And the winning 2009 books are...

The 2009 American Library Association book award winners are out! Congratulations to all the award and honor recipients! I am providing the titles of the winners and not the honors. Please follow the appropriate links to learn more about the books!

John Newbery Award

The Graveyard Book. Written by Neil Gaiman and Illus. by Dave McKean. HaperCollins, 2008.

Randolph Caldecott Award

The House in the Night. Illus. by Beth Krommes and written my Susan Marie Swanson. Houghton Mifflin, 2008.

Midlred L. Batchelder Award

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. Written by Nahoko Uehashi and Translated from Japanese by Cathy Hirano and Illus. by Yuko Shimizu. Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic.

Theordor Suess Geisel Award

Are You Ready To Play Outside? Written by Mo Willems. Hyperion/Disney Group, 2008.

Pura Belpré Author Award

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom. Written by Margarita Engle. Henry Holt, 2008.

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award

Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book. Written by Yuyi Morales. Roaring Book Press, 2008.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

Ashely Bryan

Odyssey Award

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Written and narrated by Sherman Alexie, produced by Recorded Books, LLC

Michael L. Printz Award

Jellicoe Road. Written by Melina Marchetta. U.S. edition: HarperTeen, 2008.

Margaret A. Edwards Award

Laurie Halse Anderson for Fever 1793, Catalyst and Speak.

William C. Morris Award

A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce. Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastics, 2008.

Coretta Scott King Author Award

We Are the Ship: the Story of Negro League Baseball. Written by Kadir Nelson. Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, 2008.

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

The Blacker the Berry. Illus. by Floyd Cooper. Written by Joyce Carol Thomas. Amistad.HarperCollins, 2008.

Sibert Medal

We Are the Ship: the Story of Negro League Baseball. Written by Kadir Nelson. Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, 2008.

And finally….

The Schneider Family Book Award

Young Children:

Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum. Written and Illus. by Robert Andrew Parker. Schwartz & Wade Books/Random House.

Middle-School:

Waiting for Normal. Written by Leslie Connor. HarperCollins Chilrdren’s.

Teens:

Jerk, California. Written Jonathan Friesen. Speak/Penguin Group.

A New Year with New Reviews and Poetry Breaks!

Hello everyone! Beginning January and ending in May, the following series of postings will consist of book reviews and special poetry breaks that are for the Library Science course LS 5663.20 - Poetry for Children and Young Adults. Please visit The Wielded Pen – Children's Corner throughout the semester to learn about some great poetry and activities to share with children!