Book Awards

Greetings!
I know it is hard to find good books for kids. We want the books to be interesting, age appropriate, and have nothing in them that is worldly, has bad language, or fantastical creatures. Kids want books to be interesting.

Two medals awarded by the American Library Association are the Newbery and Caldecott medals. The books are chosen by committees and the winners are kept secret until a big announcement at the Midwinter ALA meeting. At the summer ALA meeting, the winners each give a speech at a big banquet. I was privileged to attend one of these banquets a few years ago and just by chance happened to sit at the same table with some of the Newbery committee members. I was thrilled beyond belief and even my husband was impressed. He has since had a little more appreciation for my interest in and knowledge of children’s literature. (happy face)

The Newbery Medal was established in 1922 and is awarded to the most distinguished American children’s book published the previous year. Members of a committee read each nominee and actively discuss and ‘argue’ over the books until they finally agree as to the winner. They also specify other books that are worthy of attention and are Honor books.

Newbery books usually are not the kind of books that are mainstream such as Harry Potter or the vampire books. They are quality literature and are creative and well written. However, they still need to be read with an eye tuned for topics and language that may not be appropriate for our SDA schools. If you check the list, you will find many Newbery winners that are wonderful stories that you may have in your library already.

The Caldecott Medal was established in 1938 and is presented to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published the previous year. This past year – 2012 – 2013 – the Caldecott has been celebrating its 75th year. The process of choosing the book is very similar to the Newbery process and honor books are chosen. Caldecott books are usually appropriate for our SDA schools, but still need to be evaluated on a case to case basis.

For more information about these two awards and other awards given by ALA, go to http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia.

If you do a unit or study of award winners, don’t forget to include your local state award books, too. You might even have your own mock ‘Award’. Have students nominate their favorites. Put them on display long enough for other students to read them all, then have students meet to discuss which book they think is best. It will be an interesting debate. When one is chosen, stick your local school ‘award sticker’ on the book and put it in a prominent place. This will attract attention to the books and you might even attract some reluctant readers to the book.

I think I will do this at Rogers and let you know how it works out. If you also try it, please let me know how it works out.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation.

Audrey