Cybils Awards 2017

The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Award Winners were announced today.  Head on over to the Cybils site to check out all the winners.  While you are there, be sure to look up the winners for the Junior High Nonfiction and Senior High Nonfiction categories.  I was lucky enough to be able to work on those committees and enthusiastically recommend the winners.  If you haven't read them, add them to your reading list.

A Long List and and Moving Beyond First Impressions

The National Book Award long lists are being announced this week.  Check out the long list for Young People's Literature.   I'm glad to see Revolution, The Port Chicago 50, and Brown Girl Dreaming--they are all on my long list this year.  I just started Greenglass House last night and still have Skink--No Surrender in my to-read stack.  I guess I'm a little behind in my reading.

We are well into September and that means Heavy Medal and Calling Caldecott are both up and running for the season.  You can get in on the speculation and discussion or just enjoy lurking.  Either way, you'll read about some of the best books of the year.

And if you are interested in some early Newbery and Caldecott predictions, Betsy Bird has her picks at A Fuse 8 Production.  Don't skip the comments.

ALA Awards 2014

Bright and early this morning, Tara and I were in front of our computers watching the 2014 American Library Association Youth Media Awards announcements from Philadelphia.  (Tara had the advantage of a video stream that was a few seconds ahead of mine, so I heard her reaction a few seconds before I heard each announcement.  Ugh!)  Many of our favorites from 2013 received awards; I was cheering along with the crowd.

The (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award Committee named three honor books:

• Ball by Mary Sullivan
• A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems
• Penny and Her Marble by Kevin Henkes

And the 2014 Geisel Award winner is . . .

The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli

The Caldecott Committee named three honor books:

• Journey by Aaron Becker
• Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
• Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner

And the 2014 Caldecott Award winner is . . . 

Locomotive by Brian Floca

The Newbery Commitee named four honor books:

• Doll Bones by Holly Black
• The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
• One Came Home by Amy Timberlake
• Paperboy by Vince Vawter

And the 2014 Newbery Award winner is . . .

Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by K.G. Campbell

You can find a complete list of the award winners on the ALA website.

Cybils 2012

If you want books selected with literary merit and kid appeal in mind, look at the Cybils Awards.  The 2012 winners, chosen by children's and young adult literature bloggers, include some great books.  I am especially pleased to see A Home for Bird on the winners list!  And A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse (the Easy Reader winner) is the one book I left off my favorites of 2012 list that I wish I would have included.

This Is Not My Turtle

American Library Association 2013 Youth Media Awards

This morning the ALA announced the winners of the Youth Media Awards, and you can find the entire list on their website.  Here are some of the highlights, starting with my personal favorites:

• Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin received awards from several committees.  It won the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults,  the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, and a Newbery Honor.  I didn't review this book, but I have been talking about it to anyone who will listen -- one of my favorite books of the year.  I've been cheering it on for months.
• Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klassen received a Caldecott Honor.  This is another of my favorite books from 2012.  Mr. Klassen's other excellent book from this year, This Is Not My Hat won the Caldecott Medal.  I'll bet he's celebrating big.
• Pamela Zagarenski received a Caldecott Honor for Sleep Like a Tiger.  I can hardly wait to see what she does next.
• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate won the Newbery Medal.  Even though Ivan didn't make my personal favorites list this year, I did vote for it in the Mock Newbery because I think it is distinguished writing for children.  I love Ivan's voice and the characters are well-drawn -- really, a beautiful book.

Other interesting award information:

• The Caldecott committee recognized five honor books this year.  Yep, FIVE!  Count 'em:  Creepy Carrots! illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds; Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett; Green illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger; One Cool Friend illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo; and Sleep Like a Tiger illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue. 
• The Newbery Honors went to Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz, Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin, and Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.
• The disappointing news, at least in my opinion, is that Kevin Henkes wasn't recognized for his excellent Penny books.  I would have loved to see either Penny and Her Song or Penny and Her Doll (or both) recognized by the Geisel Award committee this year.  Ah well, there is always next year.
• And finally, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award which "honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children" was given to Katherine Paterson.  Her books include The Great Gilly Hopkins, Bridge to Terabithia, Jacob Have I Loved, The Master Puppeteer, The Day of  the Pelican, and many others -- definitely "a substantial and lasting contribution."

Link to It: Sadness and Award Anticipation

On Thursday last week, I returned home from story time at the elementary school where I had read, to the general delight of  twenty or so children, Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India, retold and illustrated by Gerald McDermott, and found this sad announcement  from PW Children's Bookshelf of McDermott's passing.  I always looked forward to his new books--one of the great talents whose books I love.  You can  also read an obituary from School Library Journal on their website.

In happier news, the finalists for the 2012 Cybils Awards have been announced.  Check out the finalists on their website.

And soon we'll see the contenders for School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books.  Lots of good commentary, and it's fun to play along.

Speaking of awards, we are about two weeks away from the 2013 ALA Youth Media Awards announcements which, of course, include the announcement of the Newbery and Caldecott Award winners.  You can watch the announcements in person on January 28 at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Seattle or stream them live via the internet here.

If you want to know how winning one of those gold, shiny medals changes an author's or illustrator's life, you can read the Publishers Weekly article, "The Call That Changes Everything -- or Not," on their website.

tara recommends Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson

I have always considered myself to be pretty independent. I had a job at 16, worked my way through college and lived on my own. I can put things together and will even unclog a sink or hang a light fixture if the need arises. Overall, I am pretty confident I can tackle most problems that may come up - but after reading Hattie Big Sky, my confidence was put in check.

