IBBY-Yamada 2023: Argentina

The Readers' First Favorites (Primeros Favoritos)

The Readers' First Favourites (los Primeros favoritos) programme is an extension of the Readers' Favourites contest, which now is in its fifth edition and benefited from the IBBY-Yamada Fund in 2020.
Shaped as an award programme (with no reward), The First Favourites invite readers aged 4–5 from all over Argentina to evaluate the works of Argentinian writers and illustrators in the context of the classroom and with assistance of reading mediators.
In this proposal, the voice of the very young reader is prioritized, seeking to know their thoughts and feelings. It aims to foment critical reading from early childhood. It also seeks to expand the possibilities of exchange between educational institutions on reading projects, promote training, engage with mediators and enrich the panorama of reading practices with innovative didactic proposals. 14 pre-school institutions and kindergartens took part in the initiative, involving 56 classrooms (1,120 boys and girls) and 65 reading mediators across the country. 70 books were presented to the young jurors.

^{Keywords: Reading promotion, competitions; Target audience: pre-school children}