Students to pick book award winners

Young people across Nova Scotia will improve their literacy skills and become better critical readers as they choose which books will win the Hackmatack Children's Choice 2012-13 Book Awards.   The Hackmatack program provides students in Grades 4 to 6 in Atlantic Canada with the opportunity to read from a selection of Canadian authors and vote for their favourites.   Education Minister Ramona Jennex delivered English and French sets of the 2012-13 fiction and non-fiction nominated titles to a group of students at Rockingham Elementary School in Halifax today, Nov. 6. Schools across the province will be receiving the books this week.   "When the students join together to read and talk about books, they are developing their critical reading skills and leadership abilities in addition to their literacy skills," said Ms. Jennex. "There are some great books this year, and I am looking forward to seeing which books the students choose."   Each year the Hackmatack selection committee nominates a list of Canadian children's books for young people to read. On April 1 they vote for their favourite. The winners are announced in May. Every fall the Department of Education provides elementary schools with two sets of the English titles selected for the Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Awards program. Schools in the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial and schools that offer early French immersion also receive two sets of the French titles.   For more information on the program visit www.hackmatack.ca .