A Year of Reading's Bucket List

This blog began as an extension of our conversations about possible contenders for the Newbery and Caldecott Award winners.

Our "year of reading" has turned into eleven years of reading, writing, teaching, and poetry.

Last weekend, we checked an item off our lifetime bucket lists -- we went to ALA Midwinter and saw the Youth Media Awards announced LIVE instead of streaming on our smartboards in our classrooms!

We were about 5th in line, and right behind us was Jules Danielson of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, who's been blogging just about as long as we have. It was so cool to meet her (and her family) in person!

In addition to seeing the book awards announced, 

we were there to cheer and congratulate OSU's own Dr. Rudine Simms Bishop on the Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

This year, we had both read the Newbery winner and many of the Newbery and Caldecott Honor books.

It was another great Year of Reading in 2016, and we came home with suitcases full to the brim of ARCS so that we can begin our 2017 Year of Reading!

Youth Media Awards

The winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards were announced yesterday morning. (Complete list of winners here.)

I'm still scratching my head a bit at the Newbery winner -- the picture book Last Stop On Market Street. I'll withhold judgement until I've had a chance to read it.

But which of the winners DID I read this year?

All three Newbery Honor books -- The War That Saved My Life (my pick for winner), Echo, and Roller Girl

Caldecott Winner -- Finding Winnie

Sibert Honor book -- Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans

Stonewall winner -- George

Both middle grade Schneider winners -- Fish in a Tree and The War That Saved My Life

I'm currently reading one of the Coretta Scott King Honor books -- All American Boys

Pura Belpré Author Award -- Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

All in all, it was a good reading year for me!

A Year of Reading Award Winners

Here are the award-winners I read in 2013:

Newbery -- Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

Newbery Honor -- The Year of Billy Miller

Caldecott  (and Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Honor) -- Locomotive

Caldecott Honor -- Journey

Caldecott Honor -- Mr. Wuffles!

Coretta Scott King Author -- P.S. Be Eleven

Coretta Scott King Honor -- Words with Wings

Coretta Scott King Illustrator -- Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor -- Nelson Mandela

Michael L. Printz Honor -- Navigating Early

Mildred L. Batchelder Honor -- The Bathing Costume: Or the Worst Vacation of My Life

 

Pura Belpré Illustrator -- Niño Wrestles the World

Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor and Author Honor -- Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant's Tale

My only regret was that The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp didn't win an Odyssey Award for best audio book.

2013 was a great reading year! Can't wait to see what 2014 holds in store!

Newbery Surprises

Franki and I had a little email conversation late last week. It went something like this:

She: "Are we ignoring the Newbery this year?"
Me: "Kinda. I'll do a 'Newbery Surprises' post on Tuesday because all the winners will be new to me.

And then the biggest surprise of all:

I've read it three times (self, aloud to fourth graders, aloud to fifth graders).

And right there on my picture book shelf were the Caldecott and several honor books!

There's a Coretta Scott King Author Honor book on my chalktray...

...and we just confirmed the Coretta Scott King Illustrator, Bryan Collier for the 2014 Dublin Literacy Conference.

I listened to the Odyssey Award winning audio book.

This Stonewall honor book is being passed through my two fifth grade classes like wildfire...

...and this one needs to be read by every high school and college student.


Pete the Cat, with his attitude ("Did he cry? Goodness NO!") and his Zen-like reminder that "Buttons come and buttons go," made the Geisel Honor list.

So the biggest surprise that came with this year's ALA Youth Media Awards? How many I know, and own, and love!

For all the winners, check out ALA's Official Press Release.

How My Reading Matched Up With This Year's Awards

Main idea:  Both of the "biggies" (Newbery/Caldecott) were COMPLETELY off my radar: never saw them, never heard about them. However, I did pretty well with honor books and the smaller awards.

Disclaimer:  To slightly shorten this gargantuan post, I left out the awards that didn't contain any books I read this year. No offense intended by omission.  All the awards are listed here.


Details:


John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature

“Moon over Manifest,” written by Clare Vanderpool (not read)

Four Newbery Honor Books also were named: 

“Turtle in Paradise,” by Jennifer L. Holm (not read)

“Heart of a Samurai,” written by Margi Preus (next up on my TBR pile)

“Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night,” written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen (LOVED)
“One Crazy Summer,” by Rita Williams-Garcia (LOVED)

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children
“A Sick Day for Amos McGee,” illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead (not read)

Two Caldecott Honor Books also were named: 

“Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave,” illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Laban Carrick Hill (LOVED -- heard him speak at the CLA Workshop at NCTE)

“Interrupting Chicken,” written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein (read)

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults 
“One Crazy Summer,” written by Rita Williams-Garcia (LOVED)

Three King Author Honor Books were selected: 

“Lockdown,” by Walter Dean Myers  (read)
“Ninth Ward,” by Jewell Parker Rhodes (LOVED) 

“Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty,” written by G. Neri, illustrated by Randy DuBurke (read)

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award recognizing an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults
“Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave,” illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Laban Carrick Hill (LOVED)

One King Illustrator Honor Book was selected:

“Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix,” illustrated by Javaka Steptoe, written by Gary Golio (LOVED)

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
“The Pirate of Kindergarten,” written by George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Lynne Avril (LOVED)
“After Ever After,” written by Jordan Sonnenblick (LOVED)

Laura Ingalls Wilder Award 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. 

