Saturday, January 30, 2016

2016 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

2016 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
Honoring 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.


Winner:
Jerry Pinkney


The 2016 winner is Jerry Pinkney, whose award-winning works include "The Lion and the Mouse," recipient of the Caldecott Award in 2010.  In addition, Pinkney has received five Caldecott Honor Awards, five Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards, and four Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors.

Read his full bio here.










Friday, January 29, 2016

2016 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

2016 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
For the most distinguished beginning reader book.


Children's Book Winner:
by David A. Adler



Mo Jackson is a little boy with a big passion for sports.  He may not be the biggest, the strongest, or the fastest player, but he won't let that stop him from playing!

Mo is the youngest kid on the Robins, his football team.  His classmates don't mind, but the kids on their rival team tease him for being a "butterfingers" who's too tiny to catch the ball.  But Mo's coach has a plan to turn Mo's little size into a big win for the Robins!




2016 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor Books:

A Pig, a Fox, and a Box
Jonathan Fenske


Supertruck
by Stephen Savage


Waiting
by Kevin Henkes








What did you think about "Funny Bones"?  Did you enjoy it?  What did you like about it?  Do you think one of the other books should have won?


Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!









Thursday, January 28, 2016

2016 Stonewall Book Award

2016 Stonewall Book Award
Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's and Young Adult Literature Award given annually to an English-language children's and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.


Children's Book Winner:
by Alex Gino


BE WHO YOU ARE.

When people look at George, they think they see a boy.  But she knows she's not a boy.  She knows she's a girl.

George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever.  Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web.  George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte.  But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part...because she's a boy.

With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan.  Not just so she can be Charlotte - but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.



Young Adult Winner:
by Bill Konigsberg





2016 Stonewall Book Award Honor Books:

by Christopher Barzak

by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth







What did you think about "Funny Bones"?  Did you enjoy it?  What did you like about it?  Do you think one of the other books should have won?


Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!








Wednesday, January 27, 2016

November-December Program Photos

Check out these pictures from some of our fun programs in December!  Click on the program name to see even more photos.


Gingerbread Houses


Cup Building


Explore the Globe: Japan




Stay tuned for more program pictures!  Subscribe to the blog by email (top right) so you never miss a post!

Find out more about the Children's Department programs here or by checking out our Program Calendars here.


*Please notify us immediately if there is a photograph of your child that you do not want posted online.  We will remove it.








2016 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award

2016 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award
For the most distinguished informational book for children.

Winner:
by Duncan Tonatiuh


Funny Bones tells the story of how the amusing calaveras - skeletons performing various everyday or festive activities - came to be.  They are the creation of Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe (Lupe) Posada (1852-1913). In a country that was not known for freedom of speech, he first drew political cartoons, much to the amusement of the local population but not the politicians.  He continued to draw cartoons throughout much of his life, but he is best known today for his calavera drawings.  They have become synonymous with Mexico's Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival.  Juxtaposing his own art with that of Lupe's, author Duncan Tonatiuh brings to light the remarkable life and work of a man whose art is beloved by many but whose name has remained in obscurity.



2016 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Honor Books:

by Don Brown

by Phillip Hoose


Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
by Lynda Blackmon Lowery


Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
by Carole Boston Weatherford







What did you think about "Funny Bones"?  Did you enjoy it?  What did you like about it?  Do you think one of the other books should have won?

Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!







Tuesday, January 26, 2016

2016 Pura Belpre (Author) Award

2016 Pura Belpre (Author) Award
Honoring a Latino author whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.


Winner:
by Margarita Engle


In this poetic memoir, author Margarita Engle tells of growing up as a child of two cultures during the Cold War.

Margarita is a girl from two worlds.  Her heart lies in Cuba, her mother's tropical island country, a place so lush with vibrant life that it seems like a fairy tale kingdom.  But more of the time she lives in Los Angeles, lonely in the noisy city and dreaming of the summers when she can take a plane through the enchanted air to her beloved island.  Words and images are her constant companions, friendly and comforting when the children at school are not.

Then a revolution breaks out in Cuba.  Margarita fears for her far-away family.  When the hostility between Cuba and the United States erupts at the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Margarita's worlds collide in the worst way possible.  How can the two countries she loves hate each other so much?  And will she ever get to visit her beautiful island again?



