As most children's book fans know, every January the latest winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Awards are interviewed by NBC's TODAY SHOW on the morning after the prize announcement.
In case you forgot to watch the show this week, I am including Matt Lauer's interview with the Newbery-winning author here:
Actually, that is only a portion of the interview (an "expert" of it, to quote Matt.) After the commercial, Newbery Medalist Snooki talked about how exciting it was to get that early morning phone call from the prize committee:
Matt: Did the phone call wake you up?
Snooki: No, I'd just gotten home from clubbing and hadn't even taken off my high heels or hair extensions yet.
Matt: Someone told me you fell to the floor when you got the big news.
Snooki: Actually, I was already on the floor. It was a wild night.
Matt: Tell us about your book.
Snooki: It's about two girls who go to the Jersey Shore for summer vacation and spend a lot of time partying, drinking, and hot-tubbing.
Matt: And what happens?
Snooki: I actually haven't read the whole book yet.
Matt: But--
Snooki: But I did write it myself. I really truly did! Honest!
Matt: How does it feel to win the Newbery Award for your first book?
Snooki: To be honest, Matt, I never heard of this Blueberry Award till I won, but I guess I like it. My publisher said the book is going to have a big gold sticker on the cover now. I like shiny things.
Matt: What are you going to wear to the award banquet this summer?
Snooki: Something tight. Something short. Something lowcut.
Matt: So...where are you planning to go after our interview today? Will you be signing your book at a store, or speaking to a library group?
Snooki: Naw, I think I'll just hit the tanning salons.
Matt: Before you go, what do you say to those who think your book didn't really deserve the Newbery?
Snooki: They can kiss my bodunk.
______________________________________________
Okay, she really didn't win.
But Snooki did appear on the TODAY SHOW this week, during the spot normally reserved for the ALA award winners.
The Newbery and Caldecott winners were nowhere to be seen.
Shame on TODAY.
But I'm here with good news.
As I write this blog, the just-crowned Newbery winner, MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool, ranks #11 on the Amazon.com bestseller list.
Snooki's bookie is ranked #668.
So it is and so it shall forever be.
MOON OVER MANIFEST will be in every library and bookstore for generations to come.
It will never go out of print.
Remember, the very first Newbery winner, THE STORY OF MANKIND, is still in print an still read ninety years after it was published.
And MOON OVER MANIFEST will still be read ninety years from now.
Will anyone still be reading Snooki's book ninety years from now?
Heck, will anyone be reading it next year?
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Sleeping with the Newbery
Some people sleep with husbands or wives.
Some sleep with dolls or teddy bears.
Me? I sleep with books.
It's not intentional. It's just that I like to read before going to sleep each night and, over time, the one or two books on my pillow becomes three or four. Or ten or twelve. On Sunday night -- the night before the prize announcements -- there were twenty books beside me as I slept. Here they are:
Let's zoom in for a closer view. (You can click on the image to enlarge it even more.) It's a mix of new hardcovers I purchased, a couple ARCS I received free, and several library books. Recognize any of these titles? Let's see...
Isn't that the Morris winner, THE FREAK OBSERVER by Blythe Woolston?
And there's SHIP BREAKER by Paolo Bacigalupi, which won this year's Printz.
Plus TWO Printz Honors -- REVOLVER by Marcus Sedgwick and PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King.
Finally, what's that book down on the far left side?
Let me flip it over:
Yep, MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool, the winner of this year's Newbery Medal!
MOON OVER MANIFEST was very much a surprise winner, but I'd heard the title mentioned several times as a possible under-the-radar contender over the past few weeks, so on Friday evening I picked up a copy of the novel on the way home from work. How lucky was that? Sunday night I slept beside it (and SHIP BREAKER and THE FREAK OBSERVER) and all three won major awards. Not to mention Honors for my bedmates VERA DIETZ and REVOLVER.
Coincidence?
Of course.
But still.... I think next January, on The Night Before the Awards -- I'll take all my special favorites for the year and tuck them in beside me to see if lightning strikes twice!
Today's blog is a very random mix of facts and opinions about this year's book awards.
FIRST THE FACTS
The 2011 Newbery Medal went to MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool.
There were four Honor Books:
TURTLE IN PARADISE by Jennifer L. Holm
HEART OF A SAMURAI by Margi Preus
DARK EMPEROR AND OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen
ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams-Garcia
The 2011 Caldecott Medal went to Erin E. Stead for A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE, written by Philip C. Stead.
There were two Honor Books:
DAVE THE POTTER : ARTIST, POET, SLAVE, illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Laban Carrick Hill
INTERRUPTING CHICKEN, written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein
The 2011 Printz Award went to SHIP BREAKER by Paolo Bacigalupi.
The four Honor Books are:
STOLEN by Lucy Christopher
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King
REVOLVER by Marcus Sedgwick
NOTHING by Janne Teller
The 2011 Sibert Prize went to KAKAPO RESCUE : SAVING THE WORLD'S STRANGEST BIRD, written by Sy Montgomery and illustrated by Nic Bishop.
There were two Honor Books:
BALLET FOR MARTHA : MAKING APPALACHIAN SPRING, written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan and illustrated by Brian Floca
LAFAYETTE AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Russell Freedman
WATCHING THE AWARDS
I've only had a fast internet connection for a few months, so this was the first time I was able to watch the award ceremony live.
Wow, it was exciting to hear the events in real time and listen to the audience response to each winning title. It was just like being there!
However, before the presentation began, the internet feed began playing LAST YEAR'S AWARDS. I thought it was funny that all the winning books were titles from 2009! Luckily I caught on just before the 2011 feed began. Did this happen to anyone else?
And how many people were unable to get online or had the feed go out on them halfway through the program? Several of my friends told me this happened to them.
DID ERIN STEAD SET A RECORD?
A couple years ago I wrote a blog about the comparative ages of each Caldecott winner. The oldest winner was Mordicai Gerstein (THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS) who received the award at age 69.
The youngest was Robert McCloskey, who won for MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS at age 28.
Now along comes Erin E. Stead, who is also 28 years old.
At the very least, she has tied Mr. McCloskey for youngest Caldecott winner ever. Depending on her birthdate, she may actually have set a new record. Robert McCloskey was about six months into his twenty-eighth year when he won (back then the awards were usually announced in March), so if Ms. Stead is less than six months from her last birthday, she has established a new Caldecott record!
UPDATE : Philip C. Stead, the author of A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE and husband of newly-crowned Caldecott winner Erin E. Stead wrote in to say that Erin just turned twenty-eight on December 27.
This officially makes her the youngest Caldecott winner EVER -- beating out previous record holder Robert McCloskey by several months.
Thanks for the info -- and congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Stead on their winning book!
HOMETOWN PRIDE
Erin Stead is originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan (hey, that's where I live!) and her husband, who wrote A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE and both wrote and illustrated CREAMED TUNA FISH & PEAS ON TOAST, hails from nearby Dearborn. Now they live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Erin joins other Michigan-born Caldecott winners Gerald McDermott (ARROW TO THE SUN), Chris Van Allsburg (JUMANJI; THE POLAR EXPRESS), and David Small (SO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT.)
IN-STEAD OF ME TELLING YOU ABOUT THE STEADS...
You might want to check out this newspaper article from the Detroit Free Press or this wonderfully in-depth blog entry from the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog.
THE ONLY MISTAKE I HEARD ON ALA WEBCAST
Anyone notice that the Morris Award winner THE FREAK OBSERVER was mistakenly announced as FREAK THE OBSERVER?
Now several other websites and blogs have recorded it incorrectly.
...And I'm counting down the minutes till someone asks if FREAK THE OBSERVER is a sequel to Rodman Philbrick's FREAK THE MIGHTY....
EMILY LITELLA STRIKES AGAIN
In Beverly Cleary's 1984 Newbery winner, DEAR MR. HENSHAW, the eponymous character is a children's book writer whose works include WAYS TO AMUSE A DOG.
Ms. Cleary, a former bookseller, came up with that fictional title because she'd heard the possibly-apocryphal story about a bookstore customer who wanted a copy of Franz Werfer's big old serious novel FORTY DAYS OF MUSA DAGH and instead asked for "Forty Ways to Amuse a Dog."
Do you think anyone will now try to seek out MOON OVER MANIFEST and instead get this 2008 children's book:
Or how about those who want this year's Sibert Honor, BALLET FOR MARTHA and instead end up with:
THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS
Two books.
