American Library Association (ALA) Press Release:

The eyes of the publishing world will turn to Dallas, TX at 7:45 a.m. CT on Monday, Jan.23, 2012, when the American Library Association (ALA) announces the top awards in children’s and young adult literature as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 20 – 24.

The ALA Youth Media Awards honor children’s and young adult authors and illustrators, as well as producers of children’s audio and video materials. Known worldwide for the high quality they represent, the ALA Youth Media Awards are selected under a cloak of secrecy by national judging committees composed of librarians and other children’s literature experts.

The ALA will announce 18 awards, including the renowned Caldecott and Newbery Medals, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and Printz award.  The books honored serve as a guide for parents, educators, librarians and those interested in providing children and teens with the very best reading and viewing materials.

The ALA will host a live Webcast from the Dallas Convention Center begining at 7:30 a.m. CT, Jan. 23.  Virtual seating will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Information will also be posted to the ALA Twitter account @alayma and Facebook account.

My Books at Bedtime read this week probably needs little to no introduction.  The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Scholastic, 2007) has won the Caldecott Medal and has received wide acclaim for its ground-breaking style of presentation of text mixed with graphic novel style illustration.   I’d been lent the book sometime ago by a teacher friend, and it was only recently that my daughter and I embarked on a reading of it.  The book completely charmed her.  A recalcitrant reader at the best of times, she enjoyed the fact that some of the narrative was entirely pictures, but on the other hand, the story in print was so engaging, she would read aloud the pages with text without her usual grumbling.  (We take turns reading aloud the pages — I read one page, she reads another.)  In fact, I think she crossed a major threshold in her reading ability with this book insofar as she was now actually comprehending what she was reading textually rather than reading aloud to get  the right pronunciation of the words (only!) without fundamentally understanding the content of what she had read.   No doubt having the narrative driven by the cinematic series and sequences of drawings between textual portions helped this process along.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret for those unfamiliar with the book is about an orphaned boy, Hugo, who lives in Paris of the 1930′s in a train station where he fixes the station’s clocks.   Hugo is fascinated by all things mechanical and in particular, is in possession of a notebook containing a curious drawing of an automaton.  One day while attempting to steal a mechanical mouse at the train station toy shop, he is caught by the old man proprietor who makes Hugo surrender his precious notebook to him.  However, the proprietor’s god-daughter Isabelle saves the notebook in exchange for finding out a little more about the mysterious boy hiding and living in the train station.  Thus begins an awkward friendship and relationship between these three characters who have more in common than they know.   The story, as I noted before, is told in a combination of words and pictures, and really is a paean to the days of early cinema.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a wonderful, cross-genre book and I do recommend it highly as an innovative bedtime read for your middle-years child.

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2011 PBBY-Salanga Prize Winner Announced~ Philippines

Dromkeen National Centre for Picture Book Art Exhibits~ Riddells Creek, Australia

December Kids Book Events~ Cairo, Egypt

Making Books Sing Presents a One-Woman Play Based on The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos by Lucía Gonzalez~ New York, NY, USA

Doha International Children’s Book Festival~ ongoing until Dec 2, Doha, Qatar

2010 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition~ ongoing until Dec 5, Nanao, Japan

Off the Page: Original Illustrations from NZ Picture Books~ ongoing until Dec 5, Ashburton, New Zealand

Guadalajara Book Fair~ ongoing until Dec 5, Guadalajara, Mexico

2011 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Awards~ submissions accepted until Dec 17, Canada

Scholastic Asian Book Award~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, Singapore

Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award 2011~ submissions accepted until Dec 31, Singapore

An Exquisite Vision: The Art of Lisbeth Zwerger~ ongoing until Jan 9, Hannover, Germany

Monsters and Miracles: A Journey through Jewish Picture Books~ ongoing until Jan 23, Amherst, MA, USA

Drawn in Brooklyn Exhibit of Original Picture Book Art by Brooklyn Illustrators~ ongoing until Jan 23, Brooklyn, NY, USA

National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Presents From Houdini to Hugo: The Art of Brian Selznick~ ongoing until Jan 29, Abilene, TX, USA

Fins and Feathers: Original Children’s Book Illustrations from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art~ ongoing until Jan 30, Raleigh, NC, USA

Summer Reading Club: Scare Up a Good Story~ ongoing until Jan 31, Australia

2011 Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award~ submissions accepted until Feb 25, United Kingdom

