Sibert Award Winners 2012

The winner of the Sibert Award for non-fiction is Balloons over Broadway : the True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet.Tony Sarg was a boy who loved puppets. When he was young he made marionettes and invented pulleys that could feed the chickens in his family’s coop. As [...]

Magical Adventures

Small Persons With Wings, by Ellen Booraem They don’t like to be called fairies, you know. Thirteen year old Mellie Turpin has met a small person with wings. When she told her class about it when she was in kindergarten, they laughed at her. They started calling her Fairy Fat and she’s been bullied about [...]

For Animal Lovers Only!

  If you like animals, you will love this brand new book, The One and Only Ivan, based on a true story.  The author, Katherine Applegate, also wrote the popular Animorphs series.  Since it just came out last month, Ivan hasn’t won any awards yet….but I bet it will!   Check out the book trailer:

Historical Fiction

Did you know about the Scott O’Dell Award?  If you like to read books set in different historical times, you need to check out this award.  My favorite past winner of this award is The Game of Silence , written and illustrated by Louise Erdrich.  This book is the sequel to The Birchbark House and the prequel to [...]

Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens!

Charles Dickens, author of Oliver Twist and many other books, turns 200 this year! Here are some recent books about his life. Charles Dickens: England’s Most Captivating Storyteller by Catherine Wells-Cole, including extracts from the works of Charles Dickens See the world of Charles Dickens spring to life in his fascinating notebook. Excerpts from his [...]

Music Was IT

When Leonard Bernstein was two years old he already loved music and called it “moynik.” Even when he was very young he would cry tears of joy and wonder as he listened to beautiful music. His Aunt Clara gave the family a piano and with Leonard it was love at first sight. “There was no question in my [...]

Cinderella’s Lost Tap Shoe

Cinderella Smith, by Stephanie Barden    My name is Teresa Louise Smith, but everyone calls me Cinderella. Why, you ask? Because I always seem to be losing one of my shoes. I even write my name and address on the bottom of all of my shoes so it’s easy to return lost shoes to me. I love [...]

ALA Youth Media Videos

Winners of ALA’s Youth Media Awards have been making videos thanking the organization for the honor and recognition.  Here are two of my favorites so far.

Coretta Scott King Author Awards 2012

The winner of the author award is Kadir Nelson, author and illustrator of Heart and Soul: the Story of America and African Americans. This is a simple introduction to African-American history, from Revolutionary-era slavery up to the election of President Obama. He was also an honor winner for the King illustrator’s award for the same [...]

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards

The winner of this award is Shane Evans, illustrator and author of Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom. A stellar introduction to the Underground Railroad, narrated by a group of slaves. Readers experience the fugitives’ escape, their long nighttime journey punctuated by meetings with friends and enemies, and their final glorious arrival in a place of [...]