The 2011 winner is Tomie dePaola, author and illustrator of over 200 books. (Totally deserving.)

Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults

“The True Meaning of Smekday,” written by Adam Rex and narrated by Bahni Turpin.

Four Odyssey Honor Recordings also were selected: 

“Alchemy and Meggy Swann,” written by Karen Cushman and narrated by Katherine Kellgren (I actually listened to this!!  LOVED IT! Loved it so much, I will likely listen to all the Odyssey winners!)

“The Knife of Never Letting Go,”written by Patrick Ness and narrated by Nick Podehl
“Revolution,” written by Jennifer Donnelly and narrated by Emily Janice Card and Emma Bering 

“will grayson, will grayson,” written by John Green and David Levithan, and narrated by MacLeod Andrews and Nick Podehl

Pura Belpré (Author) Award honoring a Latino writer whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
“The Dreamer,” written by Pam Muñoz Ryan, illustrated by Peter Sís (LOVED)

Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
“Grandma’s Gift,” illustrated and written by Eric Velasquez

Three Belpré Illustrator Honor Books for illustration were selected:
“Fiesta Babies,” illustrated by Amy Córdova, written by Carmen Tafolla

“Me, Frida,” illustrated by David Diaz, written by Amy Novesky (LOVED. Heard him at the CLA Workshop at NCTE)

“Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin,” illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh (LOVED)

Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children
“Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot,” written by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Nic Bishop (read)

Two Sibert Honor Books were named: 

“Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring,” written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, illustrated by Brian Floca (read)
“Lafayette and the American Revolution,” written by Russell Freedman (read)

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book
“Bink and Gollie,” written by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee and illustrated by Tony Fucile (read)

Two Geisel Honor Books were named: 

“Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!” written and illustrated by Grace Lin (LOVED)

“We Are in a Book!” written and illustrated by Mo Willems (LOVELOVELOVED)

William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens
“The Freak Observer,” written by Blythe Woolston (I haven't read her book, but we sat at the same table at the KidLitCon dinner, and she's become a Poetry Friday Regular. Congrats, Blythe!)

Award Committees

Today is the finish line for a year of work for the readers on the Newbery and Caldecott committees.

The NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts committee is starting the final sprint towards our finish line in mid-February. We have 65 books for grades K-8 on our "top shelf" right now, and we've received +/- 250 nominees since the beginning of October that need to be read and evaluated.

You'll forgive me if I've been paying attention to this...

The charge of the seven-member national committee is to select thirty titles each year that best exemplify the criteria established for the Notables Award. Books considered for this annual list are works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry written for children, grades K-8. The books must meet one or more of the following criteria:

1. deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language;
2. demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style;
3. invite child response or participation.

In addition, books are to:

4. have an appealing format;
5. be of enduring quality;
6. meet generally accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written.

...rather than Newbery criteria and Caldecott illustrations.

But that doesn't mean I won't be anxiously awaiting today's news!!

WINNERS!

Last year, I totally had to concede to Franki -- only she and our bookstore friends, Beth and Sally, had read The Graveyard Book. This year, Bill, Karen and I get to be in the picture, too! Congratulations to Rebecca Stead and When You Reach Me for winning the Newbery Award! (Sally has The Shiny Stickers in her hand, ready to put on all the copies of books that hadn't already been sold!)

Here's the hash (sweet potato with smoked turkey, eggs over hard)...

And here are the Central OH bloggers who were able to get together today for the re-hash of the awards: which books won, which didn't, which we read, which we haven't, and which intern at Random House Kids lost their job this morning because they Tweeted the Newbery Award at least 5 minutes before it had been awarded from the podium.

We reconvened at Cover to Cover for more book talk and, of course, to buy some books. Pictured are (back row) Mandy, Bill, Kristine, Katie, Shelly, (front row) Franki, Karen, Mary Lee, and Lisa. We were joined for breakfast by Tony.

You can see many of the winners in our hands.
All the winners are listed here.

Making Plans for Newbery Announcement Day

100 Scope Notes has the scoop on where to watch the live webcast of the ALA Newbery/Caldecott Awards and how to stay in touch on Twitter. (Yes, I just gave you the links, but you need to go to his post to see the FABULOUS picture of him and his 1984 computer!)

Hopefully there won't be another Terrible Twitter Technology Fail like last year...not that anyone remembers...

And while you're waiting for the Newbery/Caldecott announcement, check out the list of 2009 *best of* lists that Susan, aka Chicken Spaghetti, is collecting.