March Book Madness 2023

I am thrilled to share our family's choices for this year's March Book Madness! This has become one of our favorite yearly traditions to encourage a love of reading.

My children and I have carefully selected 16 picture books from various genres that we hope you'll love, and we've put them into brackets in a printable format.

Here's what you do: download the bracket here. Print it out, then during the month of March, read the books aloud at your own pace. Let your children vote on their favorites, and add each favorite to the line in the next round. Keep reading and voting until you agree on an overall winner!

Check these out from your local library, or purchase from Amazon (see affiliate links below) or another bookseller of your choice. We're hoping some of these titles become beloved family favorites! These books are primarily for ages 5-10, but there's a little bit of everything here! My children are 3, 5, 8, and 10 and love all of these stories.

You can also print out a blank bracket in case you want to use books you already have!
I would love to see your brackets. If you choose to participate, tag @brighterdaypress on social media. 
   
Who's in??

Here are the books we chose: 

Heartwarming, based-on-true stories
Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall
Big Truck Little Island by Chris Van Dusen
  
Blanket-inspired stories
Owen by Kevin Henkes
The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston
  
Whimsical adventures
Randy Riley's Really Big Hit by Chris Van Dusen
One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo
  
Delightfully funny animal stories
Pretzel by Margret & H.A. Rey
A Book for Escargot by Dashka Slater
  
Stories of bravery 
Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
  
Life-changing true stories
Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky & Patrick Downes
  
Stories about finding home
Miss Maple's Seeds by Eliza Wheeler
  
Stories from grandma's kitchen
Granny's Kitchen by Sadé Smith
Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco
  
In the event that you're not able to find all of these at your local library, here are a few more options you may enjoy!
  
Picture books about brilliant writers
  
Fascinating wildfire stories