This morning I got up at 5 a.m. to see (via webcast) the 2012 winners of the biggest awards in children's publishing--the American Library Association (ALA) awards. The film industry has their Golden Globes® and their Oscars®, and we have the Caldecott and Newbery Medals, the Coretta Scott King Award, and the Michael J. Printz Award. Unlike most other book awards, the major children's book awards given by the ALA have no lists of finalists or nominees. It's a surprise every single year (with plenty of speculation beforehand) and I kind of love the secrecy. This year's announcement had both the unexpected and the "ah, of course" books on the lists (including some 2011 Best of the Month titles)--you just never know who is going to win what. Congratulations to this year's winning and honored authors and illustrators:
2012 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
2012 Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:
2012 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
Neil Gaiman‘s The Graveyard Book has been been reprinted with a new paperback cover. One noticeable difference between the 2008 cover and the new one? The new one does not flash the Newbery Medal the book won in 2009.
According to Publishers Weekly, the golden award is “one of the few surefire ways” to increase sales in the children’s market. However, William Morrow associate publisher Jennifer Hart said that Gregg Kulick‘s design was meant to attract adult buyers.
Inkwood Books owner Leslie Reiner had this comment, in the article: “I can definitely say that a Newbery Medal on the cover would not be a selling point [for adults] and if I were in marketing I would not put it on the cover. Covers sell books, and I think of [Markus Zusak's] The Book Thief and how the cover works for adult and teens.” What do you think of this new cover?
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 1/27/2011
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Thanks to author Grace Lin (whose book Ling & Ting was just awarded the prestigious 2011 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor by the American Library Association!) for alerting me to The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. Perhaps a PaperTigers reader can make one of Grace’s dreams come true!
Librarians, teachers, parents & kids–here’s a fun project! Take any Newbery award-winning story and make into 90 second 
movie. Then enter it into this contest to get it shown at the 90-second Newbery Film Festival at the New York Public Library!
I was particularly excited when I heard about this contest as I’ve dreamed for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon to be made into a movie. Unfortunately, so far, Hollywood has not called but if a reader makes a 90-second Where the Mountain Meets the Moon movie I think I would consider that a dream come true!
So much so, that if you do happen to make a 90-second Where the Mountain Meets the Moon movie for this film festival, I’ll send you a print from the Grace Lin Gallery (my etsy shop)! Is that bribery? So far, there’s nothing about that in the rules… Read all about the contest HERE.
Deadline for the contest is Sept. 15 2011 and if you do enter a 90-second Where the Mountain Meets the Moon movie, please send me the link too! Your Oscar awaits.
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 12/1/2010
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2011 PBBY-Salanga Prize Winner Announced~ Philippines
Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibits~ Riddells Creek, Australia
Making Books Sing Presents a One-Woman Play Based on The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos by Lucía Gonzalez~ New York, NY, USA
Doha International Children’s Book Festival~ ongoing until Dec 2, Doha, Qatar
2010 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition~ ongoing until Dec 5, Nanao, Japan
Off the Page: Original Illustrations from NZ Picture Books~ ongoing until Dec 5, Ashburton, New Zealand
Guadalajara Book Fair~ ongoing until Dec 5, Guadalajara, Mexico
2011 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Awards~ submissions accepted until Dec 17, Canada
Scholastic Asian Book Award~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, Singapore
Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award 2011~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, Singapore
An Exquisite Vision: The Art of Lisbeth Zwerger~ ongoing until Jan 9, Hannover, Germany
Monsters and Miracles: A Journey through Jewish Picture Books~ ongoing until Jan 23, Amherst, MA, USA
Drawn in Brooklyn Exhibit of Original Picture Book Art by Brooklyn Illustrators~ ongoing until Jan 23, Brooklyn, NY, USA
National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Presents From Houdini to Hugo: The Art of Brian Selznick~ ongoing until Jan 29, Abilene, TX, USA
Fins and Feathers: Original Children’s Book Illustrations from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art~ ongoing until Jan 30, Raleigh, NC, USA
Summer Reading Club: Scare Up a Good Story~ ongoing until Jan 31, Australia
2011 Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, 2006, 144 pp, ISBN: 1416901949
Oh la-la, la-La, la-LA, la-LA! In all of our talks about our future-unborn babies, I always try to convince my husband that we really need to name the first girl Scout, Katniss, Hermoine, or Viola. I think I might have just added Lucky to the list.
