May 2007
Seattle's Child Reads:
Library Association Announces Best Books for Kids
Find the best new books and new recognition for some older classics in The American Library Association’s recent announcement of the top 2007 books for children and young adults. The organization, meeting recently in Seattle, announced the prestigious Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz awards, among others.
The 2007 winner of the John Newbery Medal for outstanding contribution to children's literature is The Higher Power of Luck, by Susan Patron, illustrated by Matt Phelan (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson). Three Newbery Honor Books were also named: Penny from Heaven, by Jennifer L. Holm (Random House); Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson (Delacorte Press); and Rules, by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic).
The Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most
distinguished American picture book for children is Flotsam, a
wordless book illustrated by David Wiesner (Clarion).
Two Caldecott Honor Books were named: Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal
Alphabet, written and illustrated by David McLimans (Walker) and
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, illustrated
by Kadir Nelson and written by Carole Boston Weatherford (Hyperion/Jump
at the Sun).
The Michael L. Printz Award for excellence
in literature written for young adults is American Born Chinese,
by Gene Luen Yang (Roaring Brook Press).
Four Printz Honor Books were named: The Astonishing Life of Octavian
Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; v. 1: The Pox Party, by M. T. Anderson
(Candlewick); An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green, (Dutton/Penguin);
Surrender, by Sonya
Hartnett (Candlewick); and The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (Alfred
A. Knopf).
The Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizes
an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children
and young adults. Copper Sun, by Sharon Draper (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum)
is the King Author Book winner.
One King Author Honor Book was selected: The Road to Paris, by
Nikki Grimes (G.P. Putnum’s Sons).
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, illustrated by Kadir Nelson and written by Carole Boston Weatherford (Jump at the Sun/Hyperion) is the King Illustrator Book winner. Two King Illustrator Honor Books were selected: Jazz, illustrated by Christopher Myers and written by Walter Dean Myers (Holiday House) and Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes, illustrated by Benny Andrews and edited by David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad (Sterling Publishing).
The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award was given to Standing Against the Wind, by Traci L. Jones (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
The Schneider Family Book Award honors books that embody the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. The Deaf Musicians, written by Pete Seeger and Paul DuBois Jacobs and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (G. P. Putnam’s Sons) wins the award for children ages 0 to 10. Rules, by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic Press) is the winner in the middle-school category for ages 11-13. Small Steps, by Louis Sachar (Delacorte Press) is the winner in the teen category for ages 13-18.
The Theodor Seuss Geisel Beginning Reader Award winner for the most distinguished beginning reader book is Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways, written and illustrated by Laura McGee Kvasnosky (Candlewick Press). Three Geisel Honor Books were named: Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride, by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen (Candlewick Press); Move Over, Rover! by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Jane Dyer (Harcourt, Inc.); and Not a Box, written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis (HarperCollins).
The Margaret A. Edwards Award is given for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. Lois Lowry, author of The Giver (Walter Lorraine Books/Houghton Mifflin) is the 2007 winner.
The winner of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
for a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for
children is author-illustrator James Marshall. Marshall was the author
and illustrator of the George and Martha books, the Fox easy
reader series, The Cut-Ups and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
©2007
Seattle's Child, a publication of the Washington Post Company
All rights reserved
Web design by Intentional Publishing & Design