Each year among the numerous Children’s Book awards are the ones that many of you are probably familiar with: The Newbery, Caldecott Award, Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, Odyssey Award, The Printz Award and The Cybils Awards to name only a few. Obviously there are many others that may slip under the radar of the average reader, but are still of very high importance and may potentially even point you in the direction of some marvelous books you’ve been missing. One worth mentioning is the recently announced Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards.

The Horn Book has long been a source of wonderful children’s literature as not only a print resource, but now an online database of reviews. With their rich knowledge of children’s books from picture to young adult for close to 100 years, they no doubt know what they’re talking about when it comes to books. This year’s award winners were announced yesterday and I’m excited to say I recognize quite a few! I’m especially excited to have a few in my own collection and also anticipate a few trips to the library to search out the others. Take a look below and let me know…have you read any of these award winners or are you also going to be making a trip to your local library or bookstore?

From The Horn Book Site, their description of The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards:

First presented in 1967 and customarily announced in June, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s and young adult literature. Winners are selected in three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction. Two Honor Books may be named in each category. On occasion, a book will receive a special citation for its high quality and overall creative excellence. The winning titles must be published in the United States but they may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country. The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges who are annually appointed by the Editor of the Horn Book.

2011 Winners:
Fiction – Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones (Published by Candlewick Press)

Nonfiction – The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery by Steve Sheinkin (Published by Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press)

Picture Book – Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Salley Mavor (Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Children)

2011 Honor Books:
Fiction -
Chime by Franny Billingsley (Published by Dial Books for Young Readers)
Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke (Published by Kane Miller)

Nonfiction -
Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air by Stewart Ross, illustrated by Stephen Biesty (Published by Candlewick Press)
Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Vicky White (Published by Candlewick Press)

Picture Book -
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Rick Allen (Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Children)
Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Published by Putnam)

Congratulations to the winners!

So, which books will you be picking up next time you’re out?
(Clicking on the links above will take you directly to Goodreads so that you can immediately add them to your to-read piles!)

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.

Today was the big day! Everyone at the American Library Association Midwinter Conference as well as online via Twitter were buzzing about who was going to win which of the numerous awards handed out this morning. With much anticipation we all tweeted and chatted away our thoughts on who won as the winners were announced. It was fantastic! So, definitely a few surprises, but also some very very exciting news out there…especially if you happen to be an almost unheard of first time John Newbery Medal Award winner.

Here are a few of the awards I was most interested in…

The big surprise John Newbery Medal Award winner:
Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

I’ve actually never even heard of this book, but the description sounds fantastic. I’m definitely picking it up soon!

And the John Newbery Medal Honor Awards…
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman and Illustrated by Rick Allen
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Again, more that I haven’t had a chance to read, but am definitely going to pick up in the near future.

There were a couple of other awards I was really interested in…

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award – The award for most distinguished beginning reader book…
Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee and illustrated by Tony Fucile – Winner
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! written and illustrated by Grace Lin – Honor Winner
We Are in a Book! written and illustrated by Mo Willems – Honor Winner

Michael L. Printz Award - The award honoring excellence in Young Adult novels…
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi – Winner
Stolen by Lucy Christopher – Honor Winner
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King – Honor Winner
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick – Honor Winner
Nothing by Janne Teller – Honor Winner

Odyssey Award – The award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults…
This was an award I was really excited about because I recently finished listening to one of the winners and it was incredible. Definitely an award winning reading!
The True Meaning of Smekday written by Adam Rex and narrated by Bahni Turpin – Winner
Alchemy and Meggy Swann written by Karen Cushman and narrated by Katherine Kellgren – Honor Winner
The Knife of Never Letting Go written by Patrick Ness and narrated by Nick Podehl – Honor Winner
Revolution written by Jennifer Donnelly and narrated by Emily Janice Card and Emma Bering – Honor Winner
will grayson, will grayson written by John Green and David Levithan, and narrated by MacLeod Andrews and Nick Podehl – Honor Winner

There were quite a few other awards announced, including the Randolph Caldecott Award and the new Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award which honors young adult books of “exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experience“. Both were awards I was truly eager to see who won and happy with the outcome on both. Though I of course had my own favorites.

