The 2010 Literary awards have recently been announced by the American Library Association. You can check out many of this year’s winners here in the library, and we look forward to acquiring more of them in the coming months.
Possibly the most well recognized literary award given in children’s literature each year is the Randolph Caldecott Medal. This award is given annually by the Association for Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
The Lion and the Mouse, re-told and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney is this year’s Caldecott Award recipient. This book is a “stunningly rendered wordless adaptation of one of Aesop’s most beloved fables.” I have already shared this book with several grades, and students have enjoyed following the story just by looking at the pictures, pointing out many tiny details as we read.
Another wonderful addition to our collection is All the World, a 2010 Caldecott Honor recipient, by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee. “Charming illustrations and lyrical rhyming couplets speak volumes in celebration of the world and humankind combing to create a lovely book that will be appreciated by a wide audience…Perfection.” – School Library Journal
A second Caldecott Honor recipient for 2010 is Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman. “In a mansion by the sea, a lonely boy finds a mysterious key under a chair. Curious to discover what it opens, he tries each lock until finally he succeeds in opening a large trunk with a ladder inside.” Using a wordless format “Lehman stirs the imagination of those who have ever looked for something to do on a gloomy day.” – Amazon.com
The Newbery Medal, also given by ALA’s ALSC division, is awarded annually as well, and is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
The Newbery Medal for 2010 went to Rebecca Stead, for her novel When You Reach Me. “Shortly after sixth-grader Miranda and her best friend Sal part ways, for some inexplicable reason her once familiar world turns up side down. Maybe it’s because she was caught up in reading A Wrinkle in Time and trying to understand time travel, or perhaps it’s because she’s been receiving mysterious notes which accurately predict the future. Rebecca Stead’s poignant novel, When You Reach Me, captures the interior monologue and observations of kids who are starting to recognize and negotiate the complexities of friendship and family, class and identity. Set in New York City in 1979, the story takes it’s cue from beloved Manhattan tales for middle graders like E.L. Konigsberg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy and Norma Klein’s Mom the Wolfman and Me. Like those earlier novels, When You Reach Me will stir the imaginations of young readers curious about day-to-day life in a big city.” -Lauren Nemroff at Amazon.com
The Pura Belpre Award is presented by ALA’s ALSC division each year to a Latino/Latina writer and illustator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. This year, this award went to Julia Alvarez for her book Return to Sender, a novel that “explores the thin line that separates American citizens and undocumented person. This outstanding novel about the solidarity between two children of different cultures will resonate in the hearts of readers of any age.” - ALA website
This year’s Coretta Scott King award went to Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshall by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.
“Designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue to work for peace, the Coretta Scott King Book awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. Further, the award encourages the artistic expression of the black experience via literature and the graphic arts in biographical, social, and historical treatments by African American authors and illustrators.” – ALA website
“Tales of the Wild West don’t get any better than the life and times of Bass Reeves, the first African-American deputy U.S. Marshal and the most successful in American history. Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustration R. Gregory Christie–both Coretta Scott King award honorees–bring this fascinating historical figure to life in Bad News for Outlaws, their superb book for middle grade readers. Kids will love the colorful language of the Old West, and the bold and dynamically rendered scenes of the heroic Reeves capturing the bad guys. And, they’ll learn how the lawman–who was both greatly respected and feared–used his wits and intelligence, courage and character–and yes, incredible marksmanship–to bring more than 3,000 criminals to justice with fewer than 14 deaths in the line of duty. Put this knockout nonfiction book into the hands of readers age 9-12. Bass Reeves is a name they won’t soon forget.” –Lauren Nemroff at Amazon.com
These are just a few of the recent award winners, we hope to bring more to our library soon. If you are curious about other titles that earned recent honors you can check out ALA’s recent press release!