Both historical novels for young readers.
Both published in 2010.
One's nominated for the Morris Award, the other wins the Newbery.
And both cover girls need to watch where they're walking.
DUAL NEWBIES?
A blog-reader just asked me if this was the first year in which both the Newbery and Caldecott were given to debut creators.
I believe it is!
The closest example I can find is 1961 when Nicolas Sidjanov won the Caldecott for the first book he illustrated, BABOUSHKA AND THE THREE KINGS, and Scott O'Dell won for ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS, which was his first work for young readers. However, Mr. O'Dell had previously published a few books for adults, so he was not truly a first-time author.
Incidentally, many authors have received the Newbery for their first book, but I'm hard-pressed to think of many illustrators who have won the Caldecott for their first book.
Let's see, there's Sidjanov and Stead.... Who else?
WILL THIS YEAR'S WINNERS BE HARD FOR COLLECTORS TO FIND?
MOON OVER MANIFEST was published October 12, 2010.
I've heard that this novel had a first printing of 15,000 copies.
By the time the award was announced on January 10, the book was already in its second printing.
Based on my own experience, I think this winner may be similar to the 1995 Newbery WALK TWO MOONS in terms of collectability. That is, the book was released recently enough that all the copies haven't been snapped by libraries -- which is what happened with some other winners such as KIRA-KIRA and A SINGLE SHARD. Right now, just a couple days after the announcement, copies may be hard to find (it's currently #10 on the Amazon bestseller list) but when things calm down, I think first editions will trickle onto the market and be available for a moderate-to-high price.
A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE was published May 25, 2010.
I do not know the size of the first printing.
By the time the award was announced on January 10, the book was in at least its sixth printing.
Time will tell whether this becomes a classic, impossible-to-find Caldecott, but anecdotal evidence suggests it is selling very well, with some booksellers reporting it a hand-selling success long before the award was bestowed. The book is currently #8 on Amazon's bestseller list. Considering its early date of publication and its subsequent multiple printings, this is a difficult book to find in first edition at present and may remain so. Expect to pay a high price for a first edition in the coming years.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
Some fun facts and figures about this year's prizes:
All of this year's Newbery titles were written by women.
This is the twentieth time that the entire Newbery slate (winner and Honors) have been won by all females: 1930 (winner plus six Honors!), 1932 (winner plus six Honors!), 1933, 1935, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1951, 1956, 1963, 1965, 1970, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2011.
The number of female Newbery winners is now exactly double that of men, with sixty women winners vs. thirty men.
There have been complaints that Newbery novels tend to feature young girls with absent and/or bad mothers. This year's list reinforces those complaints, with three of the five books: MOON OVER MANIFEST, ONE CRAZY SUMMER, and TURTLE IN PARADISE following that trend.
This year's Newbery winner and honorees are all newcomers to the award, except for Jennifer Holm. This is her third Newbery Honor in eleven years. She joins the following group of "three-peaters" who have won three Honors without having won the gold:
Mary and Conrad Buff : BIG TREE (1947), THE APPLE AND THE ARROW (1952) and MAGIC MAIZE (1954.)
Padraic Colum : THE GOLDEN FLEECE (1922), THE VOYAGERS (1926), and BIG TREE OF BUNLAHY (1934.)
Alice Dalgliesh : THE SILVER PENCIL (1945), THE BEARS ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN (1953) and THE COURAGE OF SARAH NOBLE (1955.)
Nancy Farmer : THE EAR, THE EYE, AND THE ARM (1995), A GIRL NAMED DISASTER (1997), and THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION (2003.)
Agnes Hewes : SPICE AND THE DEVIL’S CAVE (1931), GLORY OF THE SEAS (1934), and THE CODFISH MUSKET (1937.)
Clara Ingram : ABRAHAM LINCOLN, FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE (1951), THEODORE ROOSEVELT, FIGHTING PATRIOT (1954), AND MR. JUSTICE HOLMES (1957.)
Eloise Jarvis McGraw : MOCCASIN TRAIL (1953), THE GOLDEN GOBLET (1962) and THE MOORCHILD (1997.) The forty-four years between her first and last Honors represents the longest stretch of time between honored books in an author’s career.
Anne Parrish : THE DREAM COACH (1925), FLOATING ISLAND (1931), and THE STORY OF APPLEBY CAPPLE (1951.)
Gary Paulsen : DOGSONG (1986), HATCHET (1988), and THE WINTER ROOM (1990.)
Isaac Bashevis Singer : ZLATEH THE GOAT (1967), THE FEARSOME INN (1968), and WHEN SHLEMIEL WENT TO WARSAW (1969.)
Zilpha Keatley Snyder : THE EGYPT GAME (1968), THE HEADLESS CUPID (1972), and THE WITCHES OF WORM (1973.)
Jacqueline Woodson : SHOW WAY (2006), FEATHERS (2008), and AFTER TUPAC & D FOSTER (2009.)
Something tells me that Jennifer Holm will eventually win the Big N.
MOON OVER MANIFEST is one of the lenghiest Newberys to date. At 351 pages, it ranks only behind the first winner, THE STORY OF MANKIND (489 pages) and the second year's winner, THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE (364 pages.)
This year's winner is the fourth Newbery title to have the word "moon" in its title, following last year's Honor Book WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON, winner WALK TWO MOONS, and Honor Book SING DOWN THE MOON
As of this year there are 53 male Caldecott winners and 27 female.
DAVE THE POTTER marks the third time Bryan Collier has received a Caldecott Honor, after ROSA and MARTIN'S BIG WORDS. He joins a select club of illustrators who have won three Caldecott Honors without winning the gold:
Molly Bang : TH GREY LADY AND THE STRAWBERRY SNATCHER (1981), TEN, NINE, EIGHT (1984), and WHEN SOPHIE GETS ANGRY -- REALLY REALLY ANGRY (2000.)
Peter Parnall : THE DESERT IS THEIRS (1976), HAWK, I’M YOUR BROTHER (1977), and THE WAY TO START A DAY (1978.)
Dr. Seuss : MCELLIGOT’S POOL (1948), BARTHOLEMEW AND THE OOBLECK (1950), IF I RAN THE ZOO (1951.)
Peter Sis : STARRY MESSENGER (1997), TIBET THROUGH THE RED BOX (1999) and THE WALL (2008.)
Mo Williems : DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS (2004), KNUFFLE BUNNY (2005), and KNUFFLE BUNNY TOO (2008.)
Taro Yashima : CROW BOY (1956), UMBRELLA (1959), and SEASHORE STORY (1968.)
I also think that Bryan Collier will eventually receive the gold medal -- sooner rather than later.
KAKAPO RESCUE was the third Sy Montgomery/Nic Bishop collaboration to be recognized by the Sibert committee after Honors THE TARANTULA SCIENTIST and QUEST FOR THE TREE KANGAROO. Mr. Bishop was also honored for his solo work, SPIDERS.
This year's two Sibert Honorees, Russell Freedman and Jan Greenberg/Sandra Jordan are not strangers to this award. Both have been cited before, with Mr. Freedman winning the 2005 Medal for THE VOICE THAT CHALLENGED A NATION and Greenberg/Jordan being Honored for ACTION JACKSON.
KUDOS
On Saturday I asked if anyone had any Newbery or Printz predictions to share.
Kudos to Sherry for getting the Printz winner right -- it was SHIP BREAKER!
And Kristen actually got the Newbery correct!
Plus I must give retro-props to Harper who predicted GOING BOVINE and TALES OF A MADMAN UNDERGROUND for the Printz last year. I only know one other person who predicted BOVINE and I don't think anyone (but Harper!) saw MADMAN coming.
PERSONAL STATS
When the awards were announced, I already owned all the Newbery books, except for HEART OF A SAMURAI. Fortunately, I was able to find a copy at a local store within minutes of hearing the announcement.
I'm especially pleased that my copies of TURTLE IN PARADISE are signed. Here is the ARC (advance reader's copy):
And here is the eventual hardcover:
Which cover do you prefer?
I have not yet read either MOON OVER MANIFEST or HEART OF A SAMURAI, but hope to read them soon and review them in this blog.
When the awards were announced, I already owned all the Printz books, except for STOLEN, which I hurried out to purchase.