International Youth Library Exhibit: The Fabulous World of John Kilaka, Pictures and Drawings by a Tanzanian Artist~ ongoing until Feb 28, Munich, Germany

Mr Gumpy and Other Outings; Celebrating 50 years of John Burningham’s at Seven Stories~ ongoing until Mar, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Witness: The Art of Jerry Pinkney~ ongoing until May 30, Stockbridge, MA, USA

International Youth Library Exhibit: The World in Miniature. The Family in Historic Picture Books and Children’s Literature~ ongoing until Aug 31, Munich, Germany

Salon du livre et de la presse jeunesse~ Dec 1 – 6, Montreuil, France

IBBY France Conference: 2nd European Encounter on Children’s Literature~ Dec 3, Paris, France

SCBWI France International Conference for Writers and Illustrators~ Dec 3 – 4, Paris, France

Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature~ Dec 3 – Jan 2, Concord, MA, USA

Look! The Art of Australian Picture Books Today~ Dec 3 – May 29, Melbourne, Australia

The Children’s Literature Centre at Frostburg State University Presents Storybook Holiday~ Dec 4, Frostburg, MD, USA

Read Out Loud! Family Literacy & Book Festival~ Dec 4, New York, NY, USA

SCBWI Tokyo Illustrators Exhibition: Every Picture Tells a Story~ Dec 7 – 12, Tokyo, Japan

Exhibition of Finalists of the 3rd CJ Picture Book Award~ Dec 8 – 28, Seoul, Korea

Carle Museum Professional Development Workshop: Picturing Stories~ Dec 10, Amherst, MA, USA

BookFest@Singapore~ Dec 10 – 19, Singapore

The Best of the Best in 2010 with Susan Bloom~ Dec 11, Amherst, MA, USA

Chapter & Verse’s (A Book Club for Adults Discussing Children’s Lit) Mock Newbery and Caldecott Discussions~ Dec 11, USA

The Art Institute of Chicago Exhibit: Real and Imaginary: Three Latin American Artists – Raúl Colón, David Diaz and Yuyi Morales~ Dec 11 – May 29, Chicago, IL, USA

Talking About Words and Pictures with Tony DiTerlizzi~ Dec 12, Amherst, MA, USA

Partners in Wonder: Selections from the Collection of Jane Yolen~ Dec 14 – May 1, Amherst, MA, USA

Coming of Age Around the World Book Discussion Group: Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins~ Dec 16, Watertown, MA, USA

Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books Exhibit: Winter Fun!~ Dec 18 – Mar 5, Toronto, ON, Canada

Kuala Lumpur Children’s Book Fair~ Dec 22 – 26, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Last year I joined Rutgers’ (the State University of New Jersery, USA) Child_Lit service. This is a free, unmoderated discussion group convened for the express purpose of examining the theory and criticism of literature for children and young adults. For anyone interested in any aspect of children’s literature, I highly recommend signing up. The service provides a wealth of information and also makes my job a bit easier when looking for events that can be added to our Eventful World calendar.

Last week there was a post on Child_Lit that talked about  Drawing from a Story: Illustrations by Selected Caldecott Medal Winners, an exhibit taking place though May 23rd at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA, USA.

Myths, fables, fairy tales, and folk tales are usually a child’s first steps into the world of literature, and the illustrations that often accompany the text when such stories are published for children stir the imagination and provide entrée to magical worlds. First awarded in 1938, the Caldecott Medal is considered the most prestigious award for children’s illustration. This exhibition will feature the works of selected Caldecott winners from seven decades, including Maurice Sendak, Dorothy Lathrop, David Wiesner [see image at right], Paul O. Zelinsky, Leo and Diane Dillon, Robert McCloskey, and 2010 medal winner, Jerry Pinkney, among many others.

Deidre Johnson responded on Child_Lit with the following comments which she has also allowed us to share with our readers :

I’ve seen it twice and can’t praise it enough. There’s material from most of the major archival collections, such as the Kerlan and deGrummond, as well as a generous sampling from the illustrators’ private collections.

The display is arranged beautifully — sometimes thematically (fairy tales grouped together, for example), sometimes by medium. There’s even an entire corner devoted to art from David Wiesner’s three winners. The exhibit includes not only art from the first Caldecott (and one of Caldecott’s own sketches for John Gilpin’s Ride!) but also from the two most recent winners. Some of the other materials show process (the McCloskey studies for Make Way for Ducklings seen in Marcus’s Caldecott Celebration are on display, and there are also studies for Rohmann’s My Friend Rabbit).

