Newbery, Caldecott, Other Top Children’s Book Awards Unveiled
This article appeared in SLJ’s Extra Helping. Sign up now!
-- School Library Journal, 1/25/2006
The waiting is over. The American Library Association (ALA) on January 23 unveiled the nation’s top book awards for children and young adults at its midwinter meeting in San Antonio, TX. Don’t be surprised if your top pick didn’t nab a Newbery or Caldecott—most agree that it was almost impossible to guess this year’s winners.
This year marks the10th anniversary of the Pura Belpré award and the first Theodor Geisel award for distinguished beginning reader book. The Margaret A. Edwards award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults is sponsored by School Library Journal.
Here’s a list of all the winners:
Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:
Criss Cross (HarperCollins/Greenwillow) by Lynne Rae Perkins
Newbery Honor Books:
Whittington (Random) illustrated by S. D. Schindler, written by Alan Armstrong
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow (Scholastic) by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Princess Academy (Bloomsbury) by Shannon Hale
Show Way (Putnam) illustrated by Hudson Talbott, written by Jacqueline Woodson
Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
The Hello, Goodbye Window (Hyperion/Michael di Capua Bks.) illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster
Caldecott Honor Books:
Rosa (Holt) illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Nikki Giovanni
Zen Shorts (Scholastic) written and illustrated by Jon J. Muth
Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride (S & S/Atheneum/An Anne Schwartz Bk.) written and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems (Houghton) illustrated by Beckie Prange, written by Joyce Sidman
Looking for Alaska (Dutton) by John Green
Printz Honor Books:
Black Juice (HarperCollins/Eos) by Margo Lanagan
I Am the Messenger (Knopf) by Markus Zusak
John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth, a Photographic Biography (Viking) by Elizabeth Partridge
A Wreath for Emmett Till (Houghton) by Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Philippe Lardy
Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults:
Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun) by Julius Lester
Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books:
Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl (Abrams) by Tonya Bolden
Dark Sons (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun) by Nikki Grimes
A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Philippe Lardy
Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizing an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:
Rosa (Holt) illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Nikki Giovanni
Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan (Lee & Low) by R. Gregory Christie Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award:
Jimi & Me (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun) by Jaime Adoff
Pura Belpré Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:
Doña Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart (Knopf) illustrated by Raul Colón, written by Pat Mora
Belpré Illustrator Honor Books:
Arrorró, Mi Niño: Latino Lullabies and Gentle Games (Lee& Low) selected and illustrated by Lulu Delacre
César: ¡Sí, Se Puede!Yes, We Can! (Marshall Cavendish) illustrated by David Diaz, written by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
My Name Is Celia/Me Llamo Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/La Vida de Celia Cruz (Luna Rising) illustrated by Rafael López, written by Monica Brown
The Tequila Worm (Random/Wendy Lamb Bks.) by Viola Canales
Belpré Author Honor Books:
César:¡Sí, Se Puede! Yes, We Can! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
Doña Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart by Pat Mora
Becoming Naomi León (Scholastic) by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:
Dad, Jackie, and Me (Peachtree) written by Myron Uhlberg, illustrated by Colin Bootman
Tending to Grace (Knopf) by Kimberly Newton Fusco
Under the Wolf, Under the Dog (Candlewick) by Adam Rapp
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning-reader book:
Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas (S & S) written by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Suçie Stevenson
Geisel Honor Books:
Hi! Fly Guy (Scholastic/Cartwheel by Tedd Arnold
A Splendid Friend, Indeed (Boyds Mills) by Suzanne Bloom
Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa (Harcourt) by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Betsy Lewin
Amanda Pig and the Really Hot Day (Dial) by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Ann Schweninger
Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults:
Jacqueline Woodson is the 2006 Edwards Award winner. Her books include: I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This (Delacorte, 1994) and its sequel, Lena (Delacorte, 1999), as well as. From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun, If You Come Softly (Putnam, 2004), and Miracle’s Boys (Putnam, 2000).
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children:
Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley (Carolrhoda) by Sally M. Walker
Sibert Honor Book:
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow (Scholastic) by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children’s video:
Michael Sporn, of Michael Sporn Animation, and Paul Gagne and Melissa Reilly of Weston Woods Studios, producers of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. The video is based on the book by Mordicai Gerstein and is narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal, with music by Michael Bacon.
Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States:
Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic., is the Batchelder Award winner for An Innocent Soldier” Originally published in German in 2002 as Der Russländer” the book was written by Josef Holub and translated by Michael Hofmann.
Batchelder Honor Books:
Nicholas (Phaidon)
When I Was a Soldier (Bloomsbury)
Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences:
Midnight at the Dragon Café (Counterpoint) by Judy Fong Bates
Upstate (St. Martins) by Kalisha Buckhanon
Anansi Boys (Morrow) by Neil Gaiman
As Simple as Snow (Putnam) by Gregory Gallaway
Never Let Me Go (Knopf) by Kazuo Ishiguro
Gil’s All Fright Diner (Tor) by A. Lee Martinez
The Necessary Beggar (Tor) by Susan Palwick
My Jim (Crown) by Nancy Rawles
Jesus Land: A Memoir (Counterpoint) by Julia Scheeres
The Glass Castle: A Memoir (Scribner) by Jeannette Walls
2007 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site:
Kevin Henkes will deliver the 2007 lecture. Henkes has published seven novels and more than 20 picture books, as well as a number of board books for young children.
For more information on the ALA youth media awards and notables, please visit the ALA Web site.