The Higher Power of Lucky is about a ten-year-old girl named Lucky. Lucky's mother has died, she only knows her father as "the crematory man," and her guardian Bridgette may or may not be on her way back to France. Before she is left all alone in the world, Lucky needs to find her Higher Power. Unfortunately, while eavesdropping on all of the "Anonymous" meetings outside Hard Pan's Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center has taught Lucky a lot about hitting rock bottom, it still hasn't told her how to find, or where to look for, her Higher Power. But that doesn't mean she's going to give up...
I don't typically read or review a lot of middle grade fiction. MG books just often don't have enough of a hook to keep me reading, but I picked up The Higher Power of Lucky for two reasons. First, I just made a hugely exciting job change (moving from a 6-12 library to a PreK-8 library), so I really need to brush up on my books for little kids. Second, I vividly remember all of the drama surrounding this book a few years ago, and I was interested to discover how scandalous a children's book could really be.
I ended up falling in love with a little girl named Lucky. Lucky is a scientist, a question-asker, a loyal friend, a ward, and a creative spirit. Author Susan Patron brought out all of Lucky's heartache over the loss of her mother in the most creative of ways: through the survival backpack that she carries at all times "because of the strange and terrible and good and bad things that happen when you least expect them to," and through the urn that she keeps on a shelf, "with her mother's remains and her own dried-up tears inside." Through Patron's deceptively innocent phrasing, I could actually feel all of Lucky's emotions, as vividly as if she were sitting right next to me.
Lucky, along with her friends Lincoln and Miles, experiences a
Whether we are reading it or writing it ourselves, historical fiction is an amazing classroom tool. Rather than slogging through page after a page of a textbook
(although textbooks have their place!), historical fiction allows students to absorb the facts, faces, nuances, and varied perspectives of the past from characters who they can relate to. The books below are just a few of the ones that my students have particularly enjoyed (and learned from!).
Copper Sun by Sharon Draper is one of my all-time favorite books, and I have yet to find a student - male or female - who hasn't also been drawn in by its magic.
Copper Sun is the story of Amari, a fifteen-year-old girl growing up in a small village in Africa. But then one day the "milk-faced visitors" arrive, and shatter the only world Amari has ever known. The pale-faced men kill many of Amari's friends and family as she watches. Then the survivors are chained together, forced to walk through miles of jungle, shipped across the ocean to America, and sold to the highest bidder.
After Amari is bought as a birthday present for a wealthy farmer's son, she meets Polly, an indentured servant. From that point on, Amari and Polly take turns narrating the rest of the story. Through their voices, the horrors of life on a southern plantation are given a human face. Although there is no shortage of cruel, white stereotypes, Amari and Polly learn that nothing is completely black and white. After a failed attempt to help cover up their mistress's scandalous secret, the two girls must work together to find their way to freedom.
I honestly cannot say enough good things about
Copper Sun. Sharon Draper is an incredible storyteller, and as the granddaughter of a former slave, her depiction of the past is something that no reader will soon forget.
47 by Walter Mosley is a very, very different kind of story about slavery in the south, blending together both historical and science fiction. Fourteen-year-old 47 is a slave on the Corinthian Planation, going through the motions of every-day life, believing Mama Flore when she says, "
White peoples gots as many ages as you can count, but slaves on'y gots four ages. That's babychile, boy or girl, old boy or old girl, an dead." But all of that changes the day he meets Tall John, a man who portrays himself to the master as a runaway slave. To 47, Tall John reveals that he can "
read dreams, fly between galaxies, and make friends with any animal no matter how wild." He explains that he has come to the planet to defeat the evils of the Calabash, who have manifested themselves through 47's master and others like him. In order to win against them, he needs 47.