This was a great year for awards and for me it was a completely different experience than ever before. I feel like I’m more involved in the book community on a whole. I’m more invested in the books that are out there and more aware of them at the very least. Of course even with my level of reading I’d still heard of so few of the winners. Nonetheless it was an exceptional year for books and one I’m really looking forward to again next year!

For a full list of the award winners be sure to check out the ALA’s Press Release Page for more information!

What do you think? Did you have a favorite award or book that made the cut this year? Any surprises? How about the awards themselves? Do you think they make any difference? Or perhaps they’re just another sticker for a book? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

A couple of my favorite posts on this topic:
What an Exciting Day in the Book World from Book Love
Awards and Why They Matter from My Friend Amy

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©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.

Children’s Book Week comes to a close today and the winner’s of this years Children’s Choice Book Awards have been announced. Among the winners are some the following titles:

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Won for Teen Choice Book of the Year

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

Won for Best Illustrator of the Year

Lulu the Big Little Chick by Paulette Bogan

Won for Kindergarten to 2nd Grade Book of the Year

These were not all of the titles chosen, but I highly recommend checking out the list so you can add a few more fantastic books to your reading list!

In honor of Children’s Book Week we thought we’d put together our own list of “favorites at the moment”. These books are the one’s that each of us could not possibly do without at the moment. They are read on almost a daily basis and are books we recommend to everyone, young and old.

My Very First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle

Sweet Littlebug: “Besides my love of Picture This, this is my absolute favorite. Especially the page with the strawberries on it! I love having my mom’s finger in hand and pointing to each of the strawberries, oranges and plums while she counts how many there are. A great book every day!”

No No Yes Yes by Leslie Patricelli

The Turkeybird Speaks: “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…I know, I shouldn’t like this, it’s supposed to be for little kids, right? Well, that’s just too bad, because it’s hilarious! Especially now that my Littlebug of a sister keeps saying no no to everything, it makes me laugh even harder when I read it with her and my dad. I love this book, an everyday read for sure!”

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt

The Baker Says it All: “I love the humor of the book.  The Turkey Bird and I have a routine each time we read it.  Without ruining the book, there is a part that makes Squirrel rethink his life and make radical changes.  We read that part quickly, and lead up to the discovery and we both have a laugh, it is very funny.  I particularly like the updated time schedule for Squirrel.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone!”

Go to Sleep Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton

The1stdaugher Loves: “This book! So cute! We have a house full of sleep deprived sweeties and parents and Russell is just what we need sometimes. This is a book that will have you laughing your wiggles out  and drifting to sleep in no time. Which is something we cherish around here.”

For the Comments: All of our favorites have been listed. So, now it’s your turn, tell us what’s your current favorite? From any genre or age group, we’d love to hear all about it!

The books above were purchased or given to us for our home library.
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books

Ages: 9-12

Pages: 320

Won The Newbery Award in January 2009.

Publishers Summary: Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family. . . .

“Torn. That’s probably the best way to sum up how I feel about this book. After reading multiple reviews, primarily positive, I felt I had to give it a shot. Also, with the added benefit of being able to add it to my reviews for the ‘A World of Awards’ feature for the Newbery Award, I thought why not? But now I’m not so sure. Let me just say this, if I could leave out the last chapter there wouldn’t be a question, it was great! But there it is, the LAST CHAPTER. It had me balling through every last page and wishing beyond hope that it wasn’t so. I won’t say more about it than that, because I won’t spoil it, but I’m almost wishing there was a next book.

“Sticking with the first seven chapters of the book I’ll give some honest thoughts. In the first chapter Gaiman grabs your attention right away and it’s almost hard to believe a story could begin in such a way, but it’s so original. To even imagine that a small child would survive an attack from someone I initially considered to possibly be Jack the Ripper, crazy. Your heart breaks in almost the very first two or three pages, but quickly is healed by some very incredible moments ahead. I also held my breathe a lot during those first few pages, just hoping that things would go well and they do. Really, they have to or there wouldn’t be much of a story.

