Woodland crowns “The Smart Cookie” as winner

A schoolwide Tournament of Books event at Hicksville’s Woodland Elementary recently ended with Jory John and Pete Oswald’s “The Smart Cookie” narrowly edging out Diane Alber’s “I’m Not Just a Scribble.”

Beginning in mid-March, two books were read to every class and at the end of the week, students voted on their favorite. The Tournament of Books took place during a four-week period and other titles read in the contest included “Strega Nona,” “Diary of a Worm” and “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!”

“It was really great to build readers as a school community and get excited about books together,” said librarian Christina Pietras. “The bulletin board display of the tournament helped keep the enthusiasm up!”