And the winner is...

The American Library Association announced the books that received their highest honors in Philadelphia at their Midwinter Conference on January 27, 2014.

The winner of the John Newbery Medal for outstanding writing in a children's book is Flora & Ulysses, written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by K.G. Campbell. You can take a look at our Book Buzz review of Flora and Ulysses here.

The books receiving the Newbery Honor Medal are:
Doll Bones written by Holly Black (Our Book Buzz from back in July can be found here.)
The Year of Billy Miller written by Kevin Henkes
One Came Home written by Amy Timberlake
Paperboy written by Vince Vawter

The winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal for outstanding illustrations in a children's book is Locomotive, written and illustrated by Brian Floca. Check out our previous discussion of Locomotive here.

The books receiving the Caldecott Honor Medal are:
Journey written and illustrated by Aaron Becker
Flora and the Flamingo illustrated by Molly Idle
Mr. Wuffles! written and illustrated by David Wiesner
(We mentioned a few of these honor books in our discussion of wordless picture books.) 

The winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award for outstanding writing by an African American author is P.S. Be Eleven written by Rita Williams-Garcia.

The winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for illustrations by an African American is Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me illustrated by Bryan Collier.

 

Be sure to stop by and read one or all of these great books in the next few months. And then let us know, what did YOU think of the winners?

 

More Caldecott 2014 Contenders

One of the criteria that the Caldecott Committee will consider in choosing a winner is: Delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or information through the pictures.  In other words, how well do the pictures tell the story.  Since wordless picture books rely on only the pictures to tell the story, they often stand out as potential Caldecott winners.  Here are a few that we think the Caldecott committee might take notice of.



Journey by Aaron Becker
Evoking the adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon, a young girl draws a door on her bedroom wall and escapes into an a world of wonder and imagination. The illustrations are spectacular as the girl travels from one fantastic setting to the next.  Each picture is full of small details that encourage you to linger over the page and even the end papers have detailed drawings of different modes of transportation.  It wouldn't be at all surprising is this book won the medal.

 



Bluebird by Bob Staake
This wordless picture book tackles some tough issues: bullying. loneliness, and the death of a beloved friend.  Staake's use of color is exceptional with the bright blue bird of the title standing out against the gray world. Tthe ending is a bit murky though. The committee might argue that the pictures don't tell the story clearly enough. 

Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner
Not entirely wordless but pretty close so we'll include it. Wiesner is a three-time Caldecott winner. 'nuff said. 

Picture books in the news...

Have you seen this post from Apartment Therapy: 20 most beautiful children's books in the world

My all time favorite: Where the Wild Things Are.  What do you think? How many of these have you read?  Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Caldecott 2014: Early Predictions

The chill of fall is in the air and in library land that means that book award season is not far off.  In the children's department, we love to try to predict the award winners before they are announced. Despite our best efforts we are usually surprised by the winners.  Some books get a lot of buzz leading up to the awards while others are the quiet underdogs of the book world.  Already, there are books showing up on every one's must-read list as potential Caldecott (the award for illustration) winners. Here are a few of our favorite picture books we think the committee might be considering:

The Dark written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen. Klassen won the 2013 award for This is Not My Hat.  Winning again this year would mean he would become the second winner to win two years in a row. The husband and wife team, Leo and Diane Dillon are the only others, winning in 1976 and 1977.

If You Want to See a Whale written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Erin Stead. She won in 2011 so it's a long shot but the illustrations are as fabulous as ever. 

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild written and illustrated by Peter Brown. He won an honor award last year and he ups his game in with this one!

Moonday written and illustrated by Adam Rex.  The illustrations seem to glow and the book evokes that dreamy, half-asleep feeling.  It's just lovely.

Miss Maple's Seeds by Eliza Wheeler.  The delicate illustrations reflect the gentleness of this tale.  And check out the pretty end papers!