As he prepares for the ultimate war against the Calabash, Tall John works to re-train 47's mind, to show him that all people are meant to be equal, frequently repeating the refrain, "
Neither nigger nor master be." I love the way this passage reveals how the young boy's perceptions were slowly transformed:
"
...back th
By: Guest Blogger,
on 3/25/2010
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Guest blogger Linda Sue Park is the author of A Single Shard (Newbery Medal winner), Kite Fighters and her latest book, Keeping Score . In addition, Linda Sue has published several other novels, as well as picture books, poems and short stories. Linda Sue recently visited a First Book school and kindly agreed to share her impressions.
I recently visited a Title I school in Washington state to share some of my books with students there. I met with 83 fifth-grade students in the library. It was clear to me from the moment I arrived that the students and the staff took pride in their school and were eager to welcome me.
The librarians and teachers had done some wonderful preparation before I arrived and the kids were already familiar with my picture book THE FIREKEEPER’S SON. I talked to them about my own family background; my love of reading; my early efforts at writing; and of course showed them photos of my dog. Then I booktalked a few of my titles, including KITE FIGHTERS, and finished up by talking about revision and rewriting, rejection, and the importance of reading. After that we had a few minutes of Q&A.
The kids were terrific. I didn’t see a single one of them wiggling or acting distracted–it felt like all their eyes were on me every minute. It is a K-8 school, and several eighth-graders were studying in the library at the time; I was tickled to see that by about halfway through, they had all abandoned their carrels and were standing at the back listening to my presentation!
At the very end I talked about First Book, and when I advised the assembled group that individual classrooms could register in addition to the school as a whole, I was encouraged to see the teachers and librarians in the room scribbling down the web address. I then brought out boxes of books and told the kids I had made arrangements with First Book to provide each child with a copy of KITE FIGHTERS. I wish you could have heard the squeals in the room! Then I told them that I had already autographed the books for them and got a second chorus of squeals. We did a round of applause for First Book, then we handed out the books as the kids left the library. The best part was that as the students went down the hall, most of them already had the book open, reading as they walked!
I hope everyone involved with a school or program serving children from low-income families will visit www.firstbook.org/register to connect with your great organization!
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 2/18/2010
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We have blogged quite a bit about Grace Lin lately as her book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was chosen as one of seven books in our Spirit of Paper Tigers Book Set and was also named a 2010 Newbery Honor Book, one of the most prestigious awards for children’s literature in the United States. Be sure to check out Grace’s blog to read about and see photos from “the Newbery call” .
One thing that I really admire about Grace is that she is so accessible to her fans via her regularly updated blog and her full schedule of book signings and school visits. This Saturday, February 20th, she will be at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, USA hosting Learn How Books Are Made with Grace Lin where she will show the many steps of publishing, read one of her books, answers questions, draw some of her book characters and sign books. After a lunch break, she will talk about Lunar New Year customs, referencing her books Bringing in the New Year and The Year of the Rat. Perhaps she will share some of the special lunar crafts that she has been making to help celebrate the Year of the Tiger (and have you made our Paper Tiger yet?). Of course, all of us at PaperTigers have a special affinity for the Year of the Tiger and so does Grace:
In my book, The Year of the Rat there is the story of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, which tells of the great race of the animals to win the the honor of a year named after them. The winning animals had their own characteristics as you can tell by how they they competed
The Tiger won his place by sheer strength, courage and nerve. That is why they say people who are born in the Year of the Tiger are risk-takers and brave. So, this year, the Year of the Tiger, is the year where we all have to be strong, brave and ready to take risks. It might be a bit unpredictable and surprising.
Now, I was born in the Year of the Tiger so this is MY year. But, it doesn’t mean it will be a lucky one. When it is YOUR year, it means it will be a year of important and possibly life-changing decisions. It’s the year where big things happen that change the course of your life.
By: Aesah J.,
on 1/29/2010
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An Interesting Approach to Exciting Youngsters About Reading
What better way to get kids interested in reading than to make them the star of their very own personalized book?
Mixtape: 10 Songs About Libraries and Librarians
Check out these fun songs about libraries and librarians, including artists such as Frank Zappa and Green Day. You can even listen in to discover why these songs made the list.
Little House on the Prairie Continues to Wow Audiences
Everyone’s beloved story is back with a new musical twist. Be sure to check out this new musical, based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s treasured classic storyline.
