2016 Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal and Honors

The American Library Association gives the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the “most distinguished beginning reader book”. This year’s Medal winner is Don't Throw It To Mo! written by David A Adler and illustrated by Sam Ricks.

And the Honors are A Pig, a Fox and a Box written and illustrated by Jonathan Fenske. 

Supertruck written and illustrated by Stephen Savage.

Waiting by Kevin Henkes.

2016 Caldecott Medal and Honors

Each year the Caldecott Award is given to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. This morning the Association for Library Services to Children, a division of  the American Library Association, awarded the 2016 Caldecott Medal to Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear illustrated by Sophie Blackhall and written by Lindsay Mattick.

And Honors to Trombone Shorty illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Troy Andrews.

Waiting written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes.

Voice of Freedom: Fanny Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement illustrated by Ekua Holmes and written by Carol Boston Weatherford.

Last Stop on Market Street illustrated by Christian Robinson and written by Matt de la Pena.

New York Times Notable Children's Books 2015

Looking for some picture books, middle grade books and/or young adult books to give as presents? Here are the New York Times recommendations for 2015. One of my very favorite books on the middle grade list is Roller Girl, a debut graphic novel by Victoria Jamieson.

Twelve year old Astrid and her best friend, Nicole, have always done everything together. Astrid signs up for Roller Derby Camp expecting Nicole to sign up, too. But Nicole decides to go to Dance Camp instead. A difficult summer follows as Astrid misses her friend, makes new derby friends and learns to be a tough roller girl. At the end of the summer, Nicole and Astrid decide they can do what they each love and still be best friends. Roller girls play under a pseudonym. Astrid chooses, Asteroid. It is amazing how creative the names can be. One of the Astrid's new friends chooses Slay Miserable.

The Sonoma County Library has eleven copies.

A big shout out to Krispy Kreme Her and Suzy Bonebreaker!

Waiting

Kevin Henkes, Caldecott Medalist, Newbery honorary and Theodor Seuss Geisel honorary, has written a new picture book, Waiting. Asked in a Horn Book interview about writing a book about waiting he said, " Children spend a lot of their time waiting. They wait in line. They have to wait their turn. They wait for their birthdays, holidays, weekends, the end of the school day. They seem to be waiting quite a lot, so I thought it would be a good idea for a book."

Five figurines are sitting on a windowsill, looking out the window waiting for something amazing to happen. The pig is waiting for the rain, the bear for the wind to fly his kite, the puppy on his sled waiting for the snow, the owl waiting for the moon and the rabbit was happy just looking out the window. One day an elephant joined them, he stayed awhile but then left forever. A cat with patches joined the animals on the windowsill. What was she waiting for? One day. like a Matryoshka doll, she popped open and four increasingly smaller  kittens popped out. Then there were ten friends looking out the window waiting for something amazing to happen.

The artwork is beautifully spare, we see the window but not the room, even when the elephant falls to the floor and breaks. The figurines move by an unseen hand. The view from the window changes. The text is also spare and the sentences short. The AR is 1.9. The Sonoma County Library has twenty-two copies. 

NYPL: 100 Best Children’s Book for 2013

The New York Public Library is out with an interactive list of the best children's books of 2013. You can search by reading level, genre and theme. Click on a book that interests you and it will take you to a short description  of the story. There is something for everyone.

Penny and Her Marble

Kevin Henkes not only won a Newbery Honor for The Year of Billy Miller but also won a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor for Penny and Her Marble.

Penny is feeling  uncomfortable. She didn’t want to help Mama  make sugar cookies, she wasn’t hungry  and had a hard time getting to sleep last night. Why is she feeling uncomfortable? The day before, she was pushing her doll, Rose, in her stroller down the sidewalk. When she passed Mrs. Goodwin’s house, she saw a beautiful blue marble on the grass. Penny thought Mrs. Goodwin was too old to play with marbles, so she picked it up and put it in her pocket and rushed home. In her room, she found that the marble was smooth and fast. She held it up to the blue sky, it looked like a piece of the sky. Through the window, she spotted Mrs. Goodwin in exactly the place where she found the marble. Was Mrs. Goodwin looking for the marble?

The morning after her rough night, Penny wakes up with a plan. She puts Rose in the stroller and heads to Mrs. Goodwin’s house to return the marble. How is this story resolved? Did Penny take something that wasn’t meant for her?

In four short chapters, Kevin Henkes explores a common childhood dilemma using age appropriate words and simple sentences.

The Sonoma County Library has several copies. Even though this is a Level 1 I Can Read book, it has an AR 0f 2.5.  I’ll leave it to someone at a higher pay grade than me to explain the discrepancy.