping our planet alive and well.
Online voters’ comment: “For me, this is a wonderful and magical book. Although I don’t believe robots really have feelings, I remain appreciate the importance of environmental protection. Environmental problems are becoming more and more serious, it’s everyone’s duty to protect the environment and the animals. I love our planet; I think that the most effective way to protect environment is in harmony with nature. This book tells me why our planet is the best place to live. With the illustration, it’s easy for me to read.” |
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Young Learners
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The Elves and the Shoemaker Author: Brothers Grimm Retold by: Laura Cowan Illustrator: Olga Demidova Publisher: Usborne ISBN: 9781474947862 |
| Jurors’ comment: This is a well-known folk tale that students may have heard or read in their native language, which captures the reader’s attention. The pictures on each page are sweet and colorful and do more than just support the text. They add small details to talk about too. The font size is just right. Not too small as to seem daunting, but not so big that it seems like a kids’ book. The table of contents at the beginning is a feature that is often used with books for adolescents and adults. Having such a feature may make young learners feel a greater sense of accomplishment when they read this book.
Online voter’s comment: “The illustrations are wonderful, reminding me of innocence, childhood and sweetness. A beautiful well-known fairytale, attractive to young readers. Beautiful and easy activities at the end of the book make the acquisition of new vocabulary fun!” |
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Adolescent & Adult: Beginners
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The Silver Statue Author: Paul Shipton Illustrated by: Berat Pekmezci Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 9780194634083 |
| Jurors’ comment: The Silver Statue is an interesting story with a nice twist at the end. Readers will identify with the situation and with the issues and values involved. Assisted by excellent illustrations and well-controlled language, low-level readers will find it an engaging, satisfying reading experience.
Online voter’s comment: “Nice, ‘fresh’ teenage story with a clever twist in the plot. Easy to read and follow, it makes the readers want to read further so as to see what comes next!” |
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Adolescent & Adult: Elementary
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Ellis Island: Rosalia’s Story Author: Janet Hardy-Gould Illustrator: Thomas Girard Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 9780194634441 |
| Jurors’ comment: The story is a very interesting historic fiction about the people who crossed the Atlantic Ocean and immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. The author described their life on board during the journey from Italy to the U. S. and the immigration check-in on Ellis Island. Although this story might be a little too long for the elementary readers, vocabulary and grammar are not difficult. This book will help learners to improve their reading stamina.
Online voters’ comments: “This is an excellent story about a journey of a mother with two children across the ocean. The language is quite easy to read and it is well-illustrated. It helps readers know more about life in the past.” |
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Adolescent & Adult: Intermediate
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The Diary Author: Heather Dixon Publisher: I Talk You Talk Press ISBN: 9784909733351 |
| Jurors’ comment: The story is very exciting and mysterious. It’s about a diary. A young man called Liam finds the diary on a street. The owner’s name and address are found in the diary. The young man wanted to provide the diary to the owner but he has been dead for four months. So it’s a great mystery for Liam to solve it. In the process, Liam gets good opportunities. This book is divided into 11 short and easy chapters woven together with a theme in a clear and well-organized way. So readers can easily understand it. It helps readers to build good personality, especially helping others. We realize that when we help others we help ourselves.
Online voter’s comments: “It’s easy to read and chapters are very short. Readers enjoy reading the book.” “Plot is very interesting and readers like mysteries.” “Readers would like to see a few illustrations.” |
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Adolescent & Adult: Upper Intermediate & Advanced
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The Age of Innocence Author: Edith Wharton Retold by: Nora Nagy Illustrator: Simone Manfrini Publisher: Helbling ISBN: 9783990459423 |
| Jurors’ comment: The writing is lovely and well-paced and a clear portrait of each character is drawn with meaningful details. For me, it does a wonderful job of capturing time and place. I’m not sure our students will grasp all the distinctions about class and society, but they’re there. Some students may be overwhelmed by all the characters introduced early on, but if they can make it through the first few chapters the story becomes much simpler to follow. All in all, this is a commendable effort.