2016 Pura Belpre (Author) Award Honor Books:

The Smoking Mirror
by David Bowles
by Meg Medina





What did you think about "Enchanted Air"?  Did you enjoy it?  What did you like about it?  Do you think one of the other books should have won?


Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!






Friday, January 22, 2016

2016 Pura Belpre (Illustrator) Award

2016 Pura Belpre (Illustrator) Award
Honoring a Latino illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.


Winner:
illustrated by Rafael Lopez
written by Margarita Engle


Girls cannot be drummers.  Long ago on an island filled with music, no one questioned that rule - until the drum dream girl.  In her city of drumbeats, she dreamed of pounding tall congas and tapping small bongos.  She had to keep quiet.  She had to practice in secret.  But when at last her dream-bright music was heard, everyone sang and danced and decided that both girls and boys should be free to drum and dream.

Inspired by the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba's traditional taboo against female drummers, Drum Dream Girl tells an inspiring true story for dreamers everywhere.



2016 Pura Belpre (Illustrator) Award Honor Books:

illustrated by Antonio Castro L.
written by Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford

illustrated by Angela Dominguez
written by Meg Medina

illustrated and written by Duncan Tonatiuh





What did you think about "Drum Dream Girl"?  Did you enjoy it?  What did you like about it?  Do you think one of the other books should have won?

Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!







Thursday, January 21, 2016

2016 Odessey Award

2016 Odyssey Award
For best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults.


Winner:

by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
narrated by Jayne Entwistle


Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment.  Her mother is too humiliated by Ada's twisted foot to let her outside.  So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn't waste a minute - she sneaks out to join him.

So begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in.  As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she beings to trust Susan - and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie.  But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime?  Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?


2016 Odyssey Award Honor Recording:

by Pam Munoz Ryan
narrated by Mark Bramhall, David de Vries, MacLeod Andrews and Rebecca Soler




What did you think about "The War That Saved My Life"?  Did you enjoy it?  What did you like about it?  Do you think one of the other books should have won?


Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!






Wednesday, January 20, 2016

2016 Mildred L. Batchelder Award

2016 Mildred L. Batchelder Award
For an outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States.


Winner:
by Beatrice Alemagna
originally published in French, translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick



Eddie is five and a half, and she is the only one in her family who isn't really good at something.  So when she hears her little sister say "birthday-Mommy-fluffy-little-squishy," it's extra important for her to find this amazing present before anyone else does.  So, gregarious, charming, clever little Eddie goes all around the neighborhood to all her fabulous friends - the florist, the chic boutique owner, the antiques dealer, and even the intimidating butcher - to find one.  It's a magical adventure that draws on Eddie's special gifts, ones that she herself learns to appreciate.


2016 Mildred L. Batchelder Award Honor Books:
by Aharon Appelfeld
originally published in Hebrew
by Fang Suzhen
originally published in Chinese
by Liniers
originally published in Spanish





What did you think about "The Wonderful Fluffy Little Squishy"?  Did you enjoy it?  What did you like about it?  Do you think one of the other books should have won?


Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!







Tuesday, January 19, 2016

2016 Schneider Family Book Award (Ages 11-13)

2016 Schneider Family Book Award (Ages 11-13)
For books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.

Winners:

by Lynda Mullaly Hunt


The author of the beloved One for the Murphys gives readers and emotionally-charged, uplifting novel that will speak to anyone who's ever thought there was something wrong with them because they didn't fit in.

"Everybody is smart in different ways.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid."

Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people.  Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions.  She is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb?  However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker.  With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of.  As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities.  She discovers that there's a lot more to her - and to everyone - than a label, and that great minds don't always think alike.


The War That Saved My Life
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley



An exceptionally moving story of triumph against all odds set during World War 2, from the acclaimed author of Jefferson's Sons and for fans of Number the Stars.

Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment.  Her mother is too humiliated by Ada's twisted foot to let her outside.  So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn't waste a minute - she sneaks out to join him.

So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in.  As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan - and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamies.  But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime?  Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?









What did you think about "Fish in a Tree" and "The War That Saved My Life"?  Did you enjoy them?  What did you like about them?  Do you think one of the other books should have won?

Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!