Caldecott-Winning Authors' New Books in 2013

Three previous winners of the Caldecott Medal — given annually by the American Library Association to the best-illustrated children’s book — have published new books this year.

Here’s a look at these new literary gems for young readers:

With her long blond hair, Yuriko doesn’t fit the stereotype of a Japanese girl, and her classmates sometimes make fun of her. But her father is Japanese and Yuriko understands that her father’s heritage is something she should take pride in.

In “The Favorite Daughter” (Scholastic, $17.99, ages 5-8), author/illustrator Allen Say reveals a slice of his life as father to his daughter Yuriko, as she struggles with her desire to fit in with her classmates but still be herself.

Chris Raschka has twice won the Caldecott Medal: in 2006 for “The Hello, Goodbye Window” and again just last year for “A Ball for Daisy.” Still, Raschka never seems to run out of inspiration as shown in his latest book, “Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle” (Schwartz & Wade, Random House, $16.99, ages 4-8).

The story is a universal — perhaps even an overly traveled — one: a child wants desperately to learn to ride a bike, the child has trouble learning to balance on a bike, the child is ready to give up but tries one more time, and — voila! — he/she can suddenly ride a bike.

Erin Stead, who won the 2011 Caldecott Medal for “A Sick Day for Amos McGee,” takes what, at first glance, looks like a minimalist approach to illustration in her picture books.

Stead is a master of using seemingly understated illustrations to both bring the reader into the story and expand the world of the tale being told.

Such is the case with her latest book, “If You Want to See a Whale” (Roaring Brook, $16.99, ages 3-7). As in the 2012 best-selling picture book “And Then It’s Spring,” Stead has paired up with author Julie Fogliano to tell a quiet, thoughtful story that will inspire young readers to use their imaginations.

Stead’s illustrations, done using linoleum printing techniques and pencil, portray a young boy and his devoted hound enjoying a series of adventures while hoping for a whale sighting.

The Snowy Day--A Children’s Book With Black Protagonist on Exhibit

During the height of the civil rights movement, a sweet and gentle book about a black boy in a red snowsuit crunching through the snow, helped break down racial barriers. That book is now the subject of an upcoming exhibit.

Ezra Jack Keats’ beloved 1962 book, “The Snowy Day,” is credited as the first mass-market children’s storybook to feature a black protagonist — a preschooler named Peter who is joyfully exploring the snow-covered sidewalks in his New York City neighborhood.

The National Museum of American Jewish History is presenting a retrospective, “The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats,” from July 19 to Oct. 20. The exhibit includes more than 70 original works, ranging from preliminary sketches to final paintings and collages.

 AP Photo/Matt Rourke

“We wanted to marry the strength of the show as an art exhibition with the significance of the book in children’s literature,” museum curator Josh Perelman said. “We really wanted the exhibit spaces to feel alive … to feel like being in a children’s book.”

The son of Jewish immigrants from Poland, Keats was born Jacob Ezra Katz in New York City’s Brooklyn borough in 1916 and grew up in poverty. Artistically gifted but unable to attend art school, he started out working as a sign painter, comic book background illustrator and Works Progress Administration muralist before creating children’s books.

“Keats drew a considerable amount on the fact that he experienced prejudice in his own life and he had a sensitivity to what it felt like to be marginalized,” Perelman said. “He also had a worldview that embraced extending that sensitivity toward other people who may feel marginalized as well.”

Peter’s world was also a reflection of Keats’ own environment, Perelman said, “the city streets where he felt comfortable, where he called home and that happened to be inhabited by working-class and poor folks and by African-American folks.”
“That’s who he felt should be in his books.
 
This isn’t ‘Eloise, he said, referring to the children’s book character who lives in Manhattan’s posh Plaza Hotel with her nanny. “It’s a very different New York City.

Awarded the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1963, “The Snowy Day” has been published in at least 10 languages. It is on the Library of Congress’ list of “Books That Shaped America” and is rated by teacher and librarian groups as one of the all-time top children’s books.