Unfortunately, my copy of NOTHING is a second printing, so I am scrounging around trying to find a first. Has anyone ever seen one?
I have yet to read STOLEN, but hope to read it soon and review that here as well. And I'm very anxious to write about both REVOLVER and NOTHING -- REVOLVER because, while I enjoyed the book's fast-paced suspense, I felt the story centered on a somewhat sticky moral crisis that led to a rather unsatisfying conclusion; I'll explain more -- with spoilers -- in a future blog. And I must say I didn't like NOTHING (how could anyone like this deeply disturbing novel?) but I do think it's rather brilliant and almost impossible to forget. Why aren't more people talking about it?
SUPERSTITIONS
As mentioned earlier, Erin and Philip Stead live fairly nearby and on Saturday my bookstore friend called them and asked if she could meet them to sign her store's copies of A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE. (I'm always amaazed at the ease with which other people can simply telephone or even meet famous authors and illustrators. I'd be way too shy (and way too in awe of their talent) to ever meet them. When my friend got back from Ann Arbor, I asked if she'd told Erin Stead that she wanted AMOS MCGEE to win the Caldecott. She said she hadn't. I said, "But you thought that book deserved the Caldecott since the first time you saw it! For months you've been saying it's your number one choice for the prize! Why in the world didn't you mention that?"
She said, "I didn't want to jinx the book's chances by saying anything."
Jinx?
I've never heard of anything so silly and superstious!
How could a few sentences uttered in Ann Arbor, Michigan affect the committee's deliberations all the way out in San Diego, California?
Besides the whole concept of jinxes and good luck charms and superstitions is positively medieval!
Some people need to wake-up and enter the twenty-first century.
I hope my friend dispels herself of such antiquated thinking -- and fast!
In the meantime, what 2011 books should I put in my bed next year at Newbery time? I know, I know it sounds crazy, but this thing really works!
Some sleep with dolls or teddy bears.
Me? I sleep with books.
It's not intentional. It's just that I like to read before going to sleep each night and, over time, the one or two books on my pillow becomes three or four. Or ten or twelve. On Sunday night -- the night before the prize announcements -- there were twenty books beside me as I slept. Here they are:
Let's zoom in for a closer view. (You can click on the image to enlarge it even more.) It's a mix of new hardcovers I purchased, a couple ARCS I received free, and several library books. Recognize any of these titles? Let's see...
Isn't that the Morris winner, THE FREAK OBSERVER by Blythe Woolston?
And there's SHIP BREAKER by Paolo Bacigalupi, which won this year's Printz.
Plus TWO Printz Honors -- REVOLVER by Marcus Sedgwick and PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King.
Finally, what's that book down on the far left side?
Let me flip it over:
Yep, MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool, the winner of this year's Newbery Medal!
MOON OVER MANIFEST was very much a surprise winner, but I'd heard the title mentioned several times as a possible under-the-radar contender over the past few weeks, so on Friday evening I picked up a copy of the novel on the way home from work. How lucky was that? Sunday night I slept beside it (and SHIP BREAKER and THE FREAK OBSERVER) and all three won major awards. Not to mention Honors for my bedmates VERA DIETZ and REVOLVER.
Coincidence?
Of course.
But still.... I think next January, on The Night Before the Awards -- I'll take all my special favorites for the year and tuck them in beside me to see if lightning strikes twice!
Today's blog is a very random mix of facts and opinions about this year's book awards.
FIRST THE FACTS
The 2011 Newbery Medal went to MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool.
There were four Honor Books:
TURTLE IN PARADISE by Jennifer L. Holm
HEART OF A SAMURAI by Margi Preus
DARK EMPEROR AND OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen
ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams-Garcia
The 2011 Caldecott Medal went to Erin E. Stead for A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE, written by Philip C. Stead.
There were two Honor Books:
DAVE THE POTTER : ARTIST, POET, SLAVE, illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Laban Carrick Hill
INTERRUPTING CHICKEN, written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein
The 2011 Printz Award went to SHIP BREAKER by Paolo Bacigalupi.
The four Honor Books are:
STOLEN by Lucy Christopher
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King
REVOLVER by Marcus Sedgwick
NOTHING by Janne Teller
The 2011 Sibert Prize went to KAKAPO RESCUE : SAVING THE WORLD'S STRANGEST BIRD, written by Sy Montgomery and illustrated by Nic Bishop.
There were two Honor Books:
BALLET FOR MARTHA : MAKING APPALACHIAN SPRING, written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan and illustrated by Brian Floca
LAFAYETTE AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Russell Freedman
WATCHING THE AWARDS
I've only had a fast internet connection for a few months, so this was the first time I was able to watch the award ceremony live.
Wow, it was exciting to hear the events in real time and listen to the audience response to each winning title. It was just like being there!
However, before the presentation began, the internet feed began playing LAST YEAR'S AWARDS. I thought it was funny that all the winning books were titles from 2009! Luckily I caught on just before the 2011 feed began. Did this happen to anyone else?
And how many people were unable to get online or had the feed go out on them halfway through the program? Several of my friends told me this happened to them.
DID ERIN STEAD SET A RECORD?
A couple years ago I wrote a blog about the comparative ages of each Caldecott winner. The oldest winner was Mordicai Gerstein (THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS) who received the award at age 69.
The youngest was Robert McCloskey, who won for MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS at age 28.
Now along comes Erin E. Stead, who is also 28 years old.
At the very least, she has tied Mr. McCloskey for youngest Caldecott winner ever. Depending on her birthdate, she may actually have set a new record. Robert McCloskey was about six months into his twenty-eighth year when he won (back then the awards were usually announced in March), so if Ms. Stead is less than six months from her last birthday, she has established a new Caldecott record!
UPDATE : Philip C. Stead, the author of A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE and husband of newly-crowned Caldecott winner Erin E. Stead wrote in to say that Erin just turned twenty-eight on December 27.
This officially makes her the youngest Caldecott winner EVER -- beating out previous record holder Robert McCloskey by several months.
Thanks for the info -- and congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Stead on their winning book!
HOMETOWN PRIDE
Erin Stead is originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan (hey, that's where I live!) and her husband, who wrote A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE and both wrote and illustrated CREAMED TUNA FISH & PEAS ON TOAST, hails from nearby Dearborn. Now they live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Erin joins other Michigan-born Caldecott winners Gerald McDermott (ARROW TO THE SUN), Chris Van Allsburg (JUMANJI; THE POLAR EXPRESS), and David Small (SO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT.)
IN-STEAD OF ME TELLING YOU ABOUT THE STEADS...
You might want to check out this newspaper article from the Detroit Free Press or this wonderfully in-depth blog entry from the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog.
THE ONLY MISTAKE I HEARD ON ALA WEBCAST
Anyone notice that the Morris Award winner THE FREAK OBSERVER was mistakenly announced as FREAK THE OBSERVER?
Now several other websites and blogs have recorded it incorrectly.
...And I'm counting down the minutes till someone asks if FREAK THE OBSERVER is a sequel to Rodman Philbrick's FREAK THE MIGHTY....
EMILY LITELLA STRIKES AGAIN
In Beverly Cleary's 1984 Newbery winner, DEAR MR. HENSHAW, the eponymous character is a children's book writer whose works include WAYS TO AMUSE A DOG.
Ms. Cleary, a former bookseller, came up with that fictional title because she'd heard the possibly-apocryphal story about a bookstore customer who wanted a copy of Franz Werfer's big old serious novel FORTY DAYS OF MUSA DAGH and instead asked for "Forty Ways to Amuse a Dog."
Do you think anyone will now try to seek out MOON OVER MANIFEST and instead get this 2008 children's book:
Or how about those who want this year's Sibert Honor, BALLET FOR MARTHA and instead end up with:
THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS
Two books.
Both historical novels for young readers.
Both published in 2010.
One's nominated for the Morris Award, the other wins the Newbery.
And both cover girls need to watch where they're walking.
DUAL NEWBIES?
A blog-reader just asked me if this was the first year in which both the Newbery and Caldecott were given to debut creators.
I believe it is!
The closest example I can find is 1961 when Nicolas Sidjanov won the Caldecott for the first book he illustrated, BABOUSHKA AND THE THREE KINGS, and Scott O'Dell won for ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS, which was his first work for young readers. However, Mr. O'Dell had previously published a few books for adults, so he was not truly a first-time author.
