And The Winners Are.... : The American Library Association Children's Book Awards for 2017 Are Announced

The American Library Association leads off book awards for the year with their Youth Media Awards each January, honoring the best of children's literature.

Taking the Newbery, awarded since 1922 for the best in children's fiction and nonfiction, was Kelly Barnhart for her fantasy novel, The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Algonquin Books, 2016).

Newbery Honor winners were Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams, Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan Adam Godwitz' The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, (Dutton, 2016), and Lauren Wolk's Wolf Hollow (Dutton, 2016).

The Caldecott Award for the best illustrator of books for young people went to Javaka Steptoe's Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Little, Brown). Caldecott Honor Medals were given to Vera Brosgol for her Leave Me Alone! Freedom in Congo Square, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, Carson Ellis' Du Iz Tak? and Brendan Wenzel's They All Saw a Cat.

The sweeps-the-awards honor goes to March: Book Three, written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, which won four awards: the Coretta Scott King (author) Book Award, the Michael L. Printz Award for young adult literature, the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, and the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults.

Read all about ALA's books and media awards here.

(Drumroll) The Envelope, Please! The 2015 American Library Association's Awards for Children's and Young Adult Literature

There's snow in Chicago, and that means it is time for the premier children's and young adults awards, especially the venerable John Newbery Medal, given for the best work of literature to the author, and the Randolph Caldecott Medal
for the best-illustrated book, both announced at the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting, February 2.

And the winners are...

The Newbery Award goes to Kwame Alexander for his novel The Crossover (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014). In my review of March 19, 2014, I said "Watch for this one to take some honors in the awards for books debuting this year, because it's definitely got game--on-court suspense, real-life characters, and a moving narrative that confronts life changes with all the right moves. Slam-dunk!" Yeah!

Newbery Honor Medals went to El Deafo (Amulet/Abrams, 2014) by Cece Bell, and Brown Girl Dreaming (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014) by Jacqueline Woodson, which also was the winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. (See review here.)

The Caldecott Medal for illustrations goes to Dan Santat for his The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (Little, Brown and Company, 2014), reviewed here.

Caldecott Honors wen to The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandisky's Abstract Art, (Alfred A Knopf, 2014), illustrated by Mary Grandpre'; Nana in the City (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Clarion, 2014); Sam and Dave Dig a Hole (Candlewick Press, 2014),illustrated by John Klassen; Viva, Frida (Roaring Brook Press, 2014) illustrated by Yuyi Morales; The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus (Eerdman Boks, 2014, illustrated by Melissa Sweet; and This One Summer (First Second, 2014), illustrated by Jillian Tamaki.

The Coretta Scott King Author Awards went to Kwame Alexander for The Crossover (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014); Marilyn Nelson for How I Discovered Poetry (Dial Books, 2014): and Kekla Magoon for How It Went Down (HenryHolt, 2014).

The Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards went to Christopher Myers for Firebird (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2014), Christian Robinson for Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker, (Chronicle Books, 2014), and Frank Morrison, illustrator of Little Melba and Her Big Trombone (Lee and Low, 2014).

The King-Steptoe New Talent Author Award went to Jason Reynolds' When I Was The Greatest (Atheneum Books, 2014)

The Coretta Scott King/Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award was given to librarian and literacy advocate Deborah D. Taylor.

The Michael L. Printz Award for Literature for Young Adults was given to Jandy Nelson for I'll Give You the Sun, (Dial Books, 2014).  Honor awards went also to Jossie Ann Foley, The Carnival at Bray, Jenny Hubbard for And We Stay; Andrew Smith, for Grasshopper Jungle, and This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki.

The Schneider Family Book Award for books about disabilities went to A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz (Houghton Mifflin, 2014) and Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin, published by Feiwel and Friends, 2014). (See reviews here and here.

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for Beginning Reader Books was given to You Are Not Small, by Anna King (Two Lions Press, 2012), and honor medals went to Mr. Putter and Tabby Turn the Page (Houghton Mifflin  (Harcourt, 2014), and Waiting Is Not Easy!  (Hyperion Books, 2014). (See reviews here and here.

