Celebrating Youth Media Award Winners in an Award-Winning Format: Large Print!

4 min read

| By Tiffany Schofield |

We have some exciting news to share: Thorndike Press Youth Large Print has received a prestigious Platinum 2025 Modern Library Award (MLA)—its third consecutive win!

The MLAs recognize top products and services in the library industry through an unbiased selection process with voting from real library workers. Let’s dive into why youth large print received this recognition.

Youth Large Print Simplifies Reading for All Students

A sixteen-point font with expanded spacing between words and lines provides optimum letter and word recognition, which improves decoding, tracking, and fluency. Additional white space and the increased text size mean there are fewer words per page, resulting in more frequent page turns that keep readers engaged.

“Thorndike Large Print books for youth have been instrumental in helping me reach students who are struggling with reading, students who don’t enjoy reading, and students who have no issues with reading! These books are for ALL my students, and because they are so accessible, ALL students can enjoy them and reap the benefits. I couldn’t highly recommend them enough.” 

— MLA judge

An Easy-to-Implement Literacy Intervention Proven by Research

In a 2023–2024 nationwide study conducted by Project Tomorrow, classroom teachers observed the following benefits: 

  • Decoding. 76% said below-grade-level readers improved letter and word recognition. 
  • Fluency. 50% said students with ADHD enhanced overall reading fluency. 
  • Focus. 84% said below-grade-level readers didn’t get distracted. 
  • Stamina. 71% said at-grade-level readers increased time spent reading. 
  • Comprehension. 55% said students with ADHD increased reading comprehension. 
  • Enjoyment. 77% said below-grade-level students increased reading enjoyment. 
  • Confidence. 87% said below-grade-level readers had greater confidence in their reading abilities. 
  • Lessens Anxiety. 81% said below-grade-level students’ anxiety about reading decreased. 
  • Lexile Growth. 71% said at-grade-level students improved Lexile reading scores by two levels. 

Youth large print books provide a literacy intervention that does not require any technology or training for teachers, librarians, or parents. Data confirms how the format positively impacts student reading skills and mindsets. Simply making these books available is the one-step process that can get kids reading.  

Books Look the Same but Make a Big Difference

Always produced with the same cover art and illustrations, Thorndike Press juvenile and young adult large print books are similar in size and weight to standard print editions. The format’s combination of a larger font size and increased spacing supports reading confidence, comfort, and engagement.

Our youth large print offering of over one thousand titles is comprised of well-known, high-interest titles with diverse characters to inspire and entertain, including twenty recent Youth Media Award (YMA) winners and honorees.

Make Reading More Accessible with Large Print YMA Titles

Congratulations to all the amazing authors and publishers honored in the 2025 YMAs! Below is a list of books available in the award-winning large print format.


Tiffany Schofield is a senior acquisitions editor who selects both youth and readers. In 1999, Tiffany, a University of Maine graduate, started her career with Thorndike Press and the first youth large print title published. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling the east coast with family and cuddling up with a good book and her goldendoodle dogs.


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