MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — A Penn State Harrisburg faculty member in the School of Behavioral Sciences and Education served as a local coordinator of a nationwide list of kids’ favorite books, an effort that strives to share the joy of reading.
Each year, the Children’s Book Council, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting children’s books and reading, releases “KIDS FAVORITES: Kid Read. Kid Chosen” lists, featuring new books read and rated by thousands of children, teachers, and librarians at 64 schools and libraries nationwide, chosen by the CBC to coordinate the reading and voting by young people over six months.
Mary Napoli, associate professor of education and reading at Penn State Harrisburg, served as a local coordinator for the 2026 Grades 3–5 Favorites List. As one of 64 local coordinators nationwide, she led the effort to get more than 300 books into the hands of area teachers and students for review.
Napoli said that the effort is meant to help amplify the importance of reading.
“Unfortunately, recent data suggest that many intermediate and middle school students are reading for pleasure less often,” Napoli said. “But the research suggests that when students read independently for enjoyment, it is often associated with stronger academic outcomes, including improved comprehension, vocabulary development, and greater confidence as readers.”
Napoli said that when she was a first-grade teacher herself, she enjoyed receiving the favorites lists and sharing the books with her students. “Allowing children to vote on their favorite books is important,” she said, “because it gives them a voice in choosing titles that reflect their interests.”
“The nice thing about the KIDS FAVORITES program is that it promotes reading engagement and reminds teachers and students that reading can be a joyful experience,” she said. “Reading supports cognitive development and can foster social-emotional learning through meaningful conversations about the characters in the stories. It's just wonderful. But students need the time and space to read independently and to hear stories read aloud as well.”
As one of the coordinators nationwide, Napoli helped spread excitement about reading for fun. She worked with four teachers — several who are Penn State Harrisburg alumni — and one librarian in surrounding school districts to facilitate access to the books for review.
Emilee Truitt, a first-grade teacher in the Susquehanna Township School District, graduated from Penn State Harrisburg in 2015. She has stayed in touch with Napoli since then, she said, and Napoli reached out about the Children’s Book Council opportunity.
Truitt agreed to work with Napoli and helped distribute books to the two elementary schools in her district, working with teachers and librarians and answering questions. As students read and reviewed books, she gathered their feedback.
Books could be reviewed in different ways; students could read on their own and fill in ballots, or sometimes teachers read them aloud to their classes.
“I think just the kids having a voice was … very authentic,” Truitt said.
For teachers, who sometimes feel stuck in a rut with the same read-aloud books, she said, it was an opportunity to try new books and keep their libraries fresh and updated.
Truitt said she didn’t always love reading when she was a kid, but she does now as an adult — so she knows the importance of helping her students learn to love it.
“I try to make it fun. And this is just another way to get them intrigued,” she said.
Napoli and her colleagues shared the books with undergraduate students across multiple courses, including PK-4 pre-service teachers, as part of their education methods classes. Students read aloud different books and discussed how those books could support interdisciplinary connections, reading comprehension, and more. They rated the books, too, though their ratings were counted toward the Teacher Favorites list.
“They are the role models for their future students, so they also need to be able to see the value and the benefits of reading aloud,” Napoli said. “They also have to be able to articulate the importance of sharing high-quality books to support the curriculum.”
Courtney Lee, a student majoring in elementary education for Pre-K-4 and pursuing special education certification, said she and her fellow students listened to professors or volunteers read some of the books aloud, had the chance to look through the books themselves, and rated them on slips of paper. She thought about the illustrations, the word-to-page ratio, and the overall interest she thought students would have in the book.
“Throughout this experience I've discovered the importance of ensuring we utilize our students’ voices and opinions about the books they enjoy having in the classroom,” Lee said. “In doing so, we can improve our classroom libraries and therefore motivate our students to read literature they find engaging and interesting.”