Susan's last minute Caldecott, Newbery and Geisel predictions for 2010

Look, it's a new post!

I've been predicting the Caldecott and Newbery Medal books for a while (okay, 2 years) and think I should give this year a shot before we all find out the answers in a few hours. I'm going to try to get these in just under the wire. The press conference is very, very early tomorrow and I have to wake up in a few hours. Did I mention it was early?

There's only one winner I'm going to guess outright... that the Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney will win the Caldecott Medal.


If it doesn't win... there will be gasps if it shows up as an honor and dead silence if a different book wins the medal. Pinkney has won five Caldecott honors and zero Caldecott Medals. But I don't think he should win just because of that (and actually the committee is specifically not allowed to take that into account.) I really think he illustrated the best book of the year, and that's why I hopes he wins.

Caldecott honors: Hard to predict. No clear favorites this year but a lot of possibilities. Here's a couple that may or may not show up on the list:

• Otis by Loren Long
• Alphabeasties by Sharon Werner (check this one out, it's very cool)
• All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee
• Moonshot by Brian Floca (I'm not sure where this one will end up. Caldecott? Newbery? Sibert?)
• Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Jon Muth (this one will never end up on any of the lists, but it's my long shot favorite and well worth checking out)

Newbery Medal: I think this one is a lot harder. There are several very strong books, any of which could win. I'm not sure which one will get the medal and which ones will get the honors. But I wouldn't be surprised to see any of these books turn up on the Newbery list:

• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (I would love to see this book win).
• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (could end up anywhere- either the medal or an honor)
• Crossing Stones by Helen Frost (also a possibility for the Printz).
• Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Phillip Hoose (this one may end up winning the whole shooting match: the Newbery, the Sibert, the new YA non fiction award, etc. Or it will end up on a multitude of honor lists.)

I think the Geisel might surprise us.

• Mo Willems could win for the third year in a row, but I don't think so. (Although you never know). I predict an honor for him.
• Duck, Rabbit by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (a book that's gotten a lot of Caldecott buzz, but I think is more likely to win the Geisel or an honor.
• Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas (might be a surprise winner).

The Siebert is impossible to guess this year. It was a very good year for non-fiction. Here's some titles that may show up:

• Moonshot by Brian Floca
• Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Phillip Hoose
• Written in Bone by Sally Walker
• Mission Control- This is Apollo by Andrew Chaikin (it would be very interesting if this book appeared on the Caldecott list).
• The Frog Scientist by Pamela Turner
• Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge (could up end on the Newbery list too).

For a complete list of all the awards (and their criteria) and how to follow the press conference live, see this post.

To see my previous prediction posts, try my last minute picks and my earlier choices for 2009. I also predicted Trouble by Gary Schmidt early on, but alas. Here are my predictions from 2008 and my scorecard.

Congratulations to all the lucky people who recieve those 6 am life changing phone calls. Hopefully, the winners don't live in California... like Brian Selznick and Neil Gaiman, they'll get their phone calls at 3 am.

I can't wait to see what happens in a few hours.

Hey, look! What's that over there on the sidebar? A bird? A plane? Nope. A new poll! Actually two new polls... which ALA award winners are you the happiest about and which ones shocked your shorts off.

Update: How did I do? The ALSC award announcements are here, and the YALSA announcements are here.

Got an opinion? I'd love to hear it.

2009 Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz winners and honor books

Here are the American Library Association's 2009 youth media awards winners. The official press release is available on ALA's website.

I'm having trouble getting onto the website at the moment because of the heavy traffic, but I was at the press conference in Denver this morning and was handed a press release after the announcement. I have to catch a plane, so forgive me for not including authors and publishers. All of that information is on ALA's website.

Caldecott Medal: House in the Night
Caldecott Honors: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, How I Learned Geography, and River of Words: the Story of William Carlos Williams.

Newbery Medal: The Graveyard Book
Newbery Honors: The Underneath, The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba, Savvy, and After Tupac & D Foster

Printz Award: Jellicoe Road
Printz Honors: Octavian Nothing Volume 2, Nation, Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and Tender Morsels.

Geisel Award: Are You Ready to Play Outside?
Geisel Honors: Chicken said Cluck, One Boy, Stinky, Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator.

