And the Winner Is...

January 30, 2013

Drum roll please, because this week is award week for the American Library Association! Each year at the end of January, ALA announces all of the national award-winning titles for both children and teens. Each award honors an author or illustrator for excellence in a different literary category, and we would like to recommend just a few of them to you.

• The Newberry Medal is awarded each year to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American children’s literature each year. This year’s medal goes to Katherine Applegate for The One and Only Ivan.
• The Caldecott Medal is given to the artist of the most distinguished picture book for children each year. This year’s award goes to Jon Klassen, author and illustrator of This Is Not My Hat.
• The Coretta Scott King Book Award goes to the African American author and the illustrator each year for the most outstanding inspirational contribution to education. Each title must promote both an understanding and appreciation of culture and make a significant contribution to the realization of the American dream. This year’s awards go to Andrea Davis Pinkney for her book Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America and to Bryan Collier for his illustrations in the book, I, Too, Am America.
• The Mildred L Batchelder Award is given each year to an outstanding children’s book that has been translated into English from its original publication and initially published outside of the United States. This year’s award goes to My Family for the War, originally written in German by Anne C. Voorhoeve.
• The Theodore Seuss Geisel Award goes to the author of the most distinguished book for beginner readers. This year’s award winner is Up, Tall and High by Ethan Long.

Lisa Campbell
Youth Services Department