Incidentally, many authors have received the Newbery for their first book, but I'm hard-pressed to think of many illustrators who have won the Caldecott for their first book.
Let's see, there's Sidjanov and Stead.... Who else?
WILL THIS YEAR'S WINNERS BE HARD FOR COLLECTORS TO FIND?
MOON OVER MANIFEST was published October 12, 2010.
I've heard that this novel had a first printing of 15,000 copies.
By the time the award was announced on January 10, the book was already in its second printing.
Based on my own experience, I think this winner may be similar to the 1995 Newbery WALK TWO MOONS in terms of collectability. That is, the book was released recently enough that all the copies haven't been snapped by libraries -- which is what happened with some other winners such as KIRA-KIRA and A SINGLE SHARD. Right now, just a couple days after the announcement, copies may be hard to find (it's currently #10 on the Amazon bestseller list) but when things calm down, I think first editions will trickle onto the market and be available for a moderate-to-high price.
A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE was published May 25, 2010.
I do not know the size of the first printing.
By the time the award was announced on January 10, the book was in at least its sixth printing.
Time will tell whether this becomes a classic, impossible-to-find Caldecott, but anecdotal evidence suggests it is selling very well, with some booksellers reporting it a hand-selling success long before the award was bestowed. The book is currently #8 on Amazon's bestseller list. Considering its early date of publication and its subsequent multiple printings, this is a difficult book to find in first edition at present and may remain so. Expect to pay a high price for a first edition in the coming years.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
Some fun facts and figures about this year's prizes:
All of this year's Newbery titles were written by women.
This is the twentieth time that the entire Newbery slate (winner and Honors) have been won by all females: 1930 (winner plus six Honors!), 1932 (winner plus six Honors!), 1933, 1935, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1951, 1956, 1963, 1965, 1970, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2011.
The number of female Newbery winners is now exactly double that of men, with sixty women winners vs. thirty men.
There have been complaints that Newbery novels tend to feature young girls with absent and/or bad mothers. This year's list reinforces those complaints, with three of the five books: MOON OVER MANIFEST, ONE CRAZY SUMMER, and TURTLE IN PARADISE following that trend.
This year's Newbery winner and honorees are all newcomers to the award, except for Jennifer Holm. This is her third Newbery Honor in eleven years. She joins the following group of "three-peaters" who have won three Honors without having won the gold:
Mary and Conrad Buff : BIG TREE (1947), THE APPLE AND THE ARROW (1952) and MAGIC MAIZE (1954.)
Padraic Colum : THE GOLDEN FLEECE (1922), THE VOYAGERS (1926), and BIG TREE OF BUNLAHY (1934.)
Alice Dalgliesh : THE SILVER PENCIL (1945), THE BEARS ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN (1953) and THE COURAGE OF SARAH NOBLE (1955.)
Nancy Farmer : THE EAR, THE EYE, AND THE ARM (1995), A GIRL NAMED DISASTER (1997), and THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION (2003.)
Agnes Hewes : SPICE AND THE DEVIL’S CAVE (1931), GLORY OF THE SEAS (1934), and THE CODFISH MUSKET (1937.)
Clara Ingram : ABRAHAM LINCOLN, FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE (1951), THEODORE ROOSEVELT, FIGHTING PATRIOT (1954), AND MR. JUSTICE HOLMES (1957.)
Eloise Jarvis McGraw : MOCCASIN TRAIL (1953), THE GOLDEN GOBLET (1962) and THE MOORCHILD (1997.) The forty-four years between her first and last Honors represents the longest stretch of time between honored books in an author’s career.
Anne Parrish : THE DREAM COACH (1925), FLOATING ISLAND (1931), and THE STORY OF APPLEBY CAPPLE (1951.)
Gary Paulsen : DOGSONG (1986), HATCHET (1988), and THE WINTER ROOM (1990.)
Isaac Bashevis Singer : ZLATEH THE GOAT (1967), THE FEARSOME INN (1968), and WHEN SHLEMIEL WENT TO WARSAW (1969.)
Zilpha Keatley Snyder : THE EGYPT GAME (1968), THE HEADLESS CUPID (1972), and THE WITCHES OF WORM (1973.)
Jacqueline Woodson : SHOW WAY (2006), FEATHERS (2008), and AFTER TUPAC & D FOSTER (2009.)
Something tells me that Jennifer Holm will eventually win the Big N.
MOON OVER MANIFEST is one of the lenghiest Newberys to date. At 351 pages, it ranks only behind the first winner, THE STORY OF MANKIND (489 pages) and the second year's winner, THE VOYAGES OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE (364 pages.)
This year's winner is the fourth Newbery title to have the word "moon" in its title, following last year's Honor Book WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON, winner WALK TWO MOONS, and Honor Book SING DOWN THE MOON
As of this year there are 53 male Caldecott winners and 27 female.
DAVE THE POTTER marks the third time Bryan Collier has received a Caldecott Honor, after ROSA and MARTIN'S BIG WORDS. He joins a select club of illustrators who have won three Caldecott Honors without winning the gold:
Molly Bang : TH GREY LADY AND THE STRAWBERRY SNATCHER (1981), TEN, NINE, EIGHT (1984), and WHEN SOPHIE GETS ANGRY -- REALLY REALLY ANGRY (2000.)
Peter Parnall : THE DESERT IS THEIRS (1976), HAWK, I’M YOUR BROTHER (1977), and THE WAY TO START A DAY (1978.)
Dr. Seuss : MCELLIGOT’S POOL (1948), BARTHOLEMEW AND THE OOBLECK (1950), IF I RAN THE ZOO (1951.)
Peter Sis : STARRY MESSENGER (1997), TIBET THROUGH THE RED BOX (1999) and THE WALL (2008.)
Mo Williems : DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS (2004), KNUFFLE BUNNY (2005), and KNUFFLE BUNNY TOO (2008.)
Taro Yashima : CROW BOY (1956), UMBRELLA (1959), and SEASHORE STORY (1968.)
I also think that Bryan Collier will eventually receive the gold medal -- sooner rather than later.
KAKAPO RESCUE was the third Sy Montgomery/Nic Bishop collaboration to be recognized by the Sibert committee after Honors THE TARANTULA SCIENTIST and QUEST FOR THE TREE KANGAROO. Mr. Bishop was also honored for his solo work, SPIDERS.
This year's two Sibert Honorees, Russell Freedman and Jan Greenberg/Sandra Jordan are not strangers to this award. Both have been cited before, with Mr. Freedman winning the 2005 Medal for THE VOICE THAT CHALLENGED A NATION and Greenberg/Jordan being Honored for ACTION JACKSON.
KUDOS
On Saturday I asked if anyone had any Newbery or Printz predictions to share.
Kudos to Sherry for getting the Printz winner right -- it was SHIP BREAKER!
And Kristen actually got the Newbery correct!
Plus I must give retro-props to Harper who predicted GOING BOVINE and TALES OF A MADMAN UNDERGROUND for the Printz last year. I only know one other person who predicted BOVINE and I don't think anyone (but Harper!) saw MADMAN coming.
PERSONAL STATS
When the awards were announced, I already owned all the Newbery books, except for HEART OF A SAMURAI. Fortunately, I was able to find a copy at a local store within minutes of hearing the announcement.
I'm especially pleased that my copies of TURTLE IN PARADISE are signed. Here is the ARC (advance reader's copy):
And here is the eventual hardcover:
Which cover do you prefer?
I have not yet read either MOON OVER MANIFEST or HEART OF A SAMURAI, but hope to read them soon and review them in this blog.
When the awards were announced, I already owned all the Printz books, except for STOLEN, which I hurried out to purchase.
Unfortunately, my copy of NOTHING is a second printing, so I am scrounging around trying to find a first. Has anyone ever seen one?
I have yet to read STOLEN, but hope to read it soon and review that here as well. And I'm very anxious to write about both REVOLVER and NOTHING -- REVOLVER because, while I enjoyed the book's fast-paced suspense, I felt the story centered on a somewhat sticky moral crisis that led to a rather unsatisfying conclusion; I'll explain more -- with spoilers -- in a future blog. And I must say I didn't like NOTHING (how could anyone like this deeply disturbing novel?) but I do think it's rather brilliant and almost impossible to forget. Why aren't more people talking about it?