Hattie Big Sky was inspired by the author’s great-grandmother, who independently ran a Montana homestead as a young woman. Knowing the story was based on true experiences makes this book even more inspirational and fun to read.

Hattie was orphaned “before [she’d] lost [her] baby teeth” and was passed around between poor relatives until Aunt Ivy and Uncle Holt (a distant cousin) took her in when she was 13. Aunt Ivy was not a loving influence and delighted in telling Hattie that she had “nothing and no one” and that she should “count [her] blessings.” Luckily, Hattie had a sometimes ally in her reserved Uncle Holt, and just when Aunt Ivy was ready to send her to work at a boardinghouse, he produced a letter. The letter was from her recently deceased Uncle Chester, who had a 320-acre claim staked in Montana and has left it to her. If she is able to meet the remaining requirements, the land would be hers.

So, as a 16-year old girl, she sets off to Montana where she finds a rundown house, (“Aunt Ivy’s chicken’s had better accommodations”), an ornery milk cow, an old horse, and a lot of work. To top it all off, there is unrest everywhere because of the war and she finds herself caught between perceived loyalty to her country and loyalty to her new friends.

Hattie is spunky and her letters to Uncle Holt and to her best friend Charlie (who is fighting the war in France) show off her humorous side. Uncle Holt even shares her letters with a local newspaper where they print her unique insights and experiences.

The rest of the story is almost unbelievable, but becomes remarkable because of her resourcefulness, hard work, stubbornness, kindness and integrity. It is hard to believe that a young girl should ever have that kind of pressure, but through it all she becomes stronger and she finally finds a family.

The title doesn’t do this book any favors, but the story is a great one and I look forward to reading the sequel, Hattie Ever After, coming out February 12, 2013.

Hattie Big Sky
by Kirby Larson
2007 Newbery Honor book
Recommended for ages 9 and up

Paperback:  304 pages
Publisher:  Yearling; Reissue edition (December 23, 2008)

Picture Books -- Day 9

Since Diane posted about one of her favorite Kevin Henkes books yesterday, I thought I would share my favorite today.  Let me start by saying, Kevin Henkes is a genius.  I've never met him, but I have proof:  Kitten's First Full Moon, Chrysanthemum, Little White Rabbit, My Garden, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Penny and Her Doll.  Genius.  But, of all  his books, my favorite is Owen.

Owen has a fuzzy yellow blanket that he takes everywhere with him until his nosy neighbor, Mrs. Tweezers, interferes.  She thinks he is "getting a little old be carrying that thing around," and so, on her advice, Owen's parents try to get him to give the fuzzy yellow blanket up.  After several failed attempts -- the blanket fairy, the vinegar trick, saying "no" -- his mother comes up with a solution that makes everyone happy.

Henkes uses single and multi-panel illustrations to show action and to capture Owen's personality, creating a perfectly-paced story.  Family dynamics are spot-on, both in the text and the pictures.  Owen is at the center of the story with the adults seen from his point-of-view.  His parents are clearly on his side as seen in the hint of worry on his mother's face when she has to say, "no" and the look of horror from his dad as Owen's mother cuts the blanket.  Even Mrs. Tweezers, seen peeking around and whispering over the fence, is redeemed when at the end of the story, Owen happily waves to her, letting the reader know that all is well.

Owen was a Caldecott Honor book as well as a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor book.

Owen
by Kevin Henkes
published by Greenwillow Books
September 1993

Picture Books -- Day 7

I read I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen to my first-grader's class today.  I fell in love with this book last year -- actually, a whole lot of people did (except for the ones who hated it) -- and my kids thought it was the funniest book of the year, but I was a little nervous to read it to the first-graders because I wasn't sure how they would react.  I needn't have worried.

Bear's hat is missing, so he asks each animal he encounters if they have seen it.  Instead of using "bear said" or "he said" to show who is speaking, dialogue is colored -- black for the bear, brown for the fox, green for the frog, red for the rabbit, and so forth.  As a read-aloud, this book needs different voices to distinguish the characters, but that also makes it really entertaining for kids.  After bear has asked several animals if they know where his hat is, he realizes (with the help of deer) that he actually DOES know where it is.  And that's where the funny part comes in.  I love books that are funny without having to hit kids over the head with the joke.  This books lets readers (or listeners) discover the joke on their own, making it that much funnier.

Digital and ink illustrations with plenty of white space keep the focus the characters.  Klassen does an amazing job of expressing emotion with subtle differences to the eyes.  The bear generally keeps a deadpan stare, but a little widening of his eyes show the realization that he knows where his hat is.  Then the eyes narrow as determination to get it back sets in.

I Want My Hat Back won the E.B White Read-Aloud Award for Picture Books last year and was a Geisel Award Honor book.

When I turned to the final page in the book today, the first-graders had a range of reactions:  some quietly gasped, others giggled, and (SPOILER ALERT) one boy burst out, "He ATE the rabbit!"

Yep, they got it.

I Want My Hat Back
by Jon Klassen
published by Candlewick Press
September 2011

National Books Awards Finalists 2012

National Book Awards Finalists were announced this morning.  Here is a list of the Young People's Literature Finalists:

• Goblin Secrets by William Alexander (ages 8 and up)
• Out of Reach by Carrie Arcos (ages 14 and up)
• Never Fall Down by Patirica McCormick (ages 14 and up)
• Endangered by Eliot Schrefer (ages 12 and up)
• Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin (ages 10 and up)

I'm cheering for Bomb, and I'm going to try to get my hands on a copy of Endangered before the winner is announced in mid-November.