And the ALA Media Award Winners Are . . .
Here are the winners of the the 2010 Media Award with additional commentary (slowly added throughout the day) for spice.
Newbery Award: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead – A win that was truly deserved right from the start. And such a relief too! Mind you, it was a delight marred mildly by the fact that @randomhousekids tweeted the win 17 minutes before the official announcement. SLJ has reported on the leak, though they mistakenly say that Gaiman did the same thing (in fact, he did wait the appropriate amount of time and then swore a blue streak which got attention in a whole different way). Speculation is that this early announcement was a slip of the fingers. Could’ve happened to anyone. So a big kiss and congrats to Rebecca Stead for her win! It will be surreal to see her on The Today Show.
Honor: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick – This is what I get for losing heart. Will I never learn? Back in June I was predicting a win for Philbrick. Then fall came around and my faith faltered. I thought to myself, “How could a funny book win? Funny books never win anything.” This before I knew that Going Bovine would also go on to win the Printz. In any case, I am friggin’ thrilled to see this book here. Go, Mr. Philbrick, go!
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Honor: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin – A book for the younger kids made it to the final list as well! You could argue that Lin’s book is the only one of the Newbery winners to really speak to the 6-10 rather than the 9-12 set. The fact that Lin has finally won her first Newbery (first of many, we are certain) doesn’t hurt matters any either.
Honor: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly – Another case where I lost my faith and shouldn’t have. I just assumed that Calpurnia would be lost in all the excitement. Imagine how pleased we all were then when we saw her big, bright, beautiful yellow cover splayed all over the media screens with her Honor win. So good to see it there.
Honor: Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Phillip Hoose – This year’s Newbery wins are a lovely mix of male and female writers, and a wide array of topics. Some would argue that comparing fiction to non-fiction books is akin to comparing apples and oranges. Whatever you may think, I do believe that the range really helped Claudette get on here. And, of course, it deserved it utterly.
Caldecott Award: The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney – There was speculation before the awards as to what the audience would do if anything BUT this book won. Would the crowd boo? Hiss? Spit? Fortunately, these dire scenarios never came to pass. Pinkney’s book is where it deserves to be. No one else’s even came close.
Honor: All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee – Some speculation has been made as to why there were only two Honor books this year. One explanation posited by a fellow librarian was that in years when the proper winner is so clear, untold hoards of potential Honors suddenly have to duke it out for second place. With that in mind, it’s not quite as surprising that there were only two here, and even less surprising that Ms. Frazee gets to add yet another plaque to her Caldecott Honor wall. Next Stop: The award proper.
Honor: Red Sings From Treetops by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski – There weren’t as many wild card wins this year with these top two awards. Zagarenski, however, is a name we’re all going to have to learn how to spell. I reviewed this book early in the year, but I have a tendency to forget about poetry when award season comes around. Perhaps someday there will be an ALSC Award for poetry. In lieu of that, Caldecott Honors aren’t too shabby. And neither, for that matter, is this book.
Geisel Award: Benny and Penny in the Big No-No by Geoffrey Hayes – If you’d like a crazy conspiracy theory for the day, why not chew on this: Four of the five Geisel winners have one thing in common. They all contain mice. Heck, the Caldecott winner ALSO stars a mouse! Coincidence? Well… yes, actually. But if I were a member of the mice lobby I’d be pretty psyched. Heck, if I were TOON Books right now, I’d also be pretty psyched. Two out of five ain’t bad. The lack of Mo Willems is telling. Not that he was without an award today.
Honor: I Spy Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold – No mice here, so my crazy theory only takes me so far. Has a Fly Guy won a Geisel before? He deserves it in any case.
Honor: Little Mouse Gets Ready by Jeff Smith – I liked Benny and Penny but I honestly hoped that this would win the award right and proper. No such luck. Ah well. Next time, Mr. Smith. Next time.
Honor: Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends by Wong Herbert Yee – The thing I like about the Geisel is that it brings attention to folks who’ve been around of a long time but just didn’t get awardy-type attention before. Yee is a brilliant example of that. He’s been around for years and he’s good at what he does. Now everyone’s aware of it.