Baby-Sitters Club: Life After 30!
The acclaimed teenage gang gets a new twist as we ask the question: Where are they now? From Kristy Thomas to Stacey McGill, these projections will certainly bring back cherished memories.
The Caldecott, Newbery and Printz book awards go to…
John Pinkney’s exceptional illustrations were awarded the Caldecott Medal for capturing the true spirit of a classic fable. The Newbery Medal as well as the Printz Award were also given to some special talent for excellence in both children’s literature and young adult literature.
Books to Film: Martin Scorsese Continues the Trend
With the release of some truly spectacular new films based on classic children’s books, Brian Selznick’s “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” appears to be next in line.
By: Neil Gaiman,
on 7/23/2009
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posted by Neil
Dear Diary
right. When last heard of I was putting on fancy clothes to go to the Newbery Caldecott Alcott Awards Dinner, and receive the Newbery Medal.
I wrote the speech back in April, and recorded it then, so that it could be given out to people at ALA as a CD and printed in The Hornbook. Then I didn't look at it again, figuring that way it would be new and interesting to me when I got to it at ALA.
This did nothing to decrease my nervousness; neither did wearing a suit.
Beth Krommes gave her acceptance speech for the Caldecott Medal for her book The House in the Night, written by Susan Marie Swanson. I gave my speech and somehow wasn't nervous any more when I gave it. Then
Ashley Bryan was given the Louisa May Alcott award, and had a thousand librarians singing and reciting poetry together. It was pretty wonderful.
Here's a
Scripps report on the evening, my editor
Elise Howard writing about the experience of getting The Graveyard Book a chapter at a time over three years; and at
http://wowlit.web.arizona.edu/blog there is a multi-part interview with Nick Glass, who was on the Newbery Medal Committee.
So I won the Newbery Medal (or
did I? At
http://jameskennedy.com/2009/07/13/i-win-the-newbery/ James Kennedy tells a very different story.)
The following morning was a signing that went on for a very long time. As I walked away from it I got two phone calls: the first to tell me that a dear friend,
Diana Wynne Jones would be going in for an operation. I called Diana, and I'm not sure whether we reassured each other (although the operation was a success, and by the time you read this she should be back at home). As I put down the phone on her the phone rang again, and I learned that my old friend Charles Brown of LOCUS Magazine had died, peacefully, asleep on the plane on his way back from Readercon, one of his favourite SF conventions.
Charles was irreverent, astonishingly well-read, opinionated, funny, and he knew where pretty much all the bodies were buried in the world of science fiction and fantasy, or fancied he did. I enjoyed his company from the first time I met him, in the UK, in around 1987, enjoyed and was frustrated in equal measure by his interviewing technique from about 1989 on (he would ask opinionated questions and make statements and really have a terrific conversation with you - then, when he wrote up the interview he would leave himself and everything he had said out, as if it was a long monologue). (Here's
an extract from one of those with me in 2005.)
He had been expecting to die for a long time - his health was not great - and had put various mechanisms in place to make sure that
Locus Magazine continued after his death. Having been dragooned into being part of one of these mechanisms, I wound up seeing Charles every few years at meetings which existed, as far as I could tell, solely so that he could see a bunch of his friends once a year and point out to them, with a delighted chortle, that he was not dead yet and had no need of their help: have a bagel.
(I suspect, by the way, that
the Locus Special Offer for readers of this blog still applies, seeing the webpage is still up.)
This is
his placeholder Obituary in Locus.
The last time I saw him we had brunch in the Hotel Claremont in Berkeley. He told me delighted stories about the 1968 Worldcon there, of the intersection at that con of the SF old guard and the (then) young hippies, told scandalous stories and named names. I have forgotten all the stories and all the names, except for the information that convention attendees used the laundry chutes as a quick way to get downstairs, which was the least scandalous thing I learned.
Then I did a CBLDF panel, during which I took pleasure in pointing out that
the same Nick Bertozzi comic, The Salon that had almost got Gordon Lee imprisoned in Rome, Georgia, last year, was in this year's Lynda Barry edited
Best American Comics 2008.