Coretta Scott King Author Award: We are the Ship
Coretta Scott King Author Honors: The Blacker the Berry, Keeping the Night Watch, and Becoming Billie Holiday

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award: The Blacker the Berry
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors: We Are the Ship, Before John was a Jazz Giant and the Moon over Star

Coretta Scott King /John Steptoe New Talent Award: Bird by Zetta Elliott

Schneider Family Book Award for young children: Piano Starts Here: the Young Art Tatum
Schneider Family Book Award for middle grades: Waiting for Normal
Schneider Family Book Award for teens: Jerk, California

Sibert Medal: We Are the Ship
Sibert Honors: Bodies from Ice and What to Do About Alice?

Carnegie Medal: March On! The Day by Brother Martin Changed the World

Batchelder Award: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
Batchelder Honors: Garmann's Summer and Tiger Moon

Margeret A. Edwards Recipient (lifetime achievement for Young Adults): Laurie Halse Anderson

Pura Belpre Illustrator Award: Just in Case by Yuyi Morales
Pura Belpre Illustrator honors: Papa and Me, The Storyteller' s Candle and What Can You Do With a Rebozo?
Pura Belpre Author Award: The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom
Pura Belpre Author Honors: Just in Case, Reaching Out, and the Storyteller' s Candle

Odyssey Award: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Odyssey Honors: Curse of the Blue Tattoo, Elijah of Buxton, I'm Dirty!, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach and Nation.

Arbuthnot Honor Lecture: Kathleen T. Horning

Wilder Award: Ashley Bryan

William C. Morris debut award: A Curse Dark as Gold

What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them. Leave a comment below or vote in the poll on the sidebar.

What's Missing from the Cybils: Early Readers

Have you nominated a book for the Cybils? Hurry up, there's only a few days left. Nominations close on October 15, 2008. Anybody can nominate one book per category.

I've compiled a list of books in the early reader category that are eligible, but haven't been nominated yet. To the best of my knowledge, all the books I've mentioned below are designed for beginning readers, are 64 pages or less and have a publication date between January 1, 2008- October 15, 2008.

There are three exceptions that don't meet the 64 page limit, and if these books aren't eligible for the Cybils, then they should be eligible for the Geisels and the Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award. They are:

• Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig by Kate Dicamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
• The Mozart Question by Micheal Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman
• The Twin Giants by Dick King Smith, illustrated by Mimi Grey

All three books are published by Candlewick. Although they have roughly 72-80 pages, Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig and The Twin Giants in particular have appropriate word choices, white space, and liberal use of illustrations throughout the text. I'd definitely consider them early readers. But, we'll leave that up to the judges.

I'm so glad that the early reader category has been established as part of the Cybils (and I'm honored to have been the one to suggest it). I think this genre is extremely important and I've always felt that these kinds of books go unsung. If you click on the Amazon links I've provided below, you'll notice that almost none of these books have been reviewed yet, even though some of them have been published for nine months. After you put in your nomination, drop by Amazon or Barnes and Noble and leave a quick comment or review.

Last year, while all the Newbery and Caldecott predictions were being posted everywhere... the only books I saw on anybody's Geisel prediction lists were Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books. I love these books, and I'm delighted that There's a Bird on Your Head won the Geisel, and I think it was well deserved. But, Mo Willems just started writing early readers and he's not the only one in the game.

Here's a list of titles that haven't been nominated for a Cybil yet:

Amazing Animal Journeys by Liam O'Donnell

Annie and Snowball and the Teacup Club by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Suçie Stevenson

Ape Adventures by Catherine E. Chambers

Basketball Bats by Betty Hicks, illustrated by Adam McCauley

Family Vacation by Fiona Lock

Fancy Nancy at the Museum by Jane O’Connor

Flood! by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by John Wallace

Goof Off Goalie by Betty Hicks, illustrated by Adam McCauley

Greek Myths by Caryn Jenner

Journey of a Pioneer by Patricia J. Murphy

Just Five More Minutes by Marcy Brown and Dennis Haley, illustrated by Joe Kulka

Let's Play Soccer by Patricia J. Murphy

Lulu's Wild Party by Paula Blankenship, illustrated by Larry Reinhart

Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig by Kate Dicamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

The Mozart Question by Micheal Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman

My First Ballet Recital by Amy Junor


Pete's Party by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by David Gordon, Loren Long and David Shannon

A Pony Named Peanut by Sindy McKay, illustrated by Meredith Johnson

Quack Shack by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Yukiko Kido

Snow Dogs: Racers of the North by Ian Whitelaw

Snow Trucking by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by David Gordon, Loren Long and David Shannon

The Spy Catcher Gang by John Kelly and Kate Simkins

A Trip to the Theater by Deborah Lock

The Twin Giants by Dick King Smith, illustrated by Mimi Grey

Volcano! by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by John Wallace

Wagon Train Adventure by John Kelly and Kate Simkins

Welcome to China by Caryn Jenner

Wet Pet by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Yukiko Kido

Zoom! Boom! Bully by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by David Gordon, Loren Long and David Shannon

Click here to nominate in the early reader category.

