Book Kitten
Caldecott Medal
WinnerThe 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!)
HonorsRosa illustrated by
Bryan Collier and written by
Nikki GiovanniZen Shorts written and illistrated by
Jon J. MuthHot 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
Margaret A. Edwards award
The winner is...Jacqueline Woodson
(woo-hoo! I *love* her books!)
I'll announce as they do. The first award was the Alex Awards
And the winners are...
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.