Home from Chicago. Signed hundreds of book jackets with Miss Amanda Palmer for her
Who Killed Amanda Palmer book. Then, in company with Miss Maddy and Maddy's friend Claire, we set out on a mad adventure (which we are still on).
In San Francisco we stayed at the
Hotel Union Square, which was amazingly convenient and nice. Visited Google, got to be backstage at the Fire Festival, dined with Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman and their marvellous family (I suspect Michael and Ayelet of having acquired their children from some amazing Madeleine L'Engle-like
Wrinkle in Time kit)(also they have a drumkit for their kids in the lounge), saw
Wicked because the girls wanted to se it, and they loved it utterly (my mini-review? love Gregory Maguire's book, liked the book of the show, was sort of unmoved by the songs which seemed no better than they had to be), lunched with Daniel Handler and Lisa Brown, and generally tried to be on holiday, except for Sunday Morning.
Sunday Morning I did a reading and a signing for Brian Hibbs (and a hundred people) at
Comix Experience. It celebrated Brian's Twentieth
Comix Experience Year. Brian
describes the signing here. (He also
describes the problem with Twitter and signings and suchlike in a fascinating essay here.)
On Tuesday evening, as I blogged at the time, we found ourselves in Las Vegas, where an improvisational Tarot comedy troupe had much fun interviewing me and then making comedic theatre, and a great time was had by all... ( my card was the three of cups)
Picture by Tarot show producer Emily Jillette.
And now I am in San Diego, where tomorrow, Friday, I will be doing a
Coraline panel (room 6A at 10:30) and an autographing (turn up in the autographing area at 9.00am and pull tickets from a hat. 100 of you will get in).
Tonight I had dinner with Henry Selick and friends, and bumped into Mr Miyazaki and the Studio Ghibli crew outside the restaurant, so got to introduce Henry Selick to Mr Miyazaki, which made Henry happy. A wonderful San Diego moment.
and that's all
Neil
...
PS:
This brought me joy:
The Independent newpaper in the UK
put the Graveyard Book audiobook second on their list of Year's Best audiobooks (and the first was a
Doctor Who audiobook).
This made me smile too,
Wired's list of unfilmable comics and books:
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/07/after-watchmen-whats-unfilmable-these-legendary-texts/On the other hand, my appearance on Kevin Smith's list of
the five coolest people I've met at the San Diego Comic-Con http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/07/kevin-smith-comic-con.html put me in mind of the time I encountered Kevin Smith. It was round the back of the San Diego Convention Centre, near the loading bay. I was on my way to a panel when a gentleman with a kerchief-mask covering his lower face, holding a brace of pistols and wearing a rakish tricorn hat leapt out and demanded my wallet, and to dance a measure with my female companions. Obviously, I was having none of it, and with a cry of "Never, miscreant!" I stumbled into the fray. During our struggle the kerchief-mask slipped and I was shocked to see that our attacker was in fact director, writer and raconteur Kevin Smith himself. He fled, dropping my wallet and also several of the original Graphitti Buddy Christ and Jay & Silent Bob toys.
I can only presume that Mr Smith's description of me in EW as "a sweetheart" was due to the fact that I did not turn him in that day to the San Diego magistrates that day to be hanged and gibbeted as a common highwayman or footpad.
A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama
by Laura Amy Schlitz
Candlewick Press, 9780763638122
We try so hard to keep up with all of the new children’s books being published that it really surprises me when one slips through. Somehow that happened with this book, published in 2006. I had never read it until Elise from Candlewick (one of my favorite people in the industry!) told me I should give it a try. Then, of course, it sat on my “to read” pile for a few months – but I am so glad it finally made its way to the top!
I admit to a certain predisposition for orphans, and bad girls, and the main character of this book is both. When Maud Flynn gets adopted from the Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans by two elderly sisters, I was very happy for her, until I found out that they wanted her to join the family business – spiritualism. Maud is trained to help the sisters hoodwink a wealthy woman whose daughter has died.
At first she is happy to be included, and she is certainly clever enough to do the work, but as time goes on and it becomes evident that the sisters are using her, I was very pleased when she started making some friends who eventually help rescue her from her situation.
