2011 Award Winners Announced!

Each January the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) awards those children's books it deems the best of the year. I don't always love every one, but they are a great place to find out about new exciting books and authors.  Below is a description of the type of award and the winners for this year.  The link at the bottom will take you to the American Library Association page and you can look at winners from past years.  Have fun!


Newbery Medal -- The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Winner: Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
Honors: Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm, Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen, One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia


Caldecott Medal -- The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Winner: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead
Honors: Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Laban Carrick Hill, Interrupting Chicken, written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein




Sibert Medal -- The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year. The award is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois. 

Winner: Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot, written by Sy Montgomery, illustrated by Nic Bishop
Honers: Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, illustrated by Brian Floca, Lafayette and the American Revolution, written by Russell Freedman


(Theodor Suess) Geisel Award -- The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.  

Winner -- Bink and Gollie, written by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGee, illustrated by Tony Fucile, 
Honors: Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!, written and illustrated by Grace Lin, We Are in a Book!, written and illustrated by Mo Willems




The Wilder Award -- The Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.

Winner: Author/Illustrator Tomie dePaola is the winner of the 2011 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award honoring an author or illustrator, published in the United States, whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. His numerous works include 26 Fairmont Avenue (1999), Strega Nona (1975), and The Legend of the Poinsettia (1994).

              
Source: American Library Association (ALA) http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/2011medawardwin.cfm


Do you have a favorite award winning book?