The Newbery Medal

Winner
Criss Cross by Lynn Rae Perkins

Honors
Whittington by Alan Armstrong
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson

Caldecott Medal

Winner
The Hello Goodbye Window illustrated by Chris Raschka and written by Norton Juster
(I *knew* it! I *love* this book and have had an argument or two with colleagues about it's gloriousness. I feel happy and somewhat vindicated! If I had a webcam, you'd all get to see me doing a somewhat mortifying Happy Dance. Woo-hoo!)

Honors
Rosa illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Nikki Giovanni
Zen Shorts written and illistrated by Jon J. Muth
Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride written and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems illustrated by Beckie Prange and written by Joyce Sidman

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

Winner
Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas by Cynthia Rylant

Honors
Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold
A Splendid Friend, Indeed by Suzanne Bloom
Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa by Erica Silverman
Amanda Pig and the Really Hot Day by Jean Van Leeuwen

Andrew Carnegie Medal

Winner
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (Weston Wood Studios)

Pura Belpre Author Awards

Winner
The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales

Honors
Cesar: Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can! illustrated by David Diaz, written by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
Dona Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart illustrated by Raul Colon, written by Pat Mora
Becoming Naomi Leon by Pat Munoz Ryan

Pura Belpre Illustrator Award

Winner
Dona Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart illustrated by Raul Colon, written by Pat Mora

Honors
Arrorro, Mi Nino: Latino Lullabies and Gentle Games selected and illustrated by Lulu Delacre
Cesar: Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can! illustrated by David Diaz, written by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
My Name Is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/ Me llamo Celia: La vida de Celia Cruz illustrated by Rafael Lopez, written by Monica Brown

Siebert Informational Book Medal

Winner
Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Secrets of the H.L. Hunley by Sally M. Walker

Honor
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Batchelder Award

Winner
An Innocent Soldier by Josef Holub

Honor books
Nicholas by Rene Goscinnyand Jean-Jacques Sempe
When I Was a Soldier by Valerie Zenatti

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture

The 2007 lecture will be delivered by...
Kevin Henkes

Coretta Scott King Author Award

Winner
Day of Tears by Julius Lester (YAY!!! Hopefully this is the first of several awards for this powerful book!)

Honor Books
Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl by Tonya Bolden
Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes
A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

Winner
Rosa illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Nikki Giovanni

Honor
Brothers in Hope: the Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan illustrated by R. Gregory Christie and written by Mary Williams

Coretta Scott King New Talent Award

Winner
Jimi and Me by Jaime Adoff

Michael L. Printz Award

Winner
Looking for Alaska by John Green

Honor books
Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
John Lennon: All I Want is the Truth by Elizabeth Partridge
A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson

Margaret A. Edwards award

The winner is...
Jacqueline Woodson

(woo-hoo! I *love* her books!)

Schneider Award

Best Children's Book
Dad, Jackie, and Me written by Myron Uhlberg and illustrated by Colin Bootman

Best Middle School Book
Tending to Grace by Kimberly Newton Fusco

Best Teen Book
Under the Wolf, Under the Dog by Adam Rapp

I'll announce as they do. The first award was the Alex Awards

And the winners are...

• Midnight at Dragon Cafe by Judy Fong Bates
• Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon
• Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
• As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Gil's All-Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
• The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick
• My Jim by Nancy Rawles
• Jesus Land: a Memoir by Julia Scheeres
• The Glass Castle: a Memoir by Jeanette Walls

I'm in!

Woo-hoo! *Just* got into the webcast. I'll post winners as soon as I can, adding links later...

Just to refresh the memory...

Awards to be announced January 23 are:

• Alex Awards for the best adult books that appeal to teen audience
• Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's video
• Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children
• Coretta Scott King Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to "the true worth and value of all beings"
• Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults
• 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
• Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults
• Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States
• Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature
• Pura Belpré Award honoring a Latino writer and illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience
• Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children
• Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
• Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the outstanding book for beginning reader

arrgh!