I am in awe of those authors who can weave together many small elements and end up with a big, glorious finish that will make you cheer and cry (but the good kind of cry). Laura Amy Schlitz is in that exclusive group – but of course last year’s Newbery committee figured that out too, didn’t they?
Sigh. I SO dislike it when I’m not on the cutting edge.
posted by Neil
The great thing about having a dead day in a hotel after a long junket, and this Monday was one of those, is you have nothing to get up for. So I had a very long late lazy bath in the small hours of the morning, and then stayed up talking to a friend on the phone, and then I read...
I drifted off to sleep with a Jack Benny show playing on the iPod around 3:30 am. I set the alarm for 11.00 am because I didn't have anything to get up early for, and planned to wake a little before the alarm, and start writing. I closed my eyes...
And then the phone was ringing. I think it may have been ringing for some time. In fact, I thought as I surfaced, it had already rung and then stopped ringing once, which meant someone was calling to tell me something. Probably the hotel was burning down. I picked up the phone. It was my assistant, Lorraine, sleeping over at my place with a convalescent dog.
"Merrilee called, and she thinks someone is trying to get hold of you," she told me. I told her what time it was (viz. five thirty in the bloody morning here is she out of her mind some of us are trying to sleep here you know.) She said she knew what time it was in LA, and that Merrilee, who is my literary agent, sounded really definite that this was important.
I got out of bed. Checked voicemail. No, no-one was trying to get hold of me. I called home, to tell Lorraine that it was all nonsense -- "It's okay," she said. "They called here. They're on the other line. I'm giving them your cellphone number."
I was not yet sure what was going on or who was trying to do what. It was 5:45 in the morning. No-one had died, though, I was fairly certain of that. My cell-phone rang.
"Hello. This is Rose Trevino. I'm chair of the ALA Newbery Committee..." Oh. Newbery. Right. Cool. I may be an honors book or something. That would be nice, "and I have the voting members of the Newbery Committee here, and we want to tell you that your book..."
"THE GRAVEYARD BOOK," said fourteen loud voices, and I thought, I may be still asleep right now, but they probably don't do this, probably don't call people and sound so amazingly excited, for Honors books....
"...just won..."
"THE NEWBERY MEDAL" they chorused. They sounded really happy. I checked the hotel room because it seemed very likely that I was still fast asleep. It all looked reassuringly solid.
You are on a speakerphone with at least 14 teachers and librarians and suchlike great, wise and good people, I thought.
Do not start swearing like you did when you got the Hugo. This was a wise thing to think because otherwise huge, mighty and fourletter swears were gathering. I mean, that's what they're
for. I think I said,
You mean it's Monday?"You can tell your agent and your publisher, but no-one else," said Rose. "And it will be announced in about an hour."
And I fumfed and mumbled and said something of a thankyouthankyouthankyouokaythiswasworthbeingwokenupfor nature.
Then I phoned my agent and my publisher, both of whom seemed to have intuited my news already through secret methods, but it may have just been that I was calling them on this particular Monday morning (and, in retrospect, someone must have phoned someone to get my home phone number). (Merrilee-my-agent: "You didn't start swearing, did you?" Me: "No." Her: "Oh good.")
I called Maddy, spoke to her, and she was beyond delighted, and I told her to try not to tell anybody about it, and told her lovely mum, who was thrilled for me.
Then I got a phone call from Elyse, Harperchildren publicist, wanting to know if I could fly in from LA to New York to be on the
Today Show tomorrow morning. I said sure. I mean, what else was I going to say?
So I'm checking out of this hotel two days early, and I'm typing this with the ALA webcast playing in the background. They haven't got to the Newbury award yet. I'm not sure that they're actually going to say
The Graveyard Book when they get to the Newberies bit. I might have imagined all of this, or they may have to do a sudden recount or something. But I think it probably happened. I mean, it's now 7:20 am and I'm drinking tea and blinking happily at the world. Spoke to Holly. Spoke to Mike.
Okay. They just said it. I can post this.