SUPERSTITIONS
As mentioned earlier, Erin and Philip Stead live fairly nearby and on Saturday my bookstore friend called them and asked if she could meet them to sign her store's copies of A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE. (I'm always amaazed at the ease with which other people can simply telephone or even meet famous authors and illustrators. I'd be way too shy (and way too in awe of their talent) to ever meet them. When my friend got back from Ann Arbor, I asked if she'd told Erin Stead that she wanted AMOS MCGEE to win the Caldecott. She said she hadn't. I said, "But you thought that book deserved the Caldecott since the first time you saw it! For months you've been saying it's your number one choice for the prize! Why in the world didn't you mention that?"
She said, "I didn't want to jinx the book's chances by saying anything."
Jinx?
I've never heard of anything so silly and superstious!
How could a few sentences uttered in Ann Arbor, Michigan affect the committee's deliberations all the way out in San Diego, California?
Besides the whole concept of jinxes and good luck charms and superstitions is positively medieval!
Some people need to wake-up and enter the twenty-first century.
I hope my friend dispels herself of such antiquated thinking -- and fast!
In the meantime, what 2011 books should I put in my bed next year at Newbery time? I know, I know it sounds crazy, but this thing really works!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
I Can't Think about Brunch -- I'm Too Anxious about Tomorrow!
Sorry that I have not posted a blog in several days. And many thanks to those who inquired about my absence. I apologize for shirking my duties here. I’ve just been in a post-holiday slump, plus I’ve been trying to finish another (overdue) chapter for the book I’m writing for Candlewick with Julie Danielson from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast and Betsy Bird from Fuse #8 fame.
If you’re curious about the kind of stories you'll find in our book, you might like reading Betsy’s recent blog about the time the editor of one children’s book periodical threatened to hit the editor of another children’s book editor over the head with a chair.
Been there, considered it, dismissed the idea.
Editors of children’s book periodicals have notoriously hard heads.
A WEEKEND FOR NEWBERY NERDS AND CALDECOTT COGNOSCENTE
Just before the holidays, I received this e-mail from a book-loving friend:
Is there something wrong with someone who counts down days til ALA announcements instead of Christmas? Oh well. Books have been some of my best friends over the years.
Today, Jonathan of the Heavy Medal blog likens this day to the night before Christmas.
I can identify.
From the time I was a kid, Newbery/Caldecott Day has felt like a holiday to me.
When I was younger, I had to wait till the award news filtered down to our local library. I still remember the librarian telling me that “a book called SUMMER OF THE SWANS won,” but adding that it wasn’t available yet, as the library’s copy was still being processed. She must have seen the disappointment on my face, because a few minutes later she retrieved the book from in back and let me take it out. I was the first person in our library to read the book. I wonder if a copy of the book with “c. 1” on the back pocket still sits on the shelf at Detroit’s Edison Branch Library….
As I got older, I got more involved – and more cunning. On Newbery Day I’d phone the “press room” at the ALA convention and, pretending to be a journalist (think I fooled anyone?) I’d inquire about the winning books myself.
Later, when I grew up and started working full time, I’d sneak away from my jobs with a pocketful of quarters and dimes and call the convention from the nearest pay phone.
For the past twenty years or so, I’ve taken the day off work. I used to stay up late that Sunday night, catching-up on possible winners that I still hadn’t read. Now I stay up late checking the internet for gossip and “leaks.” If the awards are announced very early in the morning, I’ve even been known to sleep in my clothes, so I can rush out the door to track down the winning books as soon as I hear the news (oh don’t worry, I come back and take a shower and change afterwards.) Newbery morning is spent racing around in my car, looking for the winning titles at bookstores, text-messaging fellow book-collectors, and generally behaving like a crazy person.
Things don’t slow down till afternoon. That’s when I go out to lunch, Newbery winner in hand, and sit reading – evaluating whether the committee made the “right” choices, thinking about the books that didn’t quite make it…and even thinking ahead to next year’s winners. I also think about how things have changed over the years…from waiting to hear the news from my local librarians…to seeking it out on my own…all the way till today when we learn the winners almost instantaneously from blogs, tweets, or even from watching the presentation live on the internet.
Thinking back on this, I see how technology has changed from throughout my life. And I see how my own life has changed from year to year.
Newbery Day – like a birthday, like Christmas – is a once a year event and an annual mile-marker in my life.
BUT WHAT WILL WIN?
Will tomorrow be as laid-back as Newbery Day 2008, when I discovered I had already purchased and read the entire Newbery slate (Winner: GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES by Laura Amy Schlitz and Honors ELIJAH OF BUXTON (Christopher Paul Curtis), THE WEDNESDAY WARS (Gary D. Schmidt) and FEATHERS (Jacqueline Woodson) months earlier or will it be as dramatic as 1987 – a year the winners weren’t announced till late afternoon and I drove through a blizzard to the bookstore, dodged cars across a busy street with foot-high snow, then discovered the store was closing early due to the weather and stood outside in the dark and cold, pounding on the wooden door until someone let me in to get a copy of THE WHIPPING BOY?
I dunno.
It could really go anyway. Many blogs are predicting great things for ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams Garcia, KEEPER by Kathi Appelt, THE DREAMER by Pam Munoz Ryan, DARK EMPEROR by Joyce Sidman, COUNTDOWN by Deborah Wiles, THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE KKK by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos, and several other titles.
Personally, I’ve got a soft spot for a couple titles that didn’t make much of a dent on most Mock Newbery lists: TURTLE IN PARADISE by Jennifer Holm and TOUCH BLUE by Cynthia Lord.
I tend to agree with those who think this year may hold some big surprises. I truly can imagine a book that was on nobody’s radar surprising us all tomorrow morning. One would think that, in today’s techno-tweeting world, that would be near-impossible. After all, hasn’t every literary website and book-blog analyzed every possible title to within a inch of its gold medal? Yet, year after year, the Newbery keeps surprising us. In the past decade alone, half of the winners have been surprises:
2001 : A YEAR DOWN YONDER by Richard Peck. In retrospect, it seems like a foregone winner – the type of book everyone would expect to win – yet I don’t really think it was considered a true contender by anyone before it actually won the prize.
2002 : A SINGLE SHARD by Linda Sue Park. I believe it won a single Mock Newbery in the weeks right before the award, but this pretty-much-under-the-radar-novel surprised most of us when it won the prize.
2003 : CRISPIN : THE CROSS OF LEAD by Avi. Did ANYONE predict this one?
2005 : KIRA-KIRA by Cynthia Kadohata. Completely. Unexpected.
2007 : THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron. Most overheard comment on the day this award was announced: “The Higher Power of What? By Who?” Definitely a surprise winner.
So, hang onto your seatbelts, as 2011 may be the year for another surprise Newbery.
Caldecott too.
And of course the Printz. Has any book emerged as a true frontrunner for that prize – my second favorite literary award after the Newbery.
FEELING PSYCHIC?
Do you have any strong feelings for a completely out-of-left-field winner for the Newbery, Caldecott, or Printz? A book whose title really hasn’t been bandied about much in recent weeks? If so, post your titles in the comments section before tomorrow morning and prove your powers of ESP and/or literary acumen.
IN OTHER AWARD NEWS
ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams Garcia just won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. She joins the following past winners:
1984 / THE SIGN OF THE BEAVER / Elizabeth George Speare
1985 / THE FIGHTING GROUND / Avi
1986 / SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL / Patricia MacLachlan
1987 / STREAMS TO THE RIVER, RIVER TO THE SEA / Scott O’Dell
1988 / CHARLEY SKEDADDLE / Patricia Beatty
1989 / THE HONORABLE PRISON / Lyll Becerra de Jenkins
1990 / SHADES OF GREY / Carolyn Reeder
1991 / A TIME OF TROUBLES / Pieter Van Raven
1992 / STEPPING ON THE CRACKS / Mary Downing Hahn
1993 / MORNING GIRL / Michael Dorris
1994 / BULL RUN / Paul Fleischman
1995 / UNDER THE BLOOD RUN SUN / Graham Salisbury
1996 / THE BOMB / Theodore Taylor
1997 / JIP, HIS STORY / Katherine Paterson
1998 / OUT OF THE DUST / Karen Hesse
1999 / FORTY ACRES AND MAYBE A MULE / Harriette Robinet
2000 / TWO SUNS IN THE SKY / Miriam Bat-Ami
2001 / THE ART OF KEEPING COOL / Janet Taylor Lisle
2002 / THE LAND / Mildred Walker
2003 / TROUBLE DON’T LAST / Shelley Pearsall
2004 / THE RIVER BETWEEN US / Richard Peck
2005 / WORTH / A LaFaye
2006 / THE GAME OF SILENCE / Louise Erdrich
2007 / THE GREEN GLASS SEA / Ellen Klages
2008 / ELIJAH OF BUXTON / Christopher Paul Curtis
2009 / CHAINS / Laurie Halse Anderson
2010 / THE STORM IN THE BARN / Matt Phelan
SIX FUN FACTS about the Scott O’Dell Award:
* Though established in 1982, no prize was given the first two years because no book was deemed worthy.
