Annual Children's Book Awards

Submitted by Rachel on January 25, 2013 - 5:33pm

Looking for book suggestions for your child? You’re in luck; it’s award season. Every year the American Library Association chooses the best books for children in a variety of categories. The staff here at the library held our own mock award sessions to see if we could predict this year's winners. Here are our results...

This year marks the 75th anniversary for the Caldecott Medal. Named for nineteenth-century English children's book illustrator, Randolph Caldecott, this award is given "to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children."
Medal Winner: More by I.C. Springman, illustrated by Brian Lies
Honor Books: Chloe by Peter McCarty and The Camping Trip that Changed America by Barbara Rosenstock, illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein

"The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults. The winners must demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King."
Author Award Winner: It Jes' Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw by Don Tate, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Illustrator Award Winner: Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington by Jabari Asim, illustrated by Bryan Collier
Illustrator Honor: I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr., illustrated by Kadir Nelson

"The Pura Belpré Award is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth." The Pura Belpré award is named after the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library.
Author Award Winner: The Wild Book by Margarita Engle
Author Honor: Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Illustrator Award Winner: Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert by Gary D. Schmidt, illustrated by David Diaz
Illustrator Honor Winner: The Poet Upstairs by Judith Ortiz Cofer, illustrated by Oscar Ortiz

John Newbery, eighteenth-century British bookseller, is the namesake of the Newbery Medal, an award given "to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."
Medal Winner: Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
Honor Book: One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt and Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

We’ll find out how close our selections were to the official winners on Monday morning! You can follow the results in real-time by logging on to the ALA Youth Media Awards Facebook page, or via Twitter by following hashtag #ALAyma.

Rachel's blog

Comments

Submitted by Laurie. on January 30, 2013 - 6:35pm.

Thanks Rachel! Another children's book award presented at the same youth media ceremony is the Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children & Young Adult Literature Award, just one of three awards making up the Stonewall Book Awards honoring books of "exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience." The crowd erupted with applause when the children's graphic novel, Drama by Raina Telgemeier, was announced as an honor book in this catagory. I also wonder if it was the first time the Pura Belpré Award and the Stonewall Award shared the same winning title.

Submitted by Daryl Fields on January 29, 2013 - 6:29pm.

I think you are posting that these are the books we chose. It could be confusing to a customer because the books are not the actual winners??

Submitted by Rachel on January 30, 2013 - 10:52am.

The results are in. This year's winners are:
Caldecott Medal:
This Is Not My Hat, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen

Pura Belpré Author Award:
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award:
Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert, illustrated by David Diaz, written by Gary D. Schmidt

Coretta Scott King Author Award:
Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, paintings by Brian Pinkney

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award:
I, Too, Am America, illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Langston Hughes

Newbery Medal:
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate