2009 ALA Media Awards Recap
The 2009 ALA Youth Media Awards were announced yesterday morning, and I was camped out in front of my computer watching the webcast. At the conclusion, I played the “how many of the award-winning books do we already have in our library?” game. Turns out we had 10 of the 14 Caldecott, Newbery, and Geisel winners – not too bad. Here’s how things shook out among those categories:
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Caldecott Medal
“The House in the Night,†illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson, Houghton Mifflin Co.
Caldecott Honor Books
“A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever†by Marla Frazee, Harcourt, Inc.
“How I Learned Geography†by Uri Shulevitz, Farrar Straus Giroux
“A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams,†illustrated by Melissa Sweet and written by Jen Bryant, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
I would like to take this time to not mention my predictions in this category. I enjoyed all of the winners, but I just didn’t pick ’em.
Newbery Medal
“The Graveyard Book†by Neil Gaiman, HarperCollins Children’s Books
Newbery Honor Books
“The Underneath†by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by David Small, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
“The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom†by Margarita Engle, Henry Holt and Company, LLC
“Savvy†by Ingrid Law, Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group in partnership with Walden Media, LLC
“After Tupac and D Foster†by Jacqueline Woodson, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, a division of Penguin Books for Young Readers
A couple that many were expecting, a couple surprises. The Underneath, Savvy, and The Graveyard Book were getting lots of attention in the lead-up. Slightly (but not much) less fanfare for Tupac, and The Surrender Tree probably took many by surprise. I was a little sad that Shooting the Moon missed the cut, but ah well.
Geisel Award
“Are You Ready to Play Outside?†written and illustrated by Mo Willems, Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group
Geisel Honor Books
“Chicken Said, ‘Cluck!’†written by Judyann Ackerman Grant, illustrated by Sue Truesdell, HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers
“One Boy†written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, a Neal Porter Book published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership
“Stinky†written and illustrated by Eleanor Davis, The Little Lit Library, a division of RAW Junior, LLC
“Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator†written by Sarah C. Campbell, photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell, Boyds Mills Press
No surprises that Mo Willems takes the top spot for Are You Ready to Play Outside?, but I was really pumped to see Stinky make the honor list (100 Scope Notes Review). A deserving book, to be sure.
Did you miss the 2009 Media Awards Webcast? Watch this video of the event:
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-670611566949724136&hl=en]
Filed under: News
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
Further Predictions! Everything That ISN’T Newbery/Caldecott 2025
Hilda and Twig | This Week’s Comics
Wednesday Roundup: Pointing at Poetry
The Seven Bills That Will Safeguard the Future of School Librarianship
Shakespeare, but Make it Queer!: Retelling a Classic Play and My Love/Hate Relationship with William Shakespeare, a guest post by Emma K. Ohland
Gayle Forman Visits The Yarn!
ADVERTISEMENT
Deanna H says
Thank you for putting the video up. I have been wanting to see it. It’s too bad these segments are always so short.