In addition to this list, another great place to look for ideas is the Mock Geisel blog, created by the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Check out the new poll on the sidebar to see if you've nominated a book in every category.

Award reactions

After all that build-up to the American Library Association awards, I haven't talked about the winners and honor books yet, except for Hugo Cabret. Let's correct that. You can find a full list of all the books that were honored here on ALA's website.

On to the books that I'm particularly overjoyed about...

I'm absolutely thrilled that The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the Caldecott Medal... in fact, I wrote a whole post on the subject. If you haven't been able to get your hands on this extraordinary book yet, here are a few things you can do. To see the images from the first chapter of the book, go the Hugo Cabret website. And be sure to go to Teachingbooks.net to hear the first chapter narrated by Brian Selznick, and find out that the correct pronunciation of the title character is Hue-Go Cab-Ray. Then, head to the nearest library or bookstore, because you won't want to stop reading.

After I'm done with my standing ovation for the 2008 Caldecott committee, I'd like to give another one to the 2008 Newbery committee for awarding the Newbery medal to Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz. It's a quiet, powerful book that slowly takes hold of you. It's a unique combination of poetry, theater, non-fiction and superb storytelling. The research that went into it is excellent and it has some of the funniest and informative footnotes that I've ever found in a book written for children. I really felt like I gained an understanding of the Middle Ages, particularly what life was like for children, in a way that I never have before. I also felt like I made friends with each character in Schlitz's village and I loved when their stories connected. Most importantly, Schlitz never talks down to her audience. This understated book could have easily been lost in the shuffle. I'm so glad that through the power of the Newbery Medal, kids will have a chance to discover it.

To hear Schlitz read the last monologue from the book (which also happens to be one of my favorite pieces in the book), go to TeachingBooks.net. For Schlitz's reaction to winning the Newbery, see "Children's Book Award Winners Break the Mold" by Bob Thompson in the Washington Post and "Fairy tales do come true at Park School" by Mary Carole McCauley and Jill Rosen in the Baltimore Sun. Also, see Newbery committee member Monica Edinger's description of the magic phone call on her blog Educating Alice.

First the Egg by Laura Vacarro Seeger received not one, but two honors. It was awarded a Caldecott Honor and a Geisel honor. I think this book is extraordinary in subtle ways. Through the magic of LookyBook, I can give you a glimpse into this lovely book.



Unfortunately, this doesn't really convey the die-cuts, which I think are the best part. There are strategically placed holes throughout the book (the best example in the LookyBook version is on the title page where you can see the cut-out of the egg). Seeger is a brilliant artist and and I am so happy that she's finally received well deserved recognition.

I'm also quite happy that Henry's Freedom Box garnered a Caldecott honor. It's a straightforward, true and moving account of a slave who literally mailed himself to freedom in a large box. And the pictures are wonderful. Author Ellen Levine has written a number of books I've enjoyed such as I Hate English and If Your Name was Changed at Ellis Island. It's great to see her gripping and engaging text honored. Illustrator Kadir Nelson is becoming a bit of a superstar and picked up a Caldecott honor last year for Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom.


As for There is A Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems, which won the Geisel Award, I agree with MotherReader (see here and here) that it's the best of the four Elephant and Piggie books. The humor and slapstick in this book is absolutely brilliant. I read it aloud at a storytime yesterday to a group that ranged from 6 months to 6 years old. Kids and parents were hanging on every word, and practically every page was greeted with uproarious laughter. Also, it makes excellent use of white space and contains large text and simple words which combine to make it a terrific early reader. And the jokes don't hurt either.

One last comment... and it's about Harry Potter, of course. I was watching the live webcast of the awards. When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was mentioned as an Odyssey Honor, my heart sank. Because that meant that it hadn't won the Odyssey Award. And it's unfair to gripe about, because I haven't heard the winner yet. Jazz, which did win, is based on an excellent book, and I look forward to hearing the audio edition. And, I applaud the Odyssey committee for looking at the entire spectrum and awarding honors to audio productions created from picture books, informational book and traditional chapter books. And really, I'm delighted that Deathly Hallows received an Odyssey honor, so I can't complain.

Congratulations to all the committees and all the award winners. Now that the big moment is over, what do you want to do? Go to Disneyland, of course. The ALA annual convention is in Anaheim this year, and I can't wait to hear the acceptance speeches in June.