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July 2, 2015 by Travis Jonker

Raising a Lone Eyebrow: ALA Annual Recap (Part II)

July 2, 2015 by Travis Jonker   Leave a Comment

Previously…

Camera Tricks: ALA Annual Recap (Part I)

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SATURDAY

I had a few minute at the beginning of the day, so I stopped in the exhibits:

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Here are a few books I saw:

Departure much? Melanie Watt’s latest is a 96 page picture book about… the five stages of grief (conceived of before Scaredy Squirrel I hear):

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I’ve shared this book before, but in person, that cover looked very nice:

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Float is a picture book I kept hearing about, but hadn’t read until I saw it at the Simon & Schuster booth. It was wonderful:

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I enjoyed this cover:

 

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The latest from the Caldecott-winning team of Erin & Phil Stead was another book I hadn’t read. I got my chance on the plane ride home. A bit eerie and a lot beautiful.

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I was so happy to get a copy of this. Classic Angleberger: slightly absurd and very funny. The John Hendrix illustrations are glorious.

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I reviewed the first Pigsticks book, and I’m happy to see the next one on the way:

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I am a man on a quest. A quest to find the book with the most little award things sticking out of it. While Josephine is getting up there…

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…Press Here is the champ. Lara Starr from Chronicle Books shows us:

 

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Then I saw the 2015 Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander. I had to document the moment.

Outtakes: A Photo with Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander (Note: All Dialog Made Up):

(Photo credit: Alison Morris)

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Me: Mr. Alexander, want to take a picture?

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Sure.

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Me: I want to do something different.

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Sounds good to me.

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Me: Back to back?

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Oh, you weren’t kidding about doing something different.

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Me: My arm kinda hurts, though.

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Toughen up, man.

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Me: Here we go!

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Here we go!?

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Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: You’re ridiculous, man.

Me: No laughing, Kwame.

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Ha!

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Got it.

Note how Kwame not only pulled a hand-over-the-heart gesture, but also threw in a superb eyebrow raise. The guy wins awards for a reason, folks – he rises to every occasion, big or small.

Back out on the street, I learned that San Francisco does actually have these:

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Pause for Current Events. The recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage was the talk of the town. Great to see.

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Next was a lunch preview with Little, Brown books. My favorite part of the menu was the detail that they use a “proprietary grind” for their hamburger. Runner-up for favorite part of the menu: Organic Fried Chicken.

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My favorite part of the event was hearing authors and illustrators talking about their books. Including Sophie Blackall. She talked about Finding Winnie:

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Also on this day, the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning were announced – lists I always like to share with teachers at my school:

AASL_BestApp 2015

Click here to see the Best Apps of 2015

AASL_Best T&L 15

Click here to see the Best Websites of 2015

That was Saturday. Sunday loomed large. More on that tomorrow, in Part III.

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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.

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