This morning, I just happen to be in my favorite Austin book store (Book People) when I noticed a shop attendant carefully making labels for piles of books, noting which ones won which. Which? What? Wait. Are you saying that the Caldecotts have already been announced? YES. This very morning.
The ALA Awards came early this year! And lucky me. As you might remember from last year’s post, by the time I hear the winners (even when I am watching the Caldecott clock) I am too late and the books are already backordered. But not this year. I was right there on the very morning, even if it was accidentally. I was able to buy one or two or ten. Our February-born niece, to whom we give the award books every year, will not have to receive the note that says “Caldecott coming soon.” And, I, to whom I also give one every year, was able to start poring over the pictures before lunch!
And here is something extra fun about this year’s winner: If you are a Winnie-the-Pooh fan, like I am, this beloved bear will become more real for you than ever when you read Finding Winnie. In fact, I might have to sandwich my new book right here inside my favorite set of book ends.
And I can’t wait to curl up with our own little pooh bear and introduce him to the Winnie behind Winnie. In the meantime, you can see below that he he has already started researching the animals in his own 100-acre wood. The joy of the printed page is just beginning!
You can learn about all the 2016 awards from this link to the 2016 ALA Youth Book Awards. And here is a little bit more about the Newbery and Caldecott winners from NPR today.
You might have noticed that I bought a new Jerry Pinkney book (or three) … this is because I just love his work, and I was very happy to hear that he had won, not one, but two, Lifetime Acheivement awards today. If you are a Pinkney fan, you can see a traveling exhibition of his work created by the Norman Rockwell Museum, opening on January 21 in Annville, Pennsylvania. And, here is a little blog post about our own brush with greatness when Ellen, as a new little artist, met Jerry Pinkney.
And so brings us to the end of Caldecott Day. Happy reading with your little ones, your big ones … or even all by yourself.
