Monday, January 10, 2011

And the Winners Are...


The American Library Association (ALA) announced the winner and honor books in many categories this morning. Here are some of this year's Rock Stars!

The 2011 John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature went to

Moon Over Manifest
Moon Over Manifest
by Clare Vanderpool
Publisher:  Delcourte Press
Ages: 9-12
(description from Amazon.com) Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.

Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”
Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.

Honor Awards went to:

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
Dark Emperor and Other Night Poems by Joyce Sidman  (I reviewed this one! Yay me!)
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

The 2011 Randolph Caldecott Award for the most distinguished American picture book for children went to


A Sick Day for Amos McGee
by Philip Christian Stead (illus. Erin Stead)
Publisher:  Roaring Brook Press
Ages:4-8
(description from Amazon.com) Friends come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. In Amos McGee’s case, all sorts of species, too! Every day he spends a little bit of time with each of his friends at the zoo, running races with the tortoise, keeping the shy penguin company, and even reading bedtime stories to the owl. But when Amos is too sick to make it to the zoo, his animal friends decide it’s time they returned the favor.

Honor Awards went to:

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill (illus. Bryan Collier)

The 2011 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book went to

by Kate DiCamillo & Alision McGhee (illus. Tony Fucile)
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Ages: 4-8
(description for Amazon.com) Meet Bink and Gollie, two precocious little girls — one tiny, one tall, and both utterly irrepressible. Setting out from their super-deluxe tree house and powered by plenty of peanut butter (for Bink) and pancakes (for Gollie), they share three comical adventures involving painfully bright socks, an impromptu trek to the Andes, and a most unlikely marvelous companion. No matter where their roller skates take them, at the end of the day they will always be the very best of friends.

Honor Awards went to:


The full list of winners is available here.  Congratulations to all the winners!  2010 was a great year for children's and young adult literature.  Can't wait to see what 2011 brings us!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing, post like these keep our classroom full of GREAT books!

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  2. I purchased Moon over Manifest before the Newbery was announced (yay!) and the student that read it LOVED it. I am so looking forward to diving it. I was excited about the other winners as well. Thanks for sharing :)

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