2012 Newbery and Caldecott Awards

The big awards in children’s literature were announced this week by the American Library Association.  I immediately ordered both titles, as sadly I didn’t already have them on the shelves.  I can’t wait to read both, but I wanted to share the news even if I couldn’t give you a personal review.

The Newbery Award, given to the year’s most outstanding contribution to children’s literature,  was given to Jack Gantos for DEAD END IN NORVELT. (Jack Gantos is also the author of the “Joey Pigza” books, two of which were Newbery Honor books.)   Based partly on Gantos’s childhood experiences growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, the reviews I have read describe it as full of humor, history, and charm.

The Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children was given to Chris Raschka for A BALL FOR DAISY, a wordless picture book about an excitable dog who loses her special red ball at the park.  This book was also inspired by  real life, as the author remembered his own son’s reaction to losing a ball when he was young and wanted to write a book about how the young deal with loss.   I was interested to read that Raschka wanted to tell his story in a wordless format so that all children could “read” the book.  The first grade teachers and I recently talked about this very concept, and I have added many wordless books to the CPS library to give our students more opportunities to tell stories using pictures.  This book will be added to the “wordless book shelf” next week, so look for it!

MIA’S BOOK SHOUT OUT

Introducing Mia, one of Mrs. Conrad’s awesome fifth grade readers, who is going to start sharing her book reviews on this blog.  Her posts will be called “Mia’s Book Shout Out.”  Mia loves to read and share her enthusiasm with others, so here’s her first post!  Thanks, Mia.

 

“The undiscovered series in the “M” section”

I know that this book is already on the library shelves, but this is a truly amazing series that nobody reads very often.  Although the book is very similar to the familiar book CADDIE WOODLAWN, readers tend to overlook this book by Kerry Madden and zoom by it to Wendy Mass, who is a “hot” writer.  So if you need a book, check out the “M” section in the library.

Livy Two is the second oldest out of nine siblings.  She has a banjo- playing Daddy and a hardworking mother.  Livy Two’s sister Gentle’s eyes aren’t so good, but that’s just what Livy Two’s mother says.  It was so amazing for me to read about this family living in 1956 with the newly invented telephone and tv.  Also, reading about how Livy’s family lives with barely enough food to feed the family and a father with no consistent job made me think of how lucky I am.  Maggie Valley, where the book takes place, is very similar to Gilead , Maine – a very rural village with just a few houses, a church, school, and lending library truck that travels all over the Smoky Mountains.

Will Livy find out what’s wrong with Gentle’s eyes, and what will that lead to?  Gentle’s Holler is a thrilling story of money worries and watching three generations in a  family learn to live together and deal with all their problems.  And, if you like this book, check out the other two, LOUISIANA’S SONG and JESSIE’S MOUNTAIN.

A late Christmas present??

Here’s what I saw on my desk when I walked into the library the first day after Christmas vacation:

I thought, “Oh, nice! How fun to get another Christmas present!” Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be one of my very clever fourth grader’s Library Sleepover Projects. The note reads “open the Lego box to find my December book project. From Trey”   Interesting!  Even better than a present!  Here’s the 3-D scene that Trey made at home to showcase AN ELK DROPPED IN, his December book:

(Click on the image to enlarge it and see the details.)

Nice job, Trey. You always keep me guessing what your next creative move will be. Can’t wait for January’s project!

Oh, What a Christmas! by Michael Garland

I guess it’s time to talk about Christmas books! OH, WHAT A CHRISTMAS! by Michael Garland has been a huge hit in the three kindergarten classes this past week. After Santa takes off in his sleigh full of toys, the reindeer harness breaks and the sleigh falls to earth and crashes into a barn full of animals. Guess who’s going to pull the sleigh now? This book is illustrated in dramatic, humorous, illustrations, and the expressions on the faces of Santa and the animals makes the kids howl with laughter. The text is very funny, too. Check it out!

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

Before winter and the Christmas season really set in, I want to tell you about the greatest book I read last month, Wildwood.  Set in the real city of Seattle and the fictional “wildwood” that is located across the river from Seattle, it is full of adventure, danger, colorful characters, and nail-biting suspense.  There are echoes of the “Narnia” books, but the author has put his own personal stamp on it and made it original.  There are beautiful pictures throughout the book, drawn by the author’s very talented wife.