Online voters’ comment: “A well-crafted reader with ample additional material to understand the narrative better. The activities to be done before reading activates schema and also prepared the learner for the text. From a CBI perspective, the text combines linguistic components with literary, cultural, and historic contexts, which makes the reading purposeful. The post-reading activities are aimed at integrated skill practice, which, in a well-managed class will work very productively. The accompanying CD and supplementary material offered online will be valued addition.” |
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Finalists in Each Category
In addition to the winners, the following books were selected as the shortlisted “finalists” in each category:
Very Young Learners
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The Golden Fish Retold by Andy Prentice Illustrator: Jesús López Publisher: Usborne ISBN: 9781474964029 |
| Jurors’ comment: This is a fanciful fairytale adaptation with a twist about two very poor brothers. One day, the hard-working brother catches a golden fish which promises to fulfil a wish of his in exchange for its freedom. His problem involves asking for wishes for his lazy and avaricious brother. The vocabulary and phrases in the story are reader-friendly for little language learners. This is a story with moral values, beautifully illustrated and a book that children will want to read again and again. | ||
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I Can’t Sleep Author: Herbert Puchta and Gavin Biggs Illustrator: Francesca Assirelli Publisher: Helbling ISBN: 9783990458464 |
| Jurors’ comment: This is an engaging story for little kids that tells them what happens with a boy and a girl who are finding it hard to sleep and how they successfully overcome this difficulty. Thus, it also teaches them what to do when they have trouble falling asleep. The story is suitable for preschool age learners, with appropriate levelling that does not interfere with its flow. The use of simple vocabulary and reflection questions on some aspects of the story add a teachable syntax aspect too. Lastly, its full-page color illustrations and easy to read typeface add to its charm. | ||
Young Learners
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The Sick Dragon Author: Herbert Puchta and Gavin Briggs Illustrator: Andrea Alemano Publisher: Helbling ISBN: 9783990458549 |
| Jurors’ comment: This story is fantasy, and it involves the readers in the story. The illustrations are vibrant and colorful which further captures the imagination. The book judiciously adjusts the color of the writing to help make it stand out clearly from the full-page pictures. It touches on several themes relevant to young learners, including the environment, family, and cooperation without being heavy-handed. Sections inviting the reader to “think” could spark valuable discussion, while remaining rather unobtrusive for those who just want to enjoy reading the story. The post-reading activities give ample opportunity to express creativity and communicate with others through making posters. | ||
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Visit Saint Petersburg with Me! Author: Silvana Sardi Illustrator: Arianna Operamolla Publisher: ELi ISBN: 9788853626325 |
| Jurors’ comment: This story about a child’s life in another country has wide appeal as it is something easily relatable to elementary school students. The vivid photographs hep show some Russian culture’s uniqueness such as differences in food, clothing styles, weather, and architecture. Meanwhile, the text highlights how similar students around the world are. They have hobbies, favorite classes at school, and are proud of places in their home-towns. The format of the story with small relatively independent sections supported by photographs lends itself to project work. Students could make similar stories about their lives, or investigate to learn more about Russia. | ||
Adolescent & Adult: Beginner
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Skeleton Island Author: Sue Murray Illustrated by: Paul Fisher Johnson Publisher: ILTS/Hueber Verlag ISBN Number: 9783190129713 |
| Jurors’ comment: Skeleton Island is an entertaining page-turner. Adequately supported by illustrations, it will keep low-level readers involved to the satisfying end. The vocabulary level and sentence complexity are well controlled and will contribute to a successful reading experience. | ||
Adolescent & Adult: Elementary
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Naoko: My Japan Author: Gabriele Rebagiati Photographer: Tatsuya Hirata Publisher: ELi ISBN: 9788853626424 |
| Jurors’ comment: “Naoko: My Japan” is a story about a Japanese girl named Naoko. She is 14 years old and enjoys her everyday life very much. Through Naoko’s stories at school with her friends and at home with her family, the readers will find loads of information about activities, festivals and customs in Japan. Especially, the audience can also enjoy an interesting love story of Naoko and her male classmate. This storybook is designed with beautiful photos and readable for teenagers who can see themselves in the story of this Japanese girl. | ||
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Wonder Author: R. J. Palacio Retold by: Jane Cammack Illustrator: Daniel Fabbri Publisher: Black Cat (Cideb) ISBN: 9788853018359 |
| Jurors’ comment: This is a moving story about a boy with a deformed face, who was reluctant to go to school with fear of being different. However, with encouragement from the principal and kindness and help of his friends, he overcame a feeling of anxiety and discomfort of nasty words and looks from some mean kids, and enjoyed school life. Although there are several less familiar words and expressions, simple definition or illustrations are provided at the bottom of each page. | ||
Adolescent & Adult: Intermediate
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The Earthkeepers Author: Elizabeth Ferretti Illustrator: Lorenzo Conti Publisher: ELi ISBN: 9788853626509 |
| Jurors’ comment: It is an interesting story about protecting the world. It contains hilarious and emotionally expressive stories with pleasant illustrations. It helps readers to keep the environment by avoiding or minimizing the use of plastics, saving wildlife like the rhino, and using clean power sources, such as wind, sun, and water. The book also shows readers how to cooperate with different people from various countries and how to use the technology (social media) for a significant issue i.e. protecting the world. The quality of writing is also great; no grammatical errors are found and the diction is appropriate to the level. | ||
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Robinson Crusoe Author: Daniel Defoe Retold by: Terry Phillips Illustrator: Global Blended Learning Publisher: Innova Press Ltd ISBN: 9781787681422 |
| Jurors’ comment: It’s about an Englishman called Robinson Crusoe who loved travelling and had many adventures in his journey. It’s simple to read and understand. It’s a classic tale retold with engaging and colourful illustrations supporting every page of the text. The story also creates curiosity among the readers so that it encourages readers to read more books. | ||
Adolescent & Adult: Upper Intermediate & Advanced
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The Box Author: Patricia Murrow Publisher: I Talk You Talk Press ISBN: 9784909733276 |
| Jurors’ comment: The Box carries a very engaging and interesting plot. The book has good pacing and the elements that surround the story make it a good read. The characters are also well-portrayed and the entirety of the plot was told well. The protagonist’s search for meaning and understanding is one that all readers will be able to identify with. At times, however, one may wish there was a little more action pushing the story along. Nonetheless, the book is very promising. | ||
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Not Without You Author: Gill Harvey Illustrator: Paul McCaffrey Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 9780194634359 |
| Jurors’ comment: This is a sci-fi thriller set in the year 2088. Even those who are not real fans of the genre will still find the story to be engaging and well-written. The reader is definitely pulled along by the plot and one is always trying to figure out the final resolution. At times there might not be enough action to keep a younger audience riveted on the story, and the important and contemporary themes of energy wars, government propaganda, and mind control may also be a bit heavy for younger students. However, this still represents a solid contribution to graded reader libraries. | ||