Friday, January 26, 2007

Newbery and Caldecott Awards

I've got some catching up to do. The Newbery and Caldecott awards were announced earlier this week, the prime annual awards in American children's literature, and I haven't yet read any of this year's winners!

Here's a rundown:

Newbery Medal: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, illustrated by Matt Phelan (Simon & Schuster/Jackson)

Newbery Honors: Penny From Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm (Random House); Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (Delacorte Press); Rules by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic)

I was disappointed to see that The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane didn't make the list this year, but I suppose the ALA awards committee thought (perhaps?) that Kate DiCamillo has been honored enough in recent years. I think we'll see her again on this list in years to come though. And I did notice that her book for younger readers, Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride won a Geisel Honor award (in a category for beginning readers, named for the late Theodore Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss).

David Weisner won the Caldecott Medal (for artistic excellence) with his book Flotsam published by Clarion. This is his third Caldecott medal. The Caldecott honors went to Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet by David McLimans (Walker & Co.) and Moses, illustrated by Kadir Nelson and written by Carole Boston Weatherford (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun).

One of my favorite children's poets, Nikki Grimes, won a Coretta Scott King author honor with her book The Road to Paris (Putnam).

Lots of books for the reading list!

2 comments:

Erin said...

Hmmm, I'm rather disappointed in myself that DiCamillo's titles are the only ones that look familiar to me... I guess I've got some catching up to do too!

Beth said...

I know...it's funny, I think I'm fairly "up" on children's literature and then I see this list and realize I'm not as up on things as I think! :-)

I've read a review or two of *Flotsam* which sounds fascinating (all art, no words). And I know Kadir Nelson's illustrations from other books, though I've not seen the one he was honored for this year.

I happened upon some "mock Newbery's" a couple of weeks ago (some book types who get together to pick their favorites before the real award committees get to work) and that's the only reason I'd heard of some of the other titles. I'm feeling particularly intrigued by *Hattie Big Sky* (which a lot of folks hoped would win) because I'm in major "prairie mode" right now as I zip through David Laskin's book. Our library didn't have *Hattie* but I requested it through county loan so hopefully will have it before too long. I put the *Mercy Watson* reader on hold too, since I haven't ever checked out DiCamillo for younger readers.

It's fun to think of all this good reading ahead!