Author/Illustrator Gail Gibbons Nabs 2010 Regina Medal
RSSBy Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 09/07/2009
Gail Gibbons, an author and illustrator of more than 140 books for young children, is winner of the 2010 Regina Medal, given annually by the Catholic Library Association to a someone whose work has made a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature.
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Gail Gibbons Wins the Regina Medal. |
Coupling this fascination with her artistic ability, Gibbons creates books that entertain, as well as teach children about their surroundings. The Washington Post says Gibbons has “taught more preschoolers and early readers about the world than any other children’s writer-illustrator.”
The topics of her books range the alphabetical gambit of Apples (Holiday House, 2000) to Zoo (HarperCollins, 1986)—and in between, readers find a diverse range of topics such as: fruits & vegetables in The Pumpkin Book (Holiday House, 2000); machines in Trains (Holiday House, 1988); scientific phenomenon in Tornadoes (Holiday House, 2009) and creatures in Sharks (Holiday House, 1993).
Gibbons’s books often appear on the National Science Teachers Association/ Children’s Book Council’s annual Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children, and 1987, she received the Washington Post’s— Children Book Guild Nonfiction Award.
“Within her chosen niche of nonfiction books for young readers, her works stand out for their clarity and attention to detail,” says Anna Campos, chair of the Regina Award Committee. “Her body of work exemplifies Walter de la Mare’s quotation found on the obverse of the medal: ‘Only the rarest kind of best in anything can be good enough for the young.’”
Gibbons will receive the medal at the annual conference of the Catholic Library Association on April 7, 2010 at the Hilton Hotel in Minneapolis, MN.