The main character is Pru, a young girl who loses her nearly one-year-old brother one day when she’s babysitting.  One minute he’s sleeping in the little red wagon, and the next he gets carried away by crows! Very disturbing, but of course she sets out to find him, and of course the crows have taken him to Wildwood, which is the mysterious forbidden area across the river from Pru’s city. Children have been taught that it is a dangerous, uncivilized land, but Pru is a daring and loyal sister who will stop at nothing to get her brother back. What will she find when she gets there? Will she succeed in finding her brother, and why would crows carry him away in the first place? Read this beautifully descriptive fantasy if you are looking for a challenging and rewarding reading experience.

OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D. Schmidt

It’s 1968, and Doug’s family has just moved to a small town in upstate New York because his father lost his job. It’s not your typical happy family: one older brother is in Viet Nam, the other is a bully, and the father keeps the whole family on edge with his outbursts. Doug must learn to navigate both his difficult family and the new town he has landed in. There is so much in this book: colorful town characters, a little romance, hard family situations, the sad reality of war, the importance of art and creativity…check it out if you want a beautifully written story about a real boy’s growth and survival.

WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick

I just finished reading WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick. Like his last book, THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET (which won the Caldecott Award), it is a huge book  (600+ pages) that is half gorgeous pencil drawings (not a graphic novel: rather, an illustrated novel). The book tells two different intertwined stories – one in words and the other in pictures -  that the reader just knows are going to come together somehow. Ben’s story is in 1977 and Rose’s is in 1927. Both Ben and Rose are unhappy children who make a daring decision to change their lives, and the way their two stories come together is something I wouldn’t want to spoil for you. Let me just say that it is a beautiful book, both the story and the illustrations, and the ending, which celebrates friendship and family,  will leave you WONDERSTRUCK.

Book Pass

I tried something in Mrs. Bullen’s fifth grade class today that I learned at a conference I went to recently. It’s called “Book Pass”, and it’s a fun and very effective way to expose students to lots of books in a small amount of time.   I pulled twenty books out of the fiction stacks that don’t get the attention they deserve (because it seems that everyone wants to read “Bone” or a book by Rick Riordan or J.K. Rowling) and gave one to each student. Everyone read for two minutes, wrote down their reaction to the book, then passed it to their neighbor and we started again with a new book. I “played” too, even though I’d read all of the books before. What a great way for kids to really sample lots of books and see what  interests them! I loved hearing the discussions of  the books at the end of class, and many of the books got checked out.

Caroline: Sleepover-bound!

Caroline in Mrs. Jerome’s class was awarded her “million dollar bookmark” today, signifying that she has completed her eight books and her projects for the Fourth Grade Library Sleepover.

I always tell the students it isn’t a race:  they have the whole year to read their eight books and share them with the class.  But there are always a few eager beavers (should I say eager READERS?)  who are motivated to finish early.  Caroline did not take the easy way out, either:  she read very challenging books and she did excellent projects.  Today she brought me this “lift the flap” poster about GODS AND GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS written and illustrated by Aliki.  I really like the detail she used to illustrate each god and goddess.  And when you lift each flap, there is more information.

 

 

A few hours later, Caroline presented me with this illustrated information sheet about THE WORST (BEST) HALLOWEEN EVER  by Barbara Robinson.  She wrote about the characters, the problem, and the setting, against a backdrop of Halloween candy!  Very creative.

(Note:  Click on the images to enlarge them and read Caroline’s work.)

Milo: sticky notes and brain freeze by Alan Silberberg

Here’s a book review by a fifth grade student in Mrs. Conrad’s class, Emily:

This is the fifth time Milo has moved!  Milo doesn’t think it will be the last time, though.  After all, it seems to Milo that moving is part of his life.

Milo’s family is a little, well, strange.  Sure, he has a Dad.  And a sister, of course.  But….they’re probably not like yours.  But what about the mom? Well, she had cancer and she died.  The main part of this book is about Milo figuring out how to deal with the fact that his Mom is gone.  Milo feels lost without a full family.

There are three people who make him feel better:  his best bud, Marshall, makes him laugh.  Hillary, his next door neighbor, knows how he feels and makes him feel safe.  A neighbor lady who has lost her husband teaches him that even if somebody close to you is gone, there are ways to keep them “alive”.

It sounds like this is a really sad book, but it is also very funny.  For instance, Milo is “in love” with Summer Goodman, and one of the first times he sees her he is buying SUPER SOFT TOILET PAPER!  How embarassing!  He and Marshall have a nice, funny friendship that reminds me of the way boys really do fool around.

This isn’t a graphic novel, but it does have a lot of sketches that are fun to look at.   I recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic stories about love, life, and family.