2014 Astrid Lindgren and Hans Christian Andersen Awards

Congratulations to Swedish author Barbro Lindgren, winner of the 2014 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in the field of children's literature (Barbro is no relation to Astrid, I don't think, but it's a nice coincidence!). Our favorite Barbro book is Oink, Oink Benny, illustrated by Olof Landstrom and translated by Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard (2008):

"Benny is going out. He is tired of hanging around inside. Benny's little brother is going out, too.
He's also sick of hanging around inside.
"Stay away from the mudhole," says Benny's mama.
"Oink, oink,' says Benny.
Then Benny and his little brother head straight for the mudhole. [from the jacket flap]

Of course they do.

And congratulations as well to Japanese author Nahoko Uehashi and Brazilian illustrator Roger Mello, recipients of the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Awards. Uehashi's Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (translated by Kathy Hirano, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu; Arthur A. Levine, 2008) won the 2009 Batchelder Award, which is how I came to read it; and Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness (2009) won a 2010 Batchelder Honor. Maybe now the rest of the series (there are ten books) will be available in translation, along with Uehashi's other fantasy novels.

But first, let's see something by Roger Mello! One of the lovely things about these awards is the hope that they will help make the work of international authors and illustrators more widely available.

[Coincidentally, I just finished 2008 ALMA winner Sonya Hartnett's novel The Children of the King (2012; first US edition Candlewick, 2014). Short version: I loved it.]

A Nine-Year-Old's Guide to the ALA Awards Ceremony

I'm still collecting my thoughts on the 2014 ALA awards (weren't the Batchelder books the best?), but in the meantime, here are my nine-year-old daughter's. She joined me in Philadelphia after my committee work was over and got to share in the excitement of the awards ceremony--and the early wake-up call.

On the train ride home that afternoon (we took the Northeast Regional, which is not quite the same thing as the Transcontinental Railroad), I "interviewed" her about the whole experience, and she had some advice for future awards ceremony attendees and webcast watchers alike. Her recommendations are as follows (I just added the links):

Before the awards ceremony

• I recommend trying to figure out what will win one of the awards. Just one, though--trying to guess the Newbery and the Caldecott would be too much.
• I was on a Mock Caldecott Committee at my school this year and had read the winner and honor books, which made it exciting when they were announced. Also Knock Knock, which won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and Nino Wrestles the World, which won the Pura Belpre Illustrator Award. They could have won the Caldecott, too.

• Pick another award that you don't know a lot about and find out more about it. I didn't know about the Schneider and Stonewall Awards, but now I want to read some of those books, like Handbook for Dragon Slayers.
• Think a lot about the awards and what it would mean to you if you won one.

The day of the awards (if you're lucky enough to go):

• Look around you and just enjoy it.
• There was a man on the Odyssey Award committee sitting across the aisle from me and he was enthusiastic about everything. That was great!
• Booing is not right. There should be lots of applause for every book that wins, even if it was not your favorite.
• The audio of Scowler was just creepy.

[Me again.] Out of the mouths of babes. I pretty much agree entirely, and especially with her point about the CSK and Belpre winners. Do you have anything to add?

2014 Cybils Reading Challenge

One of my favorite things about New Year's Day is the announcement of the Cybils shortlists. In the past, after being on a first round panel in the fall, I've set myself a Cybils Reading Challenge of one new-to-me book in each of the other categories before the winners are announced on February 14. It hasn't caught on anywhere else, though, and this year I am abandoning it in favor of reading all of the shortlisted books in one category (my favorite): Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction.

I definitely missed being on the first round panel (I had other book award commitments and couldn't apply), but I like the list this year's panelists came up with--especially Jinx by Sage Blackwood (HarperCollins, 2013), which exemplifies the qualities of literary merit and kid appeal that the Cybils recognize. I read Jinx early last year (maybe even late the year before), so I might reread it now and then treat myself to the sequel, Jinx's Magic (Katherine Tegen Books, 2014), which comes out on Tuesday.

Anyone else want to try this year's version of the Cybils Reading Challenge? Here's the complete Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction shortlist:

• Jinx by Sage Blackwood (HarperCollins)
• Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud (Disney Hyperion)
• Rose by Holly Webb (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky)
• Sidekicked by John David Anderson (Walden Pond Press)
• The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson (Tor Teen)
• The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt (Atheneum)
• The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore (Walker Books for Young Readers)

Where would you start?

More Jonathan Bean: Big Snow

A little bonus post to go with Caldecott Hopefuls: Building Our House. This is Jonathan Bean's Big Snow (FSG, 2013), and the forecast is warm and cozy (there's cookie baking, but also bathroom cleaning, which one doesn't see so often in picture books), with occasional flurries and the exciting possibility, real or imagined, of big snow.

I don't have as much to say about Big Snow (although it is a perfectly fine book, exemplary even) as I did about Building Our House, which is really the point of this post: only one of these books feels like a Caldecott contender to me. Would comparing them help to articulate why that is? Or maybe I'm wrong and Bean will pull off another Klassen!