* Though it seems strange that Scott O’Dell himself won an award that bears his name, this is not the first time this has happened. Laura Ingalls Wilder won the inaugural Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal in 1954.
* Women writers have won twice as often as men: 18 to 9.
* Two O’Dell winning books have gone on to be Newbery winners: SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL and OUT OF THE DUST.
* Two have gone on to be Newbery Honors: THE SIGN OF THE BEAVER and ELIJAH OF BUXTON.
* In this year’s winner, ONE CRAZY SUMMER, the protagonist is shown reading a Scott O’Dell book, ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS.
ONE SCARY FACT about the Scott O’Dell Award:
*Well, scary to me. How can an award for historical fiction be given to book set in my own lifetime??? This year’s winner, ONE CRAZY SUMMER, is set in 1968, when I was nine years old. I guess it’s time to face facts: I am now, officially, old!
OBITUARIES (WHAT A SEGUE!)
A couple weeks ago I started preparing this list of children’s book creators we lost in 2010. Since then, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL has publishd a list of their own. I'm not sure how much overlap there is, but here goes:
J.D. Salinger, author of the honorary young adult novel CATCHER IN THE RYE (would it have been published as an adult book today?) died January 27 at the age of 91.
Lucille Clifton died February 13 at age 73. She was best known for the “Everett Anderson” series.
Patricia Wrightson (THE NARGUN AND THE STARS; A LITTLE FEAR) died at age 88 on March 15.
Newbery-winner Sid Fleischman (THE WHIPPING BOY; GHOST IN THE NOONDAY SUN) died at age 90 on March 17.
William Mayne, author of the “Earthfasts” trilogy, died at age 82 on March 24.
“Poppy Cats” author Lara Jones died on March 26 at age 34.
The Caldecott-winning illustrator of OWL MOON, John Schoenherr, died April 8 at age 74.
WEDNESDAY WITCH author Ruth Chew died on May 13 at the age of 90.
Joan Steiner, who created the eye-boggling “Lookalikes” books died on September 8 at age…well, she left special instructions saying she didn’t want her age revealed!
Clifford B. Hicks, who created the “Alvin Fernald series” (Amy Carter’s favorite childhood books!) died at age 90 on September 29.
Eva Ibbotson, author of THE SECRET OF PLATFORM 13 and others) left us on October 20 at age 85.
Betty Jean Lifton, whose book CHILDREN OF VIETNAM (written with Thomas C. Fox) was nominated for both the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal, died November 19 at age 84.
Remember the Belgian comic strip cartoon Tintin? Many felt the character was inspired by the Danish actor Palle Huld, who died on November 26 at age 98.
Ruth Park, who won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for PLAYING BEATIE BOW, died December 14 at age 93.
Elizabeth Beresford, who created the British series about the Wombles died on Christmas Eve at age 84. How could she not have become a children’s writer – her godparents were Walter de la Mare and Eleanor Farejon!
AND THE FIRST AUTHOR FOR THE 2011 LIST
Dick King-Smith died on January 4 at age 88. Though he did not publish his first book until age 54, he made up for lost time by publishing over one hundred titles in the years since. He was best known for BABE, THE GALLANT PIG, which was later made into a major motion picture. It must have seemed foolhardy to attempt a story about a pig, in light of the fact that a children’s book classic, CHARLOTTE’S WEB, was already considered the definitive novel with a porker protagonist. But BABE turned out to be highly-praised by critics and beloved by readers – and achieved classic status of its own. The author’s 2001 autobiography, CHEWING THE CUD, was also critically-acclaimed.
To quote the film, if not the book: Well done, sir, well done.
NOTE TO COLLECTORS
If you’re a fan of the recent Frida Kahlo picture book, ME, FRIDA, written by Amy Novesky and illustrated by David Diaz (Caldecott winner for SMOKY NIGHT), you might be interested in a special “limited edition bound presentation case” for the book.
According to the illustrator, “Each case and its contents are numbered and marked in a unique manner. There are no two alike.” The contents include:
Interior case, front cover, original drawing of Frida, under vellum.
Announcement sheet, and Limited-Edition print of Frida on the Headlands, printed on 100% cotton, archival, acid-free paper.
Original sketch created in preparation for the paintings in Me, Frida, in vellum envelope.
Early manuscript with notes, signed by the author.
Copy of ME, FRIDA, signed by the author, and illustrator.
For more info, here’s where to find out more.
REQUEST FROM A BLOG READER
A friend of this blog recently sent me this query:
I have never taken the time (busy librarian that I was)to record my books, so when I want to find a specific title I'm not really sure what shelf it is on.
Space is so precious that I end up shelving books by size. And when I see a
desirable title in a bookstore or book sale I don't often remember if I already
have it, or what edition I have, or what the condition is.
I want an electronic system to keep track. And something that I can take with me when I am out looking at potential purchases. Mind you, I am not a tech savvy person so I need something simple. I have no idea what.
Do you have a suggestion?
I suggested LibraryThing, which is how I record my books, but I am not sure if LibraryThing can be used on a handheld device which can travel to bookstores.
Does anyone know?
And does anyone have any suggestions on how this fellow book collector can keep track of her books?
THE PRICE OF NONFICTION
Fiction is my first love and I spend most of my bookbuying budget in that area.
However, at this time of year, when people are recommending nonfiction books as possible Newbery or Printz winner, I usually do end up buying a couple factual books. And this year I’ve noticed a startling increase in the price of these books.
THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD : A TRUE STORY OF ADVENTURE, HEROISM, AND TREACHERY by Steve Sheinkin is $19.99.
SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos is $20.00.
And AN UNSPEAKABLE CRIME : THE PROSECUTION AND PERSECUTION OF LEO FRANK by Elaine Marie Alphin, is a credit card busting $22.95!
Stop the madness!
Does anyone know why informational books are so much more expensive than fiction? Has it always been that way, or is this a recent trend?
Also, I’ve noticed that at least one of these books employs a device I’ve never seen before. SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD (which is truly a superb book – probably the year’s best nonfiction for young readers) includes some links to websites for supplementary material. For example, a reference to the music created by enslaved African sugar workers sends readers to a website where they can listen to the music. That is the perfect use for a website link. But I was taken aback to see the following note: “Many of the images reproduced in black and white in this book can also be found in color on the Web,” followed by a list of addresses. What’s the reasoning behind this? Is this a cost-cutting method or what? What’s next – no pictures at all...just blank spaces captioned by web addresses where readers can look at the pictures?
BACK STORY
One of the most highly-anticipated young adult novels of 2011 has just been released. I haven’t read ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis yet, but I picked up a copy on Friday due to the buzz I’ve heard.
Fans of dustjackets (dustjacket…a word that will disappear in the World of Kindle) will be intrigued by this one which includes a YA-friendly soft-focus (almost said soft-core) photo on the front with an embossed title:
Remove the dustjacket and the flip side includes a blueprint diagram of the Spaceship Godspeed, the interplanetary vehicle on which most of the novel’s action takes place:
Kudos to publisher Razorbill for utilizing what is often wasted white space to present something new and innovative!
FINAL THOUGHTS
'Twas the night before Newbery, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, except my Mac’s mouse;
Into every book-blog I was desperately peeking,
To see if some Newbery gossip was leaking.
The books in contention sat nearby, barely daring
To hope that tomorrow a gold seal they’d be wearing.
COUNTDOWN counted the hours, with an assist from THE CLOCKWORK THREE.
THE KNEEBONE BOY wondered, “Could the winning book be me?”
SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD thought a medal would be sweet,
While TURTLE IN PARADISE hoped her author would three-peat.