Ezra Jack Keats

“If you look at children’s literature previous to ‘The Snowy Day,’ there are very few positive examples of publications for African-American children,” Perelman said, “and there’s a whole lot of very derogatory, stereotypical and outright racist material.”

Keats, who died in 1983, illustrated more than 85 books. In six more books after “The Snowy Day,” readers followed Peter growing up from a kindergarten-age boy to an adolescent. His race was never mentioned.

Let's Celebrate Children's Book Week-May 13-19, 2013

Caldecott-winning children's author and illustrator Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret) has designed the poster for the 94th Children's Book Week from May 13-19.  But what is it, and how did it begin?

 Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes -- wherever young readers and books connect.

The event originated in the belief that children's books and literacy are life-changers. In 1913, Franklin K. Matthiews, the librarian of the Boy Scouts of America, began touring the country to promote higher standards in children's books. He proposed creating a Children's Book Week, which would be supported by all interested groups: publishers, booksellers, and librarians.  In the words of Frederic G. Melcher:

A Great Nation is a Reading Nation

Mathiews enlisted two important allies: Frederic G. Melcher, the visionary editor of Publishers Weekly, and Anne Carroll Moore, the Superintendent of Children's Works at the New York Public Library and a major figure in the library world. With the help of Melcher and Moore, in 1916, the American Booksellers Association and the American Library Association sponsored a Good Book Week with the Boy Scouts of America.

In 1944, the newly-established Children's Book Council assumed responsibility for administering Children's Book Week. In 2008, Children’s Book Week moved from November to May. At that time, administration of Children’s Book Week, including planning official events and creating original materials, was transferred to Every Child a Reader, the philanthropic arm of the children’s publishing industry, and the Children's Book Council became a CBW anchor sponsor.

Let's support our young people and their reading endeavors and achievements.  Without the skill of reading, most children will not become all they can be.  Their dreams can be come reality if they have the gift of reading.

Illinois Reading Council Conference, 2013-A Rich Experience

All I can say is wow!  The Illinois Reading Council Conference organizers outdid themselves this time.  Each year I look forward to the conference held in Springfield, Illinois each mid-March.  But this time, it was a true embarrassment of riches.

During this annual event, nearly three thousand teachers, librarians, authors, publisher representatives and others gather for what is always guaranteed to be a rich and meaningful experience.  Last week was no exception.  The list of keynote speakers reads like a who's-who of authors and illustrators that influence children the world over. 

Avi

Avi has written over sixty books for children in his varied career.  He is at work on another novel for kids.

Pam Muroz Ryan

Pam Muroz Ryan is the author of more that thirty books for young readers, including four novels, Riding Freedom, Esperanza Rising, Becoming Naomi León, and Paint the Wind, along with countless accolades, the Pura Belpré Medal, the Jane Addams Award, and the Schneider Family Award.

 Eric Rohmann is an author/illustrator who won the Caldecott Award for his illustrations of the book My Friend Rabbit..  Eric has created book jackets for a number of novels, including His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman.

Nancy Stewart and Eric Rohmann

 He won a Caldecott Honor Book award for Time Flies. Eric has written four children's books: My Friend Rabbit, The Cinder-Eyed Cats, Pumpkinhead, and A Kitten's Tale.

For four different books published 1975 to 1980, Katherine Paterson won two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. She is one of three people to win the two major international awards: for "lasting contribution to children's literature" she won the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing in 1998.  

  

Nancy Stewart and Katherine Paterson

 For her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense", she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2006, the biggest prize in children's literature.  In 2013, Paterson won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the American Library Association.

These luminaries are but a few of the artists that can be found at the IRC conference each year.  It is entertaining, academic and uplifting.  Thank you, Ilinois Reading Council!

And the Newbery and Caldecott Medal Winners Are...