By:
Aline Pereira,
on 1/23/2009
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The American Library Association (ALA) will provide a free live Webcast of its national announcement of the top books and media for children and young adults on January 26 at 7:45 a.m. MT. You can also twitter the awards, and receive live updates on award winners as they are announced during the ceremony. In addition, the Youth Media Awards has a home on Facebook which features the RSS feed from the Youth Media Awards Twitter site as well as has videos, photos, and information about the awards.
Awards announced on January 26, 2009 include:
- Alex Awards for the best adult books that appeal to teen audience
- Coretta Scott King Book Awards honors African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to “the African American experience via literature and illustration.”
- John Newbery Medal honors the author of the year’s most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.
- Margaret A. Edwards Award honors an author’s lifetime contribution in writing for young adults as well as a specific body of his or her work.
- Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults.
- Pura Belpré Award recognizes Latino/Latina writers and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
- Randolph Caldecott Medal honors the illustrator of the year’s most distinguished American picture book for children.
- Robert F. Sibert Medal honors an author, illustrator and/or photographer of the most distinguished informational book published for children.
- Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.
- Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is presented annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished book for beginning readers published in English in the United States.
- William C. Morris Award begins in 2009, honoring a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.
The press release announcing all of the winners will be posted in the Youth Media Awards Press Kit prior to 10:30 a.m. MT. These award announcements are made as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, which brings together more than 10,000 librarians, publishers, authors and guests in Denver, Colorado from January 23 to 28.
You know. Because a shirt that says "I am Turtle Wexler" would have just been too obvious. (I'm sure that won't stop me from making one at some point, though.)
I have The Westing Game on the brain due to the upcoming sequel -- found out a co-worker hadn't read it (the freaking horror!), and stomped down to the Children's Room, checked it out, and gave it to her. Then I was informed that another one of my co-workers hadn't read it, so I'll be assigning it to her next. Will my work never end??
El Deafo
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This is unprecedented. HUGE congrats to all the honorees and winners of this year’s awards!
It is great news. Congrats to all the winners! Yay, comics!
I’ve been working towards this for more than 30 years of advocating for comics in libraries and schools. Of course it happens when I can’t attend the conference! But seriously, I’m incredibly jazzed and happy about these books. All of these awards – the Caldecott, the Printz, the Batchelder – are LITERARY awards. This just continues to validate graphic novels and their place in literature – and in libraries and classrooms!
This is fantastic news and solid proof that the traditional publishing market is making great strides. The awards juries are now peopled with professionals who no longer define great literature as a text only world. There continues to be a steady increased number of great graphic novels published each year providing the juries with an ever greater number of excellent choices. The long tail of these developments means graphic novels/comics are showing up in classrooms for reading assignments, the distribution companies and library wholesalers now have an educated and informed approach to selling graphic novels/comics. All of this really did begin with the librarians. Kat Kan, Francisca Goldsmith, Steve Wiener, Steve Ratieri, Robin Brenner, Michele Gorman, Eva Volin, Mike Pawuk…(and god knows, I’ve missed a few!) are the librarians where so much of this began. A big thanks also goes out to the creators/authors who keep cranking out the stories. Your great books continue to feed the momentum!
Congrats to the ALA Winning Class of 2014/ 2015!
Even “The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus”, which was a Caldecott honor book and won the Sibert for best informational book, had comics elements inside (word balloons in crowd scenes).
Synchronicity happened when I was perusing the Roget book at the publisher’s booth… two Caldecott jurists stopped by, and I was able to avoid the confidentiality concerns with a few questions. The biggest question: How do they discover the books? Simple answer: publishers send them boxes of titles, even titles which don’t qualify. Of course, these librarians are passionate about their books (Thanks, Robin, for your work on Printz!). You have to be…. they are sequestered for three days in a hotel meeting room deliberating, debating, advocating.
Yes, SIX honor books. It was just that spectacular a year in picture books.
What does the future hold? Comic book kids are attending art school, and getting inspiration from the other fine arts kids. How will that influence comics ten years from now? Picture books? Will we care? (Me, I view Tuesday and Black and White and Mr. Wuffles as comics. The camel’s nose is already inside the tent.)
[…] graphic novel was honored in a lesser-known award category as well. Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust, written by Loic Dauvillier and Marc Lizano […]