We'll be back with more Caldecott contenders to discuss.  But we want to know what you think.  Any predictions? Favorite picture books so far?  Leave us a comment!

Early Predictions for the 2014 Caldecott and Newbery

Check out these very early award rumblings over at Fuse 8.  These make great books for your "to read" list.  New stuff from Peter Brown, Jon Klassen, and David Wiesner!? We can't wait!

Another Staff Fave Discussed at Calling Caldecott

Calling Caldecott discusses Little Dog Lost by the Free Library of Philadelpia's very own Monica Carnesi.  We really enjoyed this book's illustrations.  They are deceptively simple and yet they do a wonderful job of telling the story.  Do you think this book could be this year's big medal winner?  We hope it takes home an honor at the very least!

Calling Caldecott Discusses Green

Green by Lauren Vaccaro Seeger is one of the staff favorites. Come check it out if you haven’t. Don’t you just want to touch the paint? But is it a Caldecott contender? See what the experts at Calling Caldecott think.

Take a look. It's in an app?!

Has anyone tried the Reading Rainbow iPad app yet? The reviews sound promising.  Read more over at the The Atlantic.

Apps for Tots

We're entering summer and that means it's prime vacation time. Sometimes apps can be just what you need to entertain or distract a small child while traveling.  Check out these apps for kids recommended over at Apartment Therapy and these recommended by their readers.

We are always eager to hear about great apps for kids that we can recommend to out patrons. Let us know if you have an app that your youngster loves!

And don't forget, you can download e-book picture books and audio books through the library for free!

30 Poems in 30 Days: April 9

It's National Library Week so today's poem is, of course, about a library.  Follow the link to read My First Memory (of Librarians) by Nikki Giovanni.

Libraries today are very different from the one described in the poem but we are still a place where children come to make connections.  Do you have a library memory of your own?  Please post it in our comments. We'd love to hear it!

And the Winners Are...

This morning, the "real" Caldecott awards were announced along with the Newbery winners and the other 2012 ALSC book and media award winners.

Caldecott Medal

"A Ball for Daisy" illustrated and written by Chris Raschka, published by Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

Caldecott Honor Books

"Blackout" illustrated and written by John Rocco, published by Disney/Hyperion Books, an imprint of Disney Book Group

"Grandpa Green" illustrated and written by Lane Smith, published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing

"Me...Jane" illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell, published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Newbery Medal

"Dead End in Norvelt," written by Jack Gantos, published by Farrar Straus Giroux

Newbery Honor Books

"Inside Out & Back Again" written by Thanhha Lai, published by HarperCollins Children's Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers

"Breaking Stalin's Nose" written by Eugene Yelchin, published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC

You can check out the entire list on ALSC's website.

And I am very proud of the Caldecott Kids who also picked "Blackout" as their Honor Book! We didn't get a chance to look at "A Ball for Daisy" because it was checked out from the library. Everyone did a great job and we had a good discussion!

Coming soon to Broadway...

Tuck Everlasting as a musical? We think it could be awesome.  Here's the early buzz from the New York Times.  Also, Because of Winn-Dixie is slated to become a musical. Read all about it here.

SLJ's Best Picture Books 2011

School Library Journal has put out their list of the Best Books of 2011. You can check out the list here.
We were so happy to see that Deborah Underwood's The Loud Book (the follow up to The Quiet Book)made it on to the list! We would love to hear what would be on your "Best Of" list!  Let us know what you think!

NYT 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books for 2011

The New York Times Book Review has announced its list of the 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2011. The list has been released early and the artwork from the winning books will be shown in the Children’s Book section of the Book Review’s Nov. 13 issue. You can check out the list of winners here.

We particularly enjoyed I Want my Hat Back by Jon Klassen and Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell.  Feel free to share your thoughts on the list with us.

Children's Books According To Children

From The Huffington Post: Children Review Their Favorite Fall Books.

Does your child have a new favorite book? Let us know what it is.  And don't forget to check out the New Book sections at library for our most recent children's books!