Honor: Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day by Kate McMullan, illustrated by R.W. Alley – Haven’t run across this series before. Guess it’s time to go raid the old library shelves.
Robert F. Sibert Medal: Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone – Now THERE is a surprise! I think most of us wrote off the winner of this to either Hoose or Floca. Stone, however, wrote something utterly engaging and original. I’m so glad I got a chance to read it before the end of the year. But I do think it’s a surprise. A good surprise, but a surprise all the same.
Honor: The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors by Chris Barton – And speaking of surprises, yay fellow blogger and author Chris Barton! I would have hoped for this, but I wasn’t sure how keen the committee was on this one. This post could not be better timed.
Honor: Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca – *sob!* Not *sob!* that it won but *sob!* that it didn’t win more. Of course, I wanted it to get a Caldecott Honor at least. But I guess this year’s Caldecott committee couldn’t come to a consensus on non-fiction. It happens. Has a non-fiction picture book ever even won a Caldecott Award anyway? Worth looking into. Maybe when I’m on the bus later today. In any case, I’m glad it at least got an Honor here. Still, Floca’s day is coming, people. And when it does . . .
Honor: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose – That it didn’t win the Sibert Medal is interesting, but it still fared very well today. Thinking about it, I’m sad that Redwoods didn’t get noticed by the Sibert folks this year. Maybe the committee was uncomfortable with the mix of text and image (or lack thereof). Whatever the case, Chin will have another chance to take them all by storm in 2011 with his follow-up.
Coretta Scott King Author Award: Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. – When I post the video of the award announcements (as per a reader request) you will notice that at one point this book wins and screams erupt directly behind me. I then pick up the camera and turn it around to look dead on at Ms. Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, who is covered in congradulatory hugs. It’s a pretty awesome moment, actually.
Honor: Mare’s War by Tanita S. Davis – Another blogger turned author wins an award. If you’ve ever seen Finding Wonderland then you know who Ms. Davis is. She has also written about her award here. Tanita, you deserve it. Utterly deserving, you are. How strange that Flygirl didn’t make the list, though! I thought for sure that was a shoo-in.
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award: My People by Langston Hughes, illustrated by Charles R. Smith – Who could have predicted that a dead guy would sweep the CSK illustrator awards? Probably every Mock Coretta Scott King committee around the country, actually. This is a truly beautiful book that I have difficulty reading without hearing Ashley Bryan’s voice.
Honor: The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes, illustrated by E.B. Lewis – Another beaut and like the other Hughes title it also showed up on New York Public Library 100 Books for Reading and Sharing list for 2010. Come to think of it, all the Caldecotts and Newberys also showed up on that list. We have pretty good taste!
Coretta Scott King / John Steptoe New Talent Award: The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon – Aw, yeah! My hometown girl made it! You may have run into Kekla when at the last ALA Convention she of her own volition handed out flyers about her book. She comes to my Children’s Literary Cafes and Kidlit Drink Nights and wrote a book that deserves this award. She is a bright and shining talent. Can’t wait to see more of what she does.
Michael L. Printz Award: Going Bovine by Libba Bray – I don’t think many people are going to look back at 2009 and think, “What a hilarious year!” But maybe that’s what we all need right now. To just lean back, let go, and laugh. With that in mind, suddenly the Homer P. Figg win and Libba Bray award make a heckuva lot of sense. Add in the fact that Bray is maybe the funniest woman working in YA fiction today (you are free to tell me who else would be up for contention) and it all comes together.
Honor: Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman – Thank God. I actually read this one and I loved it. Even gave it away as a Christmas present, and I don’t do that for many books. Deborah is having a fine year, and she deserves it. This book was fabulous.
Honor: The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey – A horror fantasy book winning a big award? Forget everything I said about humor. This is the biggest change of the year!
Honor: Punkzilla by Adap Rapp – I don’t traffic in YA. Dunno this one or the next one.