Jack Gantos' "Dead End in Norvelt" has won the John Newbery Medal for the best children's book of 2011. Chris Raschka's "A Ball for Daisy" won the Randolph Caldecott award for best illustrated story.

Gantos' novel follows the humorous adventures of a boy named Jack Gantos, grounded "for life" by his parents and prone to the most gushing nosebleeds. But he is restored by the stories he learns about his hometown, Norvelt, a planned community in Pennsylvania founded during the Great Depression.

Raschka's wordless picture book, told through watercolor, ink and gouache, recounts the saga of a dog whose beloved red ball is stolen by a bigger dog. The ball bursts and Daisy's spirit seems to break with it, until the other dog returns with a blue ball that is better than ever!

The Newbery and Caldecott prizes, the most prestigious in children's literature, were announced Monday by the American Library Association. Gantos' novel follows the improbable adventures of a boy named "Jack Gantos," while Raschka's picture book recounts the saga of a dog whose favorite toy is destroyed.

Both winners are well established in children's publishing. Gantos has been a finalist for the Newbery and National Book Award. Raschka won the Caldecott in 2006 for "The Hello, Goodbye Window."
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
“Where Things Come Back,” written by John Corey Whaley, (Atheneum Books, 2011).

Coretta Scott King (author) Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:
Kadir Nelson, author and illustrator of “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans,” (Balzer + Bray, 2011).

Coretta Scott King (illustrator) Book Award:
Shane W. Evans, illustrator and author of “Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom,” (Neal Porter Book, 2011).

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:
Two books were selected for the middle school award (ages 9 to 13): “Close to Famous,” written by Joan Bauer (Viking, 2011).
“Wonderstruck,” written by Brian Selznick, (Scholastic Press, 2011).
The teen (ages 14 to 18) award winner is “The Running Dream,” written by Wendelin Van Draanen, (Alfred A. Knopf, 2011).

Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children’s video:
Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly Ellard of Weston Woods Studios, Inc., producers of “Children Make Terrible Pets.” The video is based on the book written by Peter Brown.

Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States:
“Rotters,” produced Listening Library. The book is written by Daniel Kraus and narrated by Kirby Heyborne.

Congratulations to you all!

ALA Youth Media Awards Announced January 23, 2012!

Tomorrow in Dallas (7:45 a.m. CT on Jan.23, 2012), the American Library Association (ALA) will  announce the top awards in children’s and young adult literature as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 20 - 24.

(Please see the video at the bottom of this post.)

The ALA Youth Media Awards honor children’s and young adult authors and illustrators, as well as producers of children’s audio and video materials.

Known worldwide for the high quality they represent, the ALA Youth Media Awards are selected under a cloak of secrecy by national judging committees composed of librarians and other children’s literature experts.


The ALA will announce 18 awards, including the renowned Caldecott and Newbery Medals, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and Printz award.

  The books honored serve as a guide for parents, educators, librarians and those interested in providing children and teens with the very best reading and viewing materials.

Be sure to tune in.  And you parents out there, this is a great list for books for your kids and grandkids.

Bumble-Ardy--New Maurice Sendak Picture Book

Maurice Sendak turned 83 this June, but he's still hard at work. The Caldecott-winning author of classic children’s books such as Where the Wild Things Are has reached an agreement with HarperCollins to publish the first book illustrated and written by Sendak since Outside Over There in 1981.

The new picture book, which began its life as an animated segment for Sesame Street, is Bumble-Ardy. It tells the tale of Bumble, a mischievous pig who has reached the age of nine without ever having had a birthday party.

He takes matters into his own hands and invites all of his friends to a masquerade party that quickly gets out of hand.

“As a child, I felt that books were holy objects to be caressed, rapturously sniffed, and devotedly provided for,” said Sendak in accepting the Hans Christian Andersen Award (for excellence in illustration of children’s books) in Bologna, Italy in 1970. “I gave my life to them. I still do. I continue to do what I did as a child: dream of books, make books, and collect books.” Bumble-Ardy will be published by HarperCollins in September.