The votes are in and Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero by Patricia McCormick, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno (Balzer & Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Pubishers, 2017) is the winner of the 2019 Texas Bluebonnet Award! This inspiring book tells the true story of Reckless, a brave little horse who became a Marine during the Korean war.  This is the first picture book from award-winning novelist Patricia McCormick.

More than 131,000 students in grades 3 – 6 at 1464 public and school libraries across Texas read at least five of the books on the Texas Bluebonnet Award List and voted for their favorite title.

Students representing 10 Texas school districts will present the award to McCormick at the Texas Bluebonnet Award Luncheon at the TLA Annual Conference in Austin on Wednesday, April 17 from 11:45am – 1:45pm. 

The Texas Bluebonnet Award is a unique program for children in grades 3 – 6 designed to encourage reading for pleasure. Each year, 20 books are chosen for the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List. Schools and libraries around the state participate in the program, encouraging students to read a minimum of five books from the list. In January, students vote for their favorite title.

(Texas Library Association)