The 1963 Caldecott Medal winner The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats has been reissued in a special 50th Anniversary edition. Tonight’s All Things Considered has an interview with the Executive Director, Deborah Pope, of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and a reading of the book by LaVar Burton. You can listen to it here.
The Sonoma County Library and Yulupa’s Library have this book.
Today The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association awarded the Randolph Caldecott Medal
to
This book is going to be a birthday present for one or more of my four pre-school granddaughters. Why? Because it is about a dog, a big time subject with the aforementioned girls and it is about loss (Daisy’s red ball) and gain (a friend and a new blue ball). This book has no words but the story is clear. Preschoolers and kindergarteners can “read” this book themselves. The book can be found at the Sonoma County Library and Yulupa’s Library.
The ALSC also honored three more books:
I wrote about this book in the 100 Best Children’s Books for 2011 post on January 16th. The Sonoma County Library and Yulupa’s Library have this book..
Grandpa Green’s life story is told by his great-grandson through a walk in his topiary garden. As the boy is walking along he picks up tools his great-grandfather has left in the garden. At the end he uses them to make his own topiary of the great-grandfather. This book is touching to me because it reflects how I spent time with my grandparents in their gardens and the talents they passed on to me. This book can be found at the Sonoma County Library.
It is summer in the city, it is hot, and the power goes out. The TV doesn’t work, the phone and computer are off and Dad can’t cook dinner. The family goes to the roof where now in the darkness they can actually see the stars. So many of their neighbors are on the roof it is like a block party. The lights come back on so everything can go back to normal…but it turns out not everyone likes normal. This book can be found at the Sonoma County Library.
Each year the Caldecott Award is given to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. It was first given in 1939 to Mei Li by Thomas Handforth. A few other winning books you may know are Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak in 1964, The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg in 1986 and The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney in 2010. Familiar Honors books include Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans in 1940, If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss in 1951 and Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin in 2001.
Just a reminder: this week our students are supposed to pick a book from their classroom to read during their session.
Jan Brett has a wonderful website. It is not just about her books. She has coloring pages, videos, games (both computer and printable), cards, a wide variety of activities (like puzzles, flash cards, ornaments, recipes and learn to draw lessons), and information about her books. Right now she is running a contest, the prize is a visit to your school during the 2012-13 school year. If you are on Facebook, go to her website, click on the Facebook link (left side of the screen). This will take you to the Jan Brett Facebook page. On the left side, under her picture, is a link to the Contest Entry Form. It asks for your name, e-mail address, the name of your school, city, state and zipcode. Wouldn’t it be great to have Jan Brett come to Yulupa next year? Yulupa already has at least one vote: mine!
There is a good chance of rain on Sunday. Luckily The Lawrence Hall of Science is bringing the “ Build It Science Festival” to the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County. Kids ages 4 and up can participate in hands-on science projects from 2-4 PM on Sunday, January 22. Space is limited for this free event so e-mail Anya Kennedy at anya@cmosc.org by January 20th to reserve space for your family. The museum is located at 1835 W. Steele Lane in Santa Rosa.
Edit: Just got an e-mail from the museum that Sunday’s event is sold out.
A group of librarians at the New York Public Library have posted a list of the best children’s books for 2011. A hundred year tradition (since 1911) the books are divided into seven categories: picture books, fairy and folk tales, early chapter books, chapter books, poetry, graphic novels and non-fiction. Here is one sample in each category:
Picture Books
This is the story of Jane Goodall as a child and her favorite toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. Jane dreams of some day “living with and helping all animals” until one day her dream comes true. The book is written by Patrick McDonnell the Creator of the Mutts comic strip. There are several copies of this book in the Sonoma County Library. Yulupa’s library has one copy.
Folk and Fairy Tales
Nine tales of ancient Egypt are told comic-strip style. The Sonoma County Library has three copies of this book.
Early Chapter Books
Spunky tells this story because his humans, the Bates, do not speak dog. Due to a miscommunication, his family gives him a friend he is not so sure he wants. Our family loves books about (and by) dogs. The Sonoma County Library has several copies of this book.
Chapter Books
This should be no surprise. See the post on The Houdini Box below. The Sonoma County Library has many copies. The Yulupa library has one copy.
Poetry
More than 130 never-before-seen poems and drawings to delight all ages. The Sonoma County Library has several copies.
Graphic Novels
Superhero, Captain Amazing, is looking for a sidekick. His pets duke it out for the the honor. The Sonoma County Library has several copies.
Nonfiction
This is a book about one of the greatest friendships and greatest rivalries in our history. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were strong allies before and during the Revolution. They became political rivals, each seeing the role of government differently, during their service under President Washington. They became political enemies during their respective terms as President. After retirement, these two men commenced a written dialogue that lasted over a decade. And in one of the most spectacular coincidences in American history, they died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826. There is one copy in the Sonoma County Library.