KEEPER was optimistic and kept her hope afloat,
While a dark horse named DARK EMPEROR circled KEEPER’S boat.
SIR CHARLIE thought a posthumous prize might not be a bummer
While three sisters and a DREAMER bet on ONE CRAZY SUMMER.
Perhaps in a store or library, an unknown book sits on the shelf
Never discussed by Heavy Medal, nor considered by yourself.
Yet tomorrow it might just wear that gold seal of approval
While the aforementioned books await “remaindered” removal.
You never know at Newbery time, what book will take the prize
It may be totally expected, it may be a big surprise.
If the books you love don’t win tomorrow, then “phooey” to the choosers
(After all, the books you love can never truly be losers.)
Thanks for visiting Collecting Children’s Books. Hope you’ll be back later this week for post-award reflections and recaps!
If you’re curious about the kind of stories you'll find in our book, you might like reading Betsy’s recent blog about the time the editor of one children’s book periodical threatened to hit the editor of another children’s book editor over the head with a chair.
Been there, considered it, dismissed the idea.
Editors of children’s book periodicals have notoriously hard heads.
A WEEKEND FOR NEWBERY NERDS AND CALDECOTT COGNOSCENTE
Just before the holidays, I received this e-mail from a book-loving friend:
Is there something wrong with someone who counts down days til ALA announcements instead of Christmas? Oh well. Books have been some of my best friends over the years.
Today, Jonathan of the Heavy Medal blog likens this day to the night before Christmas.
I can identify.
From the time I was a kid, Newbery/Caldecott Day has felt like a holiday to me.
When I was younger, I had to wait till the award news filtered down to our local library. I still remember the librarian telling me that “a book called SUMMER OF THE SWANS won,” but adding that it wasn’t available yet, as the library’s copy was still being processed. She must have seen the disappointment on my face, because a few minutes later she retrieved the book from in back and let me take it out. I was the first person in our library to read the book. I wonder if a copy of the book with “c. 1” on the back pocket still sits on the shelf at Detroit’s Edison Branch Library….
As I got older, I got more involved – and more cunning. On Newbery Day I’d phone the “press room” at the ALA convention and, pretending to be a journalist (think I fooled anyone?) I’d inquire about the winning books myself.
Later, when I grew up and started working full time, I’d sneak away from my jobs with a pocketful of quarters and dimes and call the convention from the nearest pay phone.
For the past twenty years or so, I’ve taken the day off work. I used to stay up late that Sunday night, catching-up on possible winners that I still hadn’t read. Now I stay up late checking the internet for gossip and “leaks.” If the awards are announced very early in the morning, I’ve even been known to sleep in my clothes, so I can rush out the door to track down the winning books as soon as I hear the news (oh don’t worry, I come back and take a shower and change afterwards.) Newbery morning is spent racing around in my car, looking for the winning titles at bookstores, text-messaging fellow book-collectors, and generally behaving like a crazy person.
Things don’t slow down till afternoon. That’s when I go out to lunch, Newbery winner in hand, and sit reading – evaluating whether the committee made the “right” choices, thinking about the books that didn’t quite make it…and even thinking ahead to next year’s winners. I also think about how things have changed over the years…from waiting to hear the news from my local librarians…to seeking it out on my own…all the way till today when we learn the winners almost instantaneously from blogs, tweets, or even from watching the presentation live on the internet.
Thinking back on this, I see how technology has changed from throughout my life. And I see how my own life has changed from year to year.
Newbery Day – like a birthday, like Christmas – is a once a year event and an annual mile-marker in my life.
BUT WHAT WILL WIN?
Will tomorrow be as laid-back as Newbery Day 2008, when I discovered I had already purchased and read the entire Newbery slate (Winner: GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES by Laura Amy Schlitz and Honors ELIJAH OF BUXTON (Christopher Paul Curtis), THE WEDNESDAY WARS (Gary D. Schmidt) and FEATHERS (Jacqueline Woodson) months earlier or will it be as dramatic as 1987 – a year the winners weren’t announced till late afternoon and I drove through a blizzard to the bookstore, dodged cars across a busy street with foot-high snow, then discovered the store was closing early due to the weather and stood outside in the dark and cold, pounding on the wooden door until someone let me in to get a copy of THE WHIPPING BOY?
I dunno.
It could really go anyway. Many blogs are predicting great things for ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams Garcia, KEEPER by Kathi Appelt, THE DREAMER by Pam Munoz Ryan, DARK EMPEROR by Joyce Sidman, COUNTDOWN by Deborah Wiles, THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE KKK by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos, and several other titles.
Personally, I’ve got a soft spot for a couple titles that didn’t make much of a dent on most Mock Newbery lists: TURTLE IN PARADISE by Jennifer Holm and TOUCH BLUE by Cynthia Lord.
I tend to agree with those who think this year may hold some big surprises. I truly can imagine a book that was on nobody’s radar surprising us all tomorrow morning. One would think that, in today’s techno-tweeting world, that would be near-impossible. After all, hasn’t every literary website and book-blog analyzed every possible title to within a inch of its gold medal? Yet, year after year, the Newbery keeps surprising us. In the past decade alone, half of the winners have been surprises:
2001 : A YEAR DOWN YONDER by Richard Peck. In retrospect, it seems like a foregone winner – the type of book everyone would expect to win – yet I don’t really think it was considered a true contender by anyone before it actually won the prize.
2002 : A SINGLE SHARD by Linda Sue Park. I believe it won a single Mock Newbery in the weeks right before the award, but this pretty-much-under-the-radar-novel surprised most of us when it won the prize.
2003 : CRISPIN : THE CROSS OF LEAD by Avi. Did ANYONE predict this one?
2005 : KIRA-KIRA by Cynthia Kadohata. Completely. Unexpected.
2007 : THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron. Most overheard comment on the day this award was announced: “The Higher Power of What? By Who?” Definitely a surprise winner.
So, hang onto your seatbelts, as 2011 may be the year for another surprise Newbery.
Caldecott too.
And of course the Printz. Has any book emerged as a true frontrunner for that prize – my second favorite literary award after the Newbery.
FEELING PSYCHIC?
Do you have any strong feelings for a completely out-of-left-field winner for the Newbery, Caldecott, or Printz? A book whose title really hasn’t been bandied about much in recent weeks? If so, post your titles in the comments section before tomorrow morning and prove your powers of ESP and/or literary acumen.
IN OTHER AWARD NEWS
ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams Garcia just won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. She joins the following past winners:
1984 / THE SIGN OF THE BEAVER / Elizabeth George Speare
1985 / THE FIGHTING GROUND / Avi
1986 / SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL / Patricia MacLachlan
1987 / STREAMS TO THE RIVER, RIVER TO THE SEA / Scott O’Dell
1988 / CHARLEY SKEDADDLE / Patricia Beatty
1989 / THE HONORABLE PRISON / Lyll Becerra de Jenkins
1990 / SHADES OF GREY / Carolyn Reeder
1991 / A TIME OF TROUBLES / Pieter Van Raven
1992 / STEPPING ON THE CRACKS / Mary Downing Hahn
1993 / MORNING GIRL / Michael Dorris
1994 / BULL RUN / Paul Fleischman
1995 / UNDER THE BLOOD RUN SUN / Graham Salisbury
1996 / THE BOMB / Theodore Taylor
1997 / JIP, HIS STORY / Katherine Paterson
1998 / OUT OF THE DUST / Karen Hesse
1999 / FORTY ACRES AND MAYBE A MULE / Harriette Robinet
2000 / TWO SUNS IN THE SKY / Miriam Bat-Ami
2001 / THE ART OF KEEPING COOL / Janet Taylor Lisle
2002 / THE LAND / Mildred Walker
2003 / TROUBLE DON’T LAST / Shelley Pearsall
2004 / THE RIVER BETWEEN US / Richard Peck
2005 / WORTH / A LaFaye
2006 / THE GAME OF SILENCE / Louise Erdrich
2007 / THE GREEN GLASS SEA / Ellen Klages
2008 / ELIJAH OF BUXTON / Christopher Paul Curtis
2009 / CHAINS / Laurie Halse Anderson
2010 / THE STORM IN THE BARN / Matt Phelan
SIX FUN FACTS about the Scott O’Dell Award:
* Though established in 1982, no prize was given the first two years because no book was deemed worthy.