Honor: tales from the MADMAN underground (An Historical Romance 1973) by John Barnes
Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction: Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
William C. Morris Award: Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan
Pura Belpre Author Award: Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez – You know, it sat on my bookshelf. I kept meaning to read it. I had it all ready to go. Life intervened. I never read it. I feel sad. I’m also a little sad that Confetti Girl by Diana Lopez didn’t make this list. *sigh*
Honor: Diego: Bigger Than Life by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand – Basically I fell flat on all of these this year. I vow to be better next year.
Honor: Federico Garcia Lorca by Geogina Lazaro
Pura Belpre Illustrator Award: Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children’s Day / Book Day. Celebremos el dia de los ninos / El dia de los libros by Pat Mora, illustrated by Rafael Lopez
Honor: My Abuelita by Tony Johnson, illustrated by Yuyi Morales
Honor: Gracias. Thanks by Pat Mora, illustrated by John Parra
Honor: Diego: Bigger Than Life by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, illustrated by David Diaz
Schneider Family Book Award, Children’s: Django by Bonnie Christensen
Schneider Family Book Award, Middle School: Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Schneider Family Book Award, Teen: Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Batchelder Award: A Faraway Island by Annika Thor – Ah, Batchelder. As they announced these I was throttling my computer, demanding to know what had happened to my Twitter feed and why I couldn’t update it. So I missed hearing these winners. Maybe that’s for the best. I have heard that this book is a delight, and perhaps it is but I’m still magnificently sad that Waiting for Winter didn’t get anything. There must have been some by-law or obscure rule that sunk it in the end.
Honor: Big Wolf and Little Wolf by Nadine Brun-Cosme – How great is it that Enchanted Lion Press got a win, eh? I always like it when the small presses get awards. This little Brooklyn-based press will be speaking at an upcoming Literary Cafe in my library about the translation of children’s books. Glad I got them before this big win.
Honor: Eidi by Bodil Bredsdorff – Don’t know it personally, but we’ve two or three copies in my library branch.
Honor: Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness by Nahoko Uehashi – Well, I loved the first one so much I’m not surprised that #2 made it on as well. Well played, editor Cheryl Klein!
Odyssey Award: Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo
Honor: In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being the Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber by L.A. Meyer
Honor: Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson – It sort of disappeared from major award contention this year. That’s okay. It’s a sequel and historically those don’t tend to do as well in these things. At least it got this award. Woot!
Honor: We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award: Lois Lowry
Carnegie Medal for Children’s Video: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! – They played a clip from this. It was rather brilliant. And if I don’t miss my guess, Jon Scieszka plays the bus driver. Please watch the clip from it here for a good time.
Margaret A. Edwards Award: Jim Murphy
Alex Awards:
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
The Bride’s Farewell by Meg Rosoff
Everything Matters! by Ron Currie
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel
The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch and Liz Welch with Amanda Welch and Dan Welch
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
My Abandonment by Peter Rock
Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel, by Gail Carriger
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson
Stitches by David Small – Woot!
And this isn’t an ALA Media Award title but it should certainly be included:
The Stonewall Book Award for children and young adults: The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd – Who I met recently at a PEN meeting. Nice guy. We talked about the spelling of his name (which isn’t too different from my own). Apparently folks are inclined to spell it Bwrd before they consider Burd. Strange. In any case, I’ve heard lovely things about this. Kudos to you, sir!
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About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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Thank you for this Herculean effort! So many worthy winners!
Yes indeed… Thanks so much for the instant updates!
Thank you, thank you!
My son woke up at 8 saying, “We missed the Newbery!” so we came downstairs to read your updates and saw with relief and joy that When You Reach Me had won. Love so many of these winners
(sad Marcelo didn’t get a Printz, though, but glad it won the Schneider medal).
You saved me from a straight jacket! I couldn’t get into the ALA streaming web site. Thanks so much for your quick information! Thank goodness we already have the Newbery and Caldecott on the shelves! Will need more copies, nathch.
You were the first person I turned to for information. Thank you.
For once I’ve read all the books and am so happy about the selections – especially Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. I was afraid it would be overlooked.
Thank you to all the committee members.