“Every person involved in the undertaking of raising a mortal child in the graveyard is unique and has a history that spans not only decades but centuries. There are ghosts, ghouls, werewolves, vampires, witches, plain old every day human beings, and of course The Jacks. My favorite character by far would have to be Silas, Nobody’s guardian and maybe that’s because (as it’s been hinted by Neil himself) he’s a vampire. I love a good vampire character, always have (long before the sparkly versions in today’s books came to be). It’s the mystery and elusiveness that he brings to the scenes. Always just enough, but not too much. But truly all of the characters are wonderful and it’s neat to see how Bod interacts with each of them.

“There is a scene where Silas and Bod are talking about the unconsecrated section of the graveyard, where the ‘bad’ people are buried. At the time Bod is only eight years old, but asks a question about people who commit suicide:
‘Does it work? Are they happier?’
“And Silas responds by saying something so poignant that it affects me even now:
‘Sometimes. Mostly, no. It’s like the people who believe they’ll be happy if they go and live somewhere else, but who learn it doesn’t work that way. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. If you see what I mean.’ p.104
“In these simple sentences something that I have struggled with for some time was worked out and I have an even deeper peace about something I could do nothing to prevent. It seems silly to me that a simple middle grade fiction book could do this for me, but it did.

“This is a story for someone looking for a little mystery, a bit of adventure and even (believe it or not) some romance. There are silly parts and deep parts depending on what you chose to get out of it. What I liked best about it is that I could really see a young boy getting into it. I’m positive that it’s because of The Turkeybird, I’m always on the lookout for books I want him to try out when he’s a bit older and this is definitely one of them. Even with the ending how it is, I look forward to talking with him about the results and how it affects his own life and relationships.

“There are a few slow parts, but for the most part it’s a quick read that will entertain many. I’m still torn about it, but I’m still recommending it. It’s a book that with time will grow on me I’m sure, but for now has me thinking.”

The1stdaughter Recommends: Age 10 and up, especially for boys, but not only.

Question for the comments: Is there a book you’ve felt divided on? Which one and why?

This book was reviewed from a library copy.
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is the 2010 Newbery Award Winner! Yay! I’m so excited for Rebecca and this wonderful book. You can read my review here and learn a little more about why I think this is by far the best choice for the Newbery Award. There were also four Newbery Honor Awards given as well to the following books:

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip M. Hoose, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, and Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

The winners for the Newbery as well as many other awards, including the Caldecott Medal, were awarded early this morning. To see a list of all the other award recipients check out the ALA’s website.

Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.

Yes, I know I tricked you all…tomorrow morning very early (well, early for me anyways 5 am) The American Library Association will be announcing this years Newbery Winner. It’s a very exciting time and you can even watch it live via the internet. I have my favorite, which I’ve already reviewed, but we’ll see if Rebecca Stead can pull it off!

Well, onto today’s topic, Lois Lowry. She is a two time Newbery Award winner. A feat which has only been accomplished by a total of five authors. Lowry originally won the Newbery for her work, Number the Stars in 1990. After receiving the award in 1990 she won it again for her novel The Giver.

Lowry is quoted on her website as saying, ” ‘The most distinguished contribution to American Literature for Children’ is what it says on the medal itself. Imagine how the author feels to have a book described like that! When the Committee called me in 1990 to tell me that Number the Stars had been awarded the medal, they found me at my desk, where I usually am. But in 1994, they couldn’t find me. I was in Antarctica! Eventually they reached me by sending a radiogram. So I was feeling on top of the world, though, technically speaking, I was actually at the bottom.”

Her contribution to children’s literature is astounding and I would go as far as saying she was one of the first authors to begin a venture into dystopian fiction. Although The Giver is not technically a dystopian novel, it has the beginnings of the thought process in so many of today’s popular young adult novels. And may very well be most readers first exposure to the genre.

As for The Giver itself, I highly recommend it. The main story revolves around the life of a young boy, Jonas, and the choice that is made for his life long career. How the decision is made and everything that follows after it changes not only him, but the “perfect” community in which he lives. It shows how one individual can have a lasting impact on an entire group of people just by the choices they make. Inspirational and one I would recommend even to young readers. Although, I will add that there are some very visual images that may be disturbing to someone very young, but well worth it, especially if they have a parent ready to discuss it with them.

The1stdaughter Recommends: Age 11 and up.

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Have a review of The Giver and/or other Lois Lowry titles? I’d love to read them! Link them up here:

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.