* Though it seems strange that Scott O’Dell himself won an award that bears his name, this is not the first time this has happened. Laura Ingalls Wilder won the inaugural Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal in 1954.
* Women writers have won twice as often as men: 18 to 9.
* Two O’Dell winning books have gone on to be Newbery winners: SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL and OUT OF THE DUST.
* Two have gone on to be Newbery Honors: THE SIGN OF THE BEAVER and ELIJAH OF BUXTON.
* In this year’s winner, ONE CRAZY SUMMER, the protagonist is shown reading a Scott O’Dell book, ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS.
ONE SCARY FACT about the Scott O’Dell Award:
*Well, scary to me. How can an award for historical fiction be given to book set in my own lifetime??? This year’s winner, ONE CRAZY SUMMER, is set in 1968, when I was nine years old. I guess it’s time to face facts: I am now, officially, old!
OBITUARIES (WHAT A SEGUE!)
A couple weeks ago I started preparing this list of children’s book creators we lost in 2010. Since then, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL has publishd a list of their own. I'm not sure how much overlap there is, but here goes:
J.D. Salinger, author of the honorary young adult novel CATCHER IN THE RYE (would it have been published as an adult book today?) died January 27 at the age of 91.
Lucille Clifton died February 13 at age 73. She was best known for the “Everett Anderson” series.
Patricia Wrightson (THE NARGUN AND THE STARS; A LITTLE FEAR) died at age 88 on March 15.
Newbery-winner Sid Fleischman (THE WHIPPING BOY; GHOST IN THE NOONDAY SUN) died at age 90 on March 17.
William Mayne, author of the “Earthfasts” trilogy, died at age 82 on March 24.
“Poppy Cats” author Lara Jones died on March 26 at age 34.
The Caldecott-winning illustrator of OWL MOON, John Schoenherr, died April 8 at age 74.
WEDNESDAY WITCH author Ruth Chew died on May 13 at the age of 90.
Joan Steiner, who created the eye-boggling “Lookalikes” books died on September 8 at age…well, she left special instructions saying she didn’t want her age revealed!
Clifford B. Hicks, who created the “Alvin Fernald series” (Amy Carter’s favorite childhood books!) died at age 90 on September 29.
Eva Ibbotson, author of THE SECRET OF PLATFORM 13 and others) left us on October 20 at age 85.
Betty Jean Lifton, whose book CHILDREN OF VIETNAM (written with Thomas C. Fox) was nominated for both the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal, died November 19 at age 84.
Remember the Belgian comic strip cartoon Tintin? Many felt the character was inspired by the Danish actor Palle Huld, who died on November 26 at age 98.
Ruth Park, who won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for PLAYING BEATIE BOW, died December 14 at age 93.
Elizabeth Beresford, who created the British series about the Wombles died on Christmas Eve at age 84. How could she not have become a children’s writer – her godparents were Walter de la Mare and Eleanor Farejon!
AND THE FIRST AUTHOR FOR THE 2011 LIST
Dick King-Smith died on January 4 at age 88. Though he did not publish his first book until age 54, he made up for lost time by publishing over one hundred titles in the years since. He was best known for BABE, THE GALLANT PIG, which was later made into a major motion picture. It must have seemed foolhardy to attempt a story about a pig, in light of the fact that a children’s book classic, CHARLOTTE’S WEB, was already considered the definitive novel with a porker protagonist. But BABE turned out to be highly-praised by critics and beloved by readers – and achieved classic status of its own. The author’s 2001 autobiography, CHEWING THE CUD, was also critically-acclaimed.
To quote the film, if not the book: Well done, sir, well done.
NOTE TO COLLECTORS
If you’re a fan of the recent Frida Kahlo picture book, ME, FRIDA, written by Amy Novesky and illustrated by David Diaz (Caldecott winner for SMOKY NIGHT), you might be interested in a special “limited edition bound presentation case” for the book.
According to the illustrator, “Each case and its contents are numbered and marked in a unique manner. There are no two alike.” The contents include:
Interior case, front cover, original drawing of Frida, under vellum.
Announcement sheet, and Limited-Edition print of Frida on the Headlands, printed on 100% cotton, archival, acid-free paper.
Original sketch created in preparation for the paintings in Me, Frida, in vellum envelope.
Early manuscript with notes, signed by the author.
Copy of ME, FRIDA, signed by the author, and illustrator.
For more info, here’s where to find out more.
REQUEST FROM A BLOG READER
A friend of this blog recently sent me this query:
I have never taken the time (busy librarian that I was)to record my books, so when I want to find a specific title I'm not really sure what shelf it is on.
Space is so precious that I end up shelving books by size. And when I see a
desirable title in a bookstore or book sale I don't often remember if I already
have it, or what edition I have, or what the condition is.
I want an electronic system to keep track. And something that I can take with me when I am out looking at potential purchases. Mind you, I am not a tech savvy person so I need something simple. I have no idea what.
Do you have a suggestion?
I suggested LibraryThing, which is how I record my books, but I am not sure if LibraryThing can be used on a handheld device which can travel to bookstores.
Does anyone know?
And does anyone have any suggestions on how this fellow book collector can keep track of her books?
THE PRICE OF NONFICTION
Fiction is my first love and I spend most of my bookbuying budget in that area.
However, at this time of year, when people are recommending nonfiction books as possible Newbery or Printz winner, I usually do end up buying a couple factual books. And this year I’ve noticed a startling increase in the price of these books.
THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD : A TRUE STORY OF ADVENTURE, HEROISM, AND TREACHERY by Steve Sheinkin is $19.99.
SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos is $20.00.
And AN UNSPEAKABLE CRIME : THE PROSECUTION AND PERSECUTION OF LEO FRANK by Elaine Marie Alphin, is a credit card busting $22.95!
Stop the madness!
Does anyone know why informational books are so much more expensive than fiction? Has it always been that way, or is this a recent trend?
Also, I’ve noticed that at least one of these books employs a device I’ve never seen before. SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD (which is truly a superb book – probably the year’s best nonfiction for young readers) includes some links to websites for supplementary material. For example, a reference to the music created by enslaved African sugar workers sends readers to a website where they can listen to the music. That is the perfect use for a website link. But I was taken aback to see the following note: “Many of the images reproduced in black and white in this book can also be found in color on the Web,” followed by a list of addresses. What’s the reasoning behind this? Is this a cost-cutting method or what? What’s next – no pictures at all...just blank spaces captioned by web addresses where readers can look at the pictures?
BACK STORY
One of the most highly-anticipated young adult novels of 2011 has just been released. I haven’t read ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis yet, but I picked up a copy on Friday due to the buzz I’ve heard.
Fans of dustjackets (dustjacket…a word that will disappear in the World of Kindle) will be intrigued by this one which includes a YA-friendly soft-focus (almost said soft-core) photo on the front with an embossed title:
Remove the dustjacket and the flip side includes a blueprint diagram of the Spaceship Godspeed, the interplanetary vehicle on which most of the novel’s action takes place:
Kudos to publisher Razorbill for utilizing what is often wasted white space to present something new and innovative!
FINAL THOUGHTS
'Twas the night before Newbery, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, except my Mac’s mouse;
Into every book-blog I was desperately peeking,
To see if some Newbery gossip was leaking.
The books in contention sat nearby, barely daring
To hope that tomorrow a gold seal they’d be wearing.
COUNTDOWN counted the hours, with an assist from THE CLOCKWORK THREE.
THE KNEEBONE BOY wondered, “Could the winning book be me?”
SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD thought a medal would be sweet,
While TURTLE IN PARADISE hoped her author would three-peat.
KEEPER was optimistic and kept her hope afloat,
While a dark horse named DARK EMPEROR circled KEEPER’S boat.
SIR CHARLIE thought a posthumous prize might not be a bummer
While three sisters and a DREAMER bet on ONE CRAZY SUMMER.
Perhaps in a store or library, an unknown book sits on the shelf
Never discussed by Heavy Medal, nor considered by yourself.
Yet tomorrow it might just wear that gold seal of approval
While the aforementioned books await “remaindered” removal.
You never know at Newbery time, what book will take the prize
It may be totally expected, it may be a big surprise.
If the books you love don’t win tomorrow, then “phooey” to the choosers
(After all, the books you love can never truly be losers.)
Thanks for visiting Collecting Children’s Books. Hope you’ll be back later this week for post-award reflections and recaps!
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