I slept through the ceremony. I woke up to such great news for us all. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
In the dentist’s chair this morning, so missed the announcement. Like so many, I came here to get the news. Happy about the winners, but… no Moonshot? No justice, no peace!
Just saw the Siebert Honor list; please disregard previous outburst…
Ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove!! Huzzah, Homer P!!! I stayed firm for you! Loving the committee’s choices this year.
Like you Betsy I lost faith in Homer at the last minute, but was so thrilled to see he made the cut. My biggest thrill of the morning as stated here: thelibrariest.blogspot.com/2010/01/ladies-and-gentelman-may-i-present-your.html
Yay for Grace Lin! And Homer P. Figg! And A Faraway Island! And Charles & Emma! I’m so happy that the books I’ve been rooting for got some award love this year. Huzzah!
So many good books! Looking forward to the rush of library (and bookstore) goers that arrive a-searching every year after these announcements.
With that in mind: I think the slight two Honor Books in the Caldecott category is both a big disappointment and, well, a disservice. Usually, if the Winner is checked out, we can substitute with the several wonderful runners-up — which only means more reading for all.
And there was such a truly STRONG Honor-contender field this year. ??? Our mock jury had trouble cutting down to four choices, because that left out several equally outstanding books. So, why/how just two? It’s a mystery.
Hooray for ALL the winners – chocolate cake all around! In other news, the 2010 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children was also announced today…okay, I know because I won it (!) for the picture book biography, The Secret World of Walter Anderson, illustrated by the fantabulous E. B. Lewis and published by the fantasmagorical Candlewick Press. Yay for books and awards that bring attention to books and for ALA and NCTE! Woo howdy!
I’ve always enjoyed Barry Moser’s comments regarding the Caldecott award. Essentially, why are librarians qualified to make these decisions about picture book art.
I am in the illustration industry and I did not have a dog in this fight, but I do have some thoughts about the Caldecott Award. I agree with Linda that 2 honor awards is a giant slap in the face, there were many deserving artists who should have been recognized.
Comments like “Pinkney’s book is where it deserves to be. No one else’s even came close. ” are ridiculous and I’m pretty sure Mr. Pinkney would agree. Again, there were dozens of books that were deserving of wining this award.
Maybe it is time to reevaluate this award. It’s a shame that so few get to benefit from this award when so many are deserving
Chaz: It’s always an interesting argument. To turn it around, as an illustrator myself, I’m often surprised by how many artists and illustrators who know beautiful technique and image making know next to nothing about narrative, character, and story. That’s where librarians show their chops. And yes it’s a shame we can’t all win, but if we all win, what’s the point? Contests provoke opinions, provide conversation, stimulate thought, even if you disagree with the results.
Betsy, do you know when the Today show interviews will be? I’m looking online but not finding it – we would love to watch Rebecca Stead and Jerry Pinkney!
I don’t disagree with this year’s Caldecott winners — all are worthy of recognition. But why not boost the profile of one or two more fabulous books? Any one of Betsy’s faves mentioned in her predictions: Chicken Little, A Curious Collection of Cats, Dinotrux, Tsunami!, One Beetle Too Many, or any of those high on others’ lists: Moonshot, Hook, The Dunderheads, Higher! Higher!, Curious Garden or (speaking of Barry Moser) Once Upon a Twice?
Why not give any of those worthy picture books another strong boost in readership and interest?
Two more Honors does NOT seem pointless when the calibre of offerings is high. Just my opinion.
The debate about whether or not librarians are fit to give out awards for illustration comes up pretty regularly each year. I like to pair it with the objections to the Society of Illustrators Awards and the New York Times Best Illustrated Awards when people complain that there should really be some librarians on those panels. There is no way to win, it seems.
And of course Jerry wouldn’t think he was the most deserving winner. The man is modesty incarnate.
Regarding the Today Show appearances, all that I know is that it’s very early. I think I may watch the recorded discussion after the fact. They tend to make it available online not long thereafter.
Hi! Fly Guy (the first one) also won a Geisel Honor.
