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Thursday, January 17, 2008

Iiiiiit's Caldecott and Newbery time!

The American Library Association recently announced the winners of their various prizes (including the well-known ones mentioned above, and others including the Michael Printz, Coretta Scott King, and Pura Belpre awards) for children's literature.

I've not read (or for that matter, HEARD of!) any of the Newbery-cited books, but will remedy that shortly, I hope. Library, here I come!

I HAVE read the Caldecott winner, the delightful The Invention of Hugo Cabret-- thanks to a Christmas-day lending from my aunt Lisa and cousin Emma. I think it took me about a day and a half to get through, and is really worth looking at as a unique storytelling exercise. Part chapter book, part graphic novel, part animated flipbook, part homage to movies... I don't know, hard to categorize, but easy to enjoy.

I've also read one of the Caldecott honor books, Henry's Freedom Box-- the true story of an enslaved man, Henry "Box" Brown, who literally mailed himself to freedom. At the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center here in Cincinnati (where I used to work) there's a special corner featuring Henry's story, including a box kids can crawl in to see how cramped his journey was. Illustrator Kadir Nelson is fairly new to me, but I've loved all of his books I've come across.

Any thoughts on the winners? Any surprises?

1 comment:

  1. Hey Elizabeth, this is Emma and yes I am at school at the moment, but my teacher said we could play around on the computers. :) So I felt like I'd viist your website. I have done this since the begginging of the smemster. My friend Elena said that she wants to eat your finest muffins and bagels.... So do I. (It doesnt help I'm starving in this computer lab with another 45 minutes to wait for lunch.) Hahaha. <3

    -Em

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