Hugo Movie Trailer

Check out the trailer for Hugo, the film version of Brian Selznick's Caldecott winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. How well do you think it captures the images from the book?

And the Winners Are....

Newbery 2011: Moon over Manifest, written by Clare Vanderpool
Caldecott 2011: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Geisel 2011: Bink and Gollie,written by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee
Coretta Scott King Author 2011: One Crazy Summer, written by Rita Williams-Garcia
CSK Illustrator 2011: Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, illustrated by Bryan Collier

A full list of the winners will be available here.

So how did we do as far as predictions?  Well we didn't call the Newbery or the Caldecott Award winners but two of the books we talked about for the Newbery, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman and One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, were named Newbery Honor books! What's your opinion on the winners?

Book Pairings Part 2: More advice for gifting books.

Last December, inspired by the 105 Ways To Give A Book post over at MotherReader in which she pairs books with a corresponding gift, we posted our own list of book/gift pairings. You can check that list out here.

This year we thought we'd do things a little differently and come up with book pairs that go well togther. So here's our list of great book pairs that would make great gifts!

Picture Books:

1. Pair The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood, with Too Loud Lily by Sofie Laguna.
2. For an art theme, pair Art and Max by David Wiesner with Chalk by Bill Thomson.
3. For the child learning the alphabet try giving LMNO Peas by Keith Baker with The Sleepy Little Alphabet by Judy Sierra.
4. Go with garbage! Try pairing Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter with I Stink! by Kate McMullan.
5. For your favorite little dancer pair Brontorina by James Howe with Miss Lina's Ballerinas by Grace Maccarone.
6. For the budding scientist pair Oh No!: Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World by Mac Barnett with The Secret Science Project that Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra.  For extra fun add a science kit like this one.

7. For the kid who really wants a puppy (but isn't getting one) pair City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems with Dogs by Emily Gravett. 

8.  For a bad idea theme try A Pig Parade Is a Terrible Idea by Michael Ian Black paired with Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown.
9. Pair We Are In A Book! by Mo Willems with How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills.
10. Explore the world. Pair Olivia Goes to Venice by Ian Falconer with Knuffel Bunny Free by Mo Willems. Add some swedish fish and a coupon for gelato for the finishing touch!
11. For the competitive kid try pairing Shark vs.Train by Chris Barton with Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea. For a fun extra throw in this Captain Corndog vs. Baron Von Broccoli Action Figure Playset.

Chapter Books
1. For the Star Wars enthusiast try pairing The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda by Tom Angelberger with Lego Star Wars: The visual dictionary by Simon Beecroft.
2. For girls who enjoyed the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series try pairing Doodlebug: My Book in Drawing and Writing by Karen Romano Young with The Populatrity Papers by Amy Ingatow.
3. Kids who like historical fiction might like Coundown by Deborah Wiles. Pair it with One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia for two different looks at the 1960's.
4. Give The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter with Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Mary Rose Wood for a slightly dark, slightly quirky pairing.
5. Give The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan with a Greek Mythology book like this one.
6. Try this easy reader pairing.  Give Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee with Ling and Ting: Not Exaxtly the Same! by Grace Lin


Can you think of any others? Let us know.

This Week @ Storytime

We read...

Tales for 2's and 3's
Theo’s Thanksgiving by David Steinberg
Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes

Fun for 4's and 5's
Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino
A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kaza
A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker

* Also, if you haven't yet filled out our Story Time Survey, please take the time to do so.  You can fill it out online here. Thanks to everyone who has filled one out. We really do appreciate your input!*

2010 National Book Award for Young People's Literature

Kathryn Erskine's Mockingbird has won the 2010 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Could this be an early predictor of a Newbery Award? Check it out at the library and let us know what you think. You can also read an interview with the author here.

Other finalists for this award were One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers, Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, and Dark Water by Laura McNeal.