As y'all know, I get really geeked out over the announcement of the winners of the children's book awards from ALA each year. This year, ALA promised a webcast of the press conference. I got up extra early, on the train almost an hour earlier than usual and now... can't get into the site! ARRRGH!

Deep breath.

Maybe it just isn't ready quite yet? After all, there are 15 minutes to go...

Grr.

I'll say it again: Librarians ROCK!

U.S. News & World Report has named "librarian" as one of the best jobs to have in 2006, according to Yahoo. The magazine says:

This is an underrated career. Most librarians enjoy helping patrons dig up information. They learn in the process and keep up to date on the latest books and online resources. The need for librarians, unfortunately, may decline because search engines make it easy for patrons to find information without a librarian's help. The job growth for librarians will be in nontraditional settings: corporations, nonprofit organizations, and consulting firms.

I completely disagree that the need for librarians will decline, although I do see the profession embracing more "nontraditional" settings and resources. It's interesting that the article (or the portion reprinted here, anyway) doesn't talk about salary or working conditions, since many public librarians are not paid as much as other professionals with Masters degrees. Still, good to have our profession recognized as a worthy one in a national publication!

See the whole list here.

Update on audible.com's "Don't Read" campaign

According to Library Journal, ALA doesn't love Audible.com's new ad campaign, either:

Last week, ALA executive director Keith Fiels announced on the mailing list, "We are in the process of sending them a polite but firm cease and desist letter. This use clearly violates our trademark and is not consistent with our message as an Association, which is to promote reading."

Read the whole article.

Lots of new Alien Bunnies!

Well, I don't know if the bunnies are alien, but I realized today that it's been a while since I visited Angry Alien Productions, home of the brilliant 30-Second Bunnies Theatre. Sure enough, there are lots of new films there. You can even get some cool bunny swag. Definitely worth a look.

In Memoriam

Lou Rawls, singer extraordinaire, has died at the age of 72. (Or 70. There seems to be some confusion about this.)

You can read the Yahoo! story here.

Their Eyes Were Reading Smut

Nick Chiles has an interesting op-ed piece (with a great title) in today's New York Times:

"LAST month I happened to go into the Borders Books store at the Stonecrest mall in Lithonia, Ga., about a half-hour from my house here. To my surprise, it had one of the largest collections of books by black authors that I've ever seen outside an independent black bookstore, rows and rows of bookcases. This is the sort of discovery that makes the pulse quicken, evidence of a population I've spent most of my professional life seeking: African-American readers. What a thrill to have so much space in a major chain store devoted to this country's black writers.

"With an extra spring in my step, I walked into the 'African-American Literature' section - and what I saw there thoroughly embarrassed and disgusted me..."

Read the whole column here.

I've never really been able to warm up to Elmo...

... and now I know why.

In a new book, he asks toddlers, "Who wants to die?"

Of course, it is a potty-training book. Elmo probably got just sick of asking the kid over and over if she needed to potty, so he decided to mix it up a little.

But still...

Read the whole story here.

Whitbread Category Winners Announced

The 2005 Whitbread Award Category Winners have been announced.

Kate Thompson received the Whitbread Children’s Book Award for her book The New Policeman.

The Whitbread Novel Award went to Ali Smith for The Accidental.

Matisse the Master by Hilary Spurling won the Whitbread Biography Award.

The Whitbread First Novel Award went to Tash Aw for The Harmony Silk Factory.

The Whitbread Poetry Award was won by Cold Calls by Christopher Logue.

These five winning books are the finalists for the 2005 Whitbread Book of the Year Award, which wil be announced 24 January 2006.

More info on the Whitbread Book Awards site.

Start writing letters...

...so you can use the gorgeous new "Favorite Children's Book Animals" stamps! Characters from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Charlotte's Web, Fox in Socks, Maisy, Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George, Olivia, and Frederick will all adorn postage stamps beginning January 9.

You can pre-order them here.

(Thanks, Amy, for the scoop!)

Top Ten of 2005

LISnews.org has posted their "Ten Stories that Shaped 2005," covering "Google, a good looking librarian, a curmudgeonly president, Wikis, Rootkits and more."

Read the whole article here.