I Can Haz Book Trailer?

As far as I'm concerned, a new Dan Yaccarino book is always a cause for celebration. His new one, All the Way to America, comes out March 8th, and here's a trailer to whet your appetite.

Time for Some Reaction Shots

Some of the best fun of any awards ceremony, and the reason why it's so much fun to either attend it in person or hang out on Twitter with other book nerds, is sharing your reaction to the honorees and seeing what other people thought. This year's awards had their share of well-deserved awards, startling upsets, and shut-outs, otherwise known around here as "Yay!" "Huh?" and "Hey!"

Yay!
I'm pretty happy that one of my favorites of 2010, A Sick Day for Amos McGee, took top honors with the Caldecott. While it wasn't my ultimate picture-book standout for 2010 (see the "Hey!" section for more on that), it's a book that made me smile and smile. I have a half-written review on my hard drive that maybe I should finish now. Interrupting Chicken was sort of unexpected, but then the Caldecott is traditionally more open to silly and funny books than its older sister awards.

I squealed with joy when Seeds of Change: Wangari's Gift to the World  was announced for the John Steptoe New Talent award in illustration. Because if anybody needs to keep on creating glorious books, it's  Miz Jen Cullerton Robertson.

Also, Tomie dePaola richly deserved the Laura Ingalls Wilder award for "substantial and lasting contributions to literature for children." Tomie has been a staple in my reading life ever since I was a wee Bibliovore. In fact, the first place I learned about the Lady of Guadalupe (which any Mexican will tell you, is an important lady) was through his picture-book retelling of the beautiful old story, and I still think of it every time I walk by the picture at church.

Kudos to Grace Lin and Mo Willems for their Geisel honors. We all know that Willems is already an early-reader powerhouse with Elephant and Piggie, but I'm hoping we'll see more early readers out of Lin, because Ling and Ting was so cute!

Huh?
I freely admit: I haven't read one of the Pura Belpre illustration award winners. Most of them I hadn't even heard of. This makes me sad. I'm going to change that.

Hey!
Okay, seriously. Where was Nikki McClure's Mama, Is It Summer Yet? With the beautiful cut-paper technique and the subtle changes in color? Guess this is one I'll just have to read at storytime over and over and over again.

Also, I'm not entirely clear on the guidelines for the new Stonewall award (maybe picture books aren't included?) but I'd dearly love to see some recognition next year for picture books. I realize that most of the awards I talked about in this post were for illustration, but that's only half the equation. How about some Todd Parr, with his reassuring messages of self-acceptance? Some Marla Frazee, with her sweet images of same-sex parents? Okay, suggest some more picture-book and early-reader authors to me.

Awards aren't everything, though, and as someone (Mitali Perkins, perhaps?) pointed out, this just means we'll have to roll up our sleeves and show off the books that didn't get official love. Because no matter how many shiny gold stickers there are on a book, all that matters in the end is that a child loved it.

ETA: I've done a similar post for the YA and MG winners over at Confessions of a Bibliovore. Stop in!

ETA again: In the comments section on my other blog, Jennifer reminded me about the wordless deliciousness that was Chalk - also never mentioned on Monday. Awwww . . .

2011 Awards Time!

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

Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
(H) Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
(H) Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
(H) Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen
(H) One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

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
(H) Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Laban Carrick Hill
(H) Interrupting Chicken written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein

Michael L. Printz Award 
for excellence in literature written for young adults

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
(H) Stolen by Lucy Christopher
(H) Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
(H) Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
(H) Nothing by Janne Teller



Coretta Scott King Awards
(for the best book about the African-American experience)
Author

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
(H) Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers
(H) Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
(H) Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri

Illustrator
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Laban Carrick Hill
(H) Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix illustrated by Javaka Steptoe, written by Gary Golio

John Steptoe New Talent
Author: Zora and Me written by Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon
Illustrator: Seeds of Change illustrated by Sonia Lynn Sadler, written by Jen Cullerton Johnson

Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Award for Lifetime Achievement
Dr. Henrietta Mays Smith

Schneider Family Book Award
for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience

Picture Book
The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Lynne Avril
Middle Grade Novel
After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick
YA Novel
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Alex Awards
for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences

The Reapers Are the Angels: A Novel by Alden Bell
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel by Aimee Bender
The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni
Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
The Vanishing of Katharina Linden: A Novel by Helen Grant
The Radleys by Matt Haig
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray
The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To by DC Pierson

Andrew Carnegie Medal
for excellence in children's video

Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly Ellard of Weston Woods, producers of "The Curious Garden," are the Carnegie Medal winners. The video is based on the book of the same name, written and illustrated by Peter Brown, and is narrated by Katherine Kellgren, with music by David Mansfield. 

Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
for substantial and lasting contributions to literature for children.
Tomie dePaola

Margaret A. Edwards Award
for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. 
Sir Terry Pratchett

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award
recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site
Peter Sis

Mildred L. Batchelder Award 
for an outstanding children's book translated from a language other than English and subsequently published in the United States

A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux, translated by Y. Maudet
(H) Departure Time by Truus Matti and translated by Nancy Forest-Flier
(H) Nothing by Janne Teller and translated by Martin Aitken

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

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex and narrated by Bahni Turpin.
(H) Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman and narrated by Katherine Kellgren
(H) The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness and narrated by Nick Podehl
(H) Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly and narrated by Emily Janice Card and Emma Bering
(H) will grayson, will grayson by John Green and David Levithan, and narrated by MacLeod Andrews and Nick Podehl.

Pura Belpre
For the best books about the Latino cultural experience
Author
The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Peter Sís

(H) Ole! Flamenco by George Ancona
(H) The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba by Margarita Engle
(H) 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis
 Illustrator
Grandma's Gift illustrated and written by Eric Velasquez
(H) Fiesta Babies illustrated by Amy Cordova, written by Carmen Tafolla
(H) Me, Frida illustrated by David Diaz, written by Amy Novesky
(H) Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiun 

Robert F. Sibert Medal
for most distinguished informational book for children

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Nic Bishop
(H) Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, illustrated by Brian Floca
(H) Lafayette and the American Revolution by Russell Freedman

Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award
Books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experience.

Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher
(H) will grayson, will grayson by John Green and David Levithan
(H) Love Drugged by James Klise
(H) Freaks and Revelations by Davida Willis Hurwin
(H) The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams, illustrated by Quentin Blake

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
for the most distinguished beginning reader book

Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee and illustrated by Tony Fucile
(H) Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! written and illustrated by Grace Lin
(H) We Are in a Book! written and illustrated by Mo Willems

William C. Morris Award
for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens

The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston
(H) Hush by Eishes Chayil
(H) Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey
(H) Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
(H) Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults during a November 1 – October 31 publishing year.

Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing by Ann Angel
(H) They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
(H) Spies of Mississippi:  The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement by Rick Bowers
(H) The Dark Game: True Spy Stories by Paul Janeczko
(H) Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates by Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw

Whew! Someone on Twitter said the list just gets longer every year, but I don't feel like a single award is wasted. Coming tomorrow: My reactions (plus the tell-all story of the wild Twitter party!) Share your reactions in the comments!

Want to Get More Involved? Here's a Way . . .

If you've ever wanted to get more involved with the kidlitosphere, now's your chance. Hop on over to MotherReader's blog and sign up for the 2011 comment challenge. In a nutshell, here's how it works: You try to comment on other people's book blogs. That's . . . really about it.


I love this when it comes around, because it reminds me to put my reactions to other bloggers in writing, to be part of the conversation that is this great blog adventure we're all having. I also try to check out a lot of the other participants' blogs, and this challenge has introduced me to lots of neat new blogging friends. Well, what are you waiting for?

This also dovetails rather nicely with my own desire to blog more. I have great half-written reviews on my hard drive, but they don't do me much good there, now do they?

It's Cybils Shortlist Time!

Forget that "New Year" crap (pffft! as if anyone pays attention to that). The excitement in the kidlitosphere these days is all for the Cybils shortlists.

As always, there's a great mix of famous and unknowns. If you're a teacher, librarian, or parent, these shortlists are invaluable readers' advisory.

Generally, I have the books on my list but haven't gotten to them yet. That's not a surprise, because I'm almost always way behind in my reading. There are one or two on each list that are totally new to me - woohoo! There are at least a few that I've seen around the blogs and decided not to read, but this nomination might change my mind. Maybe.

What's your Cybils score?

Reading Roundup: 2010

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 348
Early Readers: 28

Sources
Swapped: 19
Library: 319

Standouts
Writing: The Daddy Mountain by Jules Feiffer
Selected in August: "Adventure and derring-do with a courageous little girl and her daddy. Perfect."
Illustration: The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Selected in June: "The dry Serengeti heat seems to blast off the page. I'm from Arizona, people. We know heat. Pinkney got the baked, bleached, and beautiful landscape just right."
It won the Caldecott for a reason, people! But I want you to know that A Bedtime for Bear and Just In Case were very, very close seconds. Argh.
Overall: Mama, is it Summer Yet? by Nikki McClure
Selected in August: "A tender, gorgeous book about mothers, sons, anticipation, and the slow turning of the seasons. I don't usually make award predictions, but I will be very unhappy if this doesn't get some love come January."
Further remarks: Talk about your wailing and your gnashing of teeth. This was almost a five-way tie.

All the reading roundups for 2010.

You guys, what a great year this was! What are your picks for 2010?