Toon Books must be quite pleased.
I wonder if there weren’t so many possible Caldecott honor books that the committee couldn’t come to agreement on any more.
Can you help me understand the distinction between the Nonfiction Award and the Sibert? Can the Sibert go to an informational but fiction book? (and has it ever)?
I wonder what happened to Peck’s “A Season of Gifts” ? I dodn’t expect it to beat “WYRM” bit I thought it would honor.
T Hager
The non -fiction categories confuse me. They seem to have guidelines and then ignore them. Candace Fleming’s Barnum seems to fit more in Sibert than Yalsa N.F. and may have been slighted by one because it was honored in the other, even though it fit more in the Sibert category. Then again Sibert is always unpredictable and never lets a little thing like fact get in the way of choosing their non-fiction winners.
I do wish there were more honorees. It gives many artists a chance to shine who might not get the opportunity otherwise. There are more than enough books that qualify for the medal and giving out a few more honors will not dilute the award. In the end it gives more publicity and awareness to the great books that are out there.
The librarians do a great job, I think they messed up on not adding more honors on this one.
Chaz: I do agree that there seemed room and cause for more than two honorees this year. Like many a committee decision, this one was a little baffling.
>>Has a non-fiction picture book ever even won a Caldecott Award anyway? Worth looking into. <<< Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illus. Mary Azarian. Picture book biography. Fabulous.
Oh yes! Of course! I had completely forgotten it. Thanks for that, Nancy.
And truth be told, I like it more when there are more Honors too. I was very happy to see four Newbery Honors going on.
I wonder if we’ll ever return to the days when we could have ten or so Honor books. There’s nothing in the rules that say that you can’t, and in the early Newbery days it happened all the time.
I keep waiting for the Caldecott committee to call a late breaking press conference and, with chagrin on their faces, fess up that they forgot to turn in the page that included Moonshot.
Since the Caldecott Medal was first awarded in 1938, 2010 is the 22nd time that 2 or fewer honorees were named. (1969 is the only time with 0 honors.) I just counted this up at the ALA website. Feel free to check my math.
My apologies. There was 1 Caldecott honor book in 1969. I do not see a year in which no honors were named. But I do think it was 6 times with just one honoree and 16 times with 2 honorees, including 2010.
As a former member of one of these fabulous committees, I have to say I hate having only one or two honor books.
But, that’s how committees work at times.
We all know that the Committees members work hard all year and clearly intend the best. But when the process gets dammed up, they’ve gotta get creative. I’m sure there are acceptable dam-breaking techniques that could be employed.
I don’t what the field was like in 1969… But this year, there was a wealth of worthy contenders — and if the number of Honorees does not reflect (or champion) that wealth then there is something wrong with the process.
I wasn’t aware that back-in-the-day there’d been up to 10 Honors; but they could have gone 5 or 6 deep this year with no complaints from most.
It’s hard for me to believe anyone could be more surprised than I over the choice of my book to receive the Printz Honor. My first reaction upon hearing the news was “But it’s got MAGGOTS!” Of course, I am deeply humbled by it all.
I suggest you make that the title of your autobiography someday. “But It’s Got Maggots: The Life and Times of Rick Yancey.”
Having been on a big award committee a number of years ago, I think I can tell you that there is no set number of honor books. Sometimes, it is surprising that only a few honors are chosen. Other times, I hear that having two many may indicate that there was no consensus on the committee and, perhaps, the winner was a compromise rather than the all out favorite of most of the committee. There is a process for all of this and, unless you are in that room, you can not know what makes books you think should “Win, place or show” not quite make it. Thanks to the committees for their hard work. Oh, yes, each committee is unaware of what books are being considered by the others so there is no chance for one to say to other, You recognize this book and we’ll recognize that one.” There is a lot of integrity to the processes that have been set up.
As CT shares: Yes, it must be very hard. I’d hate to have to pick for posterity. And I do, I think most of us do, appreciate the dedication it requires and the pressure on the bookish souls “in that room.”
Hey, Big Games are always followed by morning after quarter-backing. It’s tradition. :- )