2008 Youth Media Awards

On Monday morning at 7:45 AM, I watched the live webcast from ALA Midwinter to hear the announcements of this year's Association for Library Service to Children Media Awards. I took as many notes as I could as fast as possible. I missed a few authors/illustrators, but I managed to get every title!

My favorite part of January is hearing the which books have awarded the Caldecott and Newbery Medals, even though I'm no longer as "in the loop" with children's literature as I used to be. (For new readers, until my son was born I was a school librarian.)

I wanted to post this right after I watched the webcast, but I haven't had a chance until now. For those of you with young children or who just love children's and young adult literature, here are some of the highlights:

John Newbery Medal:
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

Newbery Honor Books:
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Randolph Caldecott Medal:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Caldecott Honor Books:
Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems

2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecturer
Walter Dean Myers

Mildred L. Batchelder Award
VIZ Media, publisher of Brave Story, by Miyuki Miyabe, translated from the Japanese by Alexander O. Smith

Batchelder Honor Books
Milkweed Editions, publisher of The Cat: Or, How I Lost Eternity, by Jutta Richter, illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner, and translated from the German by Anna Brailovsky
Phaidon Press, publisher of Nicholas and the Gang, written by René Goscinny, illustrated by Jacques Sempé, and translated from the French by Anthea Bell

Pura Belpré Author Award
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sean Qualls

Belpré Author Honor Books
Frida: ¡Viva la vida! Long Live Life! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, retold by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael Austin
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Marisa Montes

Belpré Illustrator Honor Books
My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: la vida de Gabriel García Márquez, illustrated by Raúl Colón, written by Monica Brown
My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo, written and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez

Andrew Carnegie Medal
Kevin Lafferty, producer, John Davis, executive producer, and Amy Palmer Robertson and Danielle Sterling, co-producers, of Jump In: Freestyle Edition

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
There Is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems

Geisel Honor Books
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Hello, Bumblebee Bat, written by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne
Jazz Baby, written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Vulture View, written by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Odyssey Award
Jazz, Live Oak Media

Odyssey Honor Audiobooks
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy, Listen & Live Audio
Dooby Dooby Moo, Weston Woods/Scholastic
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Listening Library
Skulduggery Pleasant, HarperCollins Audio
Treasure Island, Listening Library

Sibert Medal
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
Lightship by Brian Floca
Nic Bishop Spiders by Nic Bishop

More information about the awards can be found here.