Search Results for: blog 2008 caldecott winners

2008 Newbery Award Winners

While the Caldecott is awarded based on illustration, the Newbery is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The 2008 winner is Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz. In this story, thirteenth-century England is brought to life using 21 individual narratives that introduce the young people of the village and manor. This book is recommended for ages ten and up. One of the Newbery Honor Books for 2008 is Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Elijah is the first free-born child in his Canadian community … Continue reading →

2008 Caldecott Winners

The big news in Children’s Literature this week was the announcement of the Caldecott and Newbery Medal winners. I’m sure Tristi and will be reviewing all of them in detail soon. Today I’ll tell you about the Caldecott winners. The Caldecott Medal is awarded to the most distinguished American picture book for children. This year, the award went to The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. The pencil illustrations tell a great deal of the story in this 544 page book. It’s the story of an orphan and inventor living in a Paris train station. The Invention of Hugo … Continue reading →

Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick

When I read that The Invention of Hugo Cabret, an over 500 page novel, won the Caldecott- an award for illustrations in children’s books, I was thoroughly confused. I’ve read a lot of Caldecott books and am quite sure that most of them were under thirty pages. An amazing 284 pages of this book are original drawings. And each picture is an entire double page spread. Hugo Cabret is a fast read because of all the pictures and the action. I recommend it for grade school children and above. The book is about magicians, illusions, machines, early movie making, and … Continue reading →

The Snowy Day – Ezra Jack Keats

I know other parts of the country are seeing signs of spring, but here in Colorado we can expect another couple months of snow. I want to share one of my favorite books about snow with you. The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats, received the Caldecott Award in 1963. I remember the book from my own childhood. The illustrations are unique. One of Keats techniques was to blend collage with gouache (an opaque watercolor mixed with art gum. His illustrations capture the magic of how snow can transform a neighborhood into beauty, softness, and mystery. Keats set new ground … Continue reading →

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity – Mo Willems

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity is the sequel to Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. Both books have won Caldecott Honors. In Knuffle Bunny Too, Trixie has grown up a little bit. She’s learned how to talk, and talk, and talk. She and her daddy walk through their neighborhood to get to her school. Trixie is very excited because she is taking her one-of-a-kind stuffed toy Knuffle Bunny to show and tell. She’s very excited to get to show Knuffle Bunny to her teacher and friends. But then she sees Sonja. Sonja is holding a stuffed animal that … Continue reading →

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale – Mo Willems

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems recently won a Caldecott Honor. It’s the sequel to Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale which also won a Caldecott Honor in 2005. The books are both illustrated with drawings on top of black and white photographs. According to Willems website, he pronounces “Knuffle” with a hard “K” The word “knuffle” is Dutch for snuggle. In Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale the reader meets a little girl named Trixie. She’s old enough to walk, but not yet talking. The book shows Trixie and her daddy walking through the neighborhood to … Continue reading →

Media Week in Review January 20th – 26th

Picture books, mystery, romance, young adult, craft, and cookbooks are just some of the things we covered this week in Media Reviews. The most prestigious annual awards for children’s literature are the Caldecott and Newbery. Lauri gives us brief glimpses of the books that won the 2008 Caldecott and Newbery awards. Tristi reviewed Star Shining Brightly by LDS author Marcia Mickelson, a story about a superstar facing hard choices in the world of Hollywood. Tristi also continued her series on author G.G. Vandagriff with Tangled Roots. And LDS author Traci Hunter Abramson’s suspense story The Deep End sounds like a … Continue reading →

Media Week in Review: January 14th – January 19th

We had a lot of fun in Media Reviews this week. If you missed out, here’s a summary so you can see what happened. Tristi reviewed the modern classic “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith. The story of a poor family just before the outbreak of World War I, our main character is a girl named Francie. She has a rich imagination and loves to read, but her reading doesn’t disguise the fact that she’s hungry nearly all the time and must gather junk in order to help put food on her table. This book will make you … Continue reading →

Book Awards: The Whitneys

As you browse your library or bookstore, you’ll see various logos on the covers of the books – winner of the Caldecott, winner of the Newbury, winner of the Christy – the list is endless. Jaime Egan did a marvelous series on the Caldecott Medal and another on the Newbury last year, and I thought it would be interesting to take a look at other awards that are available in the literary world. That way, when you see one of those logos, you’ll know why that book is being honored and what made it so special. I’m going to start … Continue reading →