The YALSA Award for Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction went to Popular Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Greek, (Dutton Books, 2014) by Maya Van Wagenen.  Honor books include Shane Burcaw's Laughing at My Nightmare (Roaring Brook, 2014), Candace Fleming's The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, & the Fall of Imperial Russia and Ida Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business--and Won (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2014) by Emily Arnold McCully, (see my review here).

The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video was awarded to Weston Woods Studios, Paul Gagne, and Melissa R. Elard, for their film of the Caldecott Honor Book Me . . . Jane (See review of the book here.)

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to author-illustrator Donald Crews, and the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement in the area of young adult literature want to author Sharon Draper.

A complete listing of book and media awards presented today by the American Library Association may be found here.

The Envelope, Please! 2013 Newbery and Caldecott Awards

The American Library Association is announcing their prestigious Youth Media Awards, including their most-famous medals for youth fiction and picture books, today. This year's Caldecott Award, given to the best-illustrated book, is the seventy-fifth annual such award. I'll be live-blogging the winners as they are made public.

The winning titles were announced and livestreamed beginning at 8:00 a.m. PST (11:00 a.m. EST).

And here they are!

The 2013 Caldecott Medal goes to Jon Klassen for his This Is Not My Hat.(See my recent review here:)

Caldecott Honor Awards go to illustrator Aaron Reynolds for his Creepy Carrots!, Jon Klassen for his work on Extra Yarn, Laura Vaccaro Seeger for her Green, (see review here:)  David Smalls for his pictures for One Cool Friend, (review here) and Pamela Zagarenki for her illustrations in Sleep Like a Tiger.

The prestigious Newbery Medal goes to Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan.

Newbery Honor Awards go to Laura Amy Schlitz for Splendors and Glooms, Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin, and Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal for the best beginning reader's book was awarded to Ethan Long's Up, Tall and High.

Geisel Honor Awards  were given to Mo Willem's Let's Go for a Drive! (An Elephant and Piggie Book), (see review here) Eric Litwin's Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, (my review here) and Cece Ball's Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Katherine Paterson, perhaps best known for her Bridge to Terabithia.

The Andrew Carnegie Medal for the most outstanding children's video goes to Video Productions' film, Anna. Emma and the Condors.

The Michael Printz Award for young adult fiction goes to Nick Lake's In Darkness.

The Pura Belpre' Awards for Latino children's literature go to illustrator David Diaz for Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert, (review here) and author Benjamin Sienz for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (also the winner of the 2013 Stonewall Award.)

Taking the Siebert Award for the best informational book for children was Steve Sheinkin's Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon. The Batchelder Medal for the best foreign book for children translated to English went to My Family for the War by Anne Voorhoeve.

Receiving the Coretta Scott King Medals were Brian Collier for  his illustrations for Langston Hughes' I, Too, Am America.   and author Andrea Davis Pinkney for her Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America: Coretta Scott King Honor Awards went to illustrators Kadir Nelson for I Have a Dream (Book and CD),  Daniel Minter for Ellen's Broom, and Chris Myers' H.O.R.S.E.: A Game of Basketball and Imagination. King Fiction Honor Medals went to Vaunda Nelson's No Crystal Stair (Carolrhoda Ya) and to novelist Jacqueline Woodson's Each Kindness.

The 2013 Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Medal was presented to Demetria Tucker.

The YALSA Medal  was awarded to Andrea Davis Pinkney for her Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America.  Andrea Pinkney was also  named  to present  the  2013 Arbuthnot Lecture. YALSA's nonfiction honors went to Steve Sheinkin's Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon. making Sheinkin the informal 2013 triple crown winner

The Odyssey Award went to the audio book version of John Green's novel, The Fault in Our Stars produced by Brilliance Audio.

The Margaret A Edwards Medal for lifetime contributions of young adult literature was given to Tamora Pierce, and the William C. Morris new author award went to Rachel Hartman for her first novel, Seraphina.

The 2013 Alex Awards, given to ten adult books with special appeal to young adult readers, includes the National Book Award Youth Fiction winner, Louise Erdrich's The Round House. The complete list may be found here.