The Brandywine has hosted some fine exhibits associated with children’s literature in the past, but I think this is one of the best.

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Get Caught Reading Month~ USA

National Share-a-Story Month~ United Kingdom

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month~ USA

Asian Heritage Month~ Canada

BOOKtopia Children’s Literature Festival~ ongoing until May 7, West Vancouver, BC, Canada

Buenos Aires Book Fair~ ongoing until May 10, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Drawing from a Story: Illustrations by Selected Caldecott Medal Winners~ ongoing until May 23, Chadds Ford, PA, USA

Once Upon a Time . . . Children’s Book Illustrators, Then and Now~ ongoing until May 27, Oakland, CA, USA

Mitali Perkins’ 2010 Fire Escape Short Fiction and Poetry Contest~ entries accepted until Jun 1, USA and Canada

Into the Wood: Antonio Frasconi’s Art for Children~ ongoing until Jun 13, Ameherst, MA, USA

Skipping Stones Magazine’s Youth Honor Award Program – Multicultural Awareness and Nature Appreciation~ entries accepted until Jun 25

The National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Exhibit: Why Grow Up? Etienne Delessert~ ongoing until Jun 26, Abilene, TX, USA

Monsters and Miracles: A Journey through Jewish Picture Books~ ongoing until  Aug 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Everyday Adventures Growing Up: Art from Picture Books~ ongoing until Nov 28, Chicago, IL, USA

BOOKFEST – The Vancouver Island Children’s Book Festival~ May 1, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

“Second to the Right, and Straight on Till Morning:” Navigating the Narrative Realm(s) of Children’s Texts~ May 1, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Old Passions – New Technologies: Children’s and Young Adult Literature
in a Web 2.0 World~ May 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Expo 2010~ May 1 – Oct 31, Shanghai, China

SCBWI Presents: Shaping a Picture Book/Shaping Character~ May 6, Paris, France

Asian Festival of Children’s Content~ May 6 – 9, Singapore

Bermuda International Literary Festival~ May 6 – 9, Hamilton
Bermuda

SCBWI Hawaii Illustrators’ Exhibit: The Art of Picture Books~ May 6 – Jun 16, Honolulu, HI, USA

One Hen Inc.’s First Anniversary Celebrations: It Takes a Village~ May 7, Wellesley, MA, USA

National Centre for Research in Children’s Literature Conference~ May 8, London, United Kingdom

Mt. San Antonio College’s Children’s Literature Day~ May 8, Walnut, CA, USA

SCBWI Presents: Children’s Books and our Phil-Chinese Heritage~ May 8, Philippines

Children’s Book Week~ May 10 – 16, USA

New Zealand Post Book Awards Festival~ May 10 – 19, New Zealand

Forest of Reading, Festival of Trees~ May 12 – 13, Toronto, ON, Canada

Auckland Writers and Readers Festival~ May 12 – 16, Auckland, New Zealand

Seoul International Book Fair~ May 12 – 16, Seoul, Korea

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Fresno! Oz the Books! A Conference~ May 14 – 16, Fresno, CA, USA

2nd Conference on Children’s Literature and Translation~ May 15, Taichung City, Taiwan

Children’s Books Ireland Conference: Nurturing the Seed: Prospects and Possibilities for Children’s Books~ May 15 – 16, Dublin, Ireland

Sydney Writers’ Festival~ May 15 – 23, Sydney, Australia

Mountain Echoes – A Literary Festival~ May 17 – 20, Thimphu, Bhutan

New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Winners Announced ~ May 19, New Zealand

WriteAway Conference: READ, PLAY, THINK, CREATE: generating delight in learning~ May 21, London, United Kingdom

National Black Book Festival~ May 21 – 23, Houston, TX, USA

Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards Presentations~ May 23, Dublin, Ireland

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Week~ May 23 – Jun 1, Sweden

Library and Information Week~ May 24 – 30, Australia

The Foundation for Children’s Books New England Voices Series~ May 25, Boston, MA, USA

International Latino Book Awards~ May 25, USA

BookExpo America~ May 25 – 27, New York, NY, USA

National Simultaneous Storytime~ May 26, Australia

Book Blogger Convention~ May 28, New York City, NY, USA

World Book Fair~ May 28 – Jun 6, Singapore

World Village Festival~ May 29 – 30, Helsinki, Finland

The Guardian Hay Festival~ May 29 – Jun 6, United Kingdom

SCBWI Presents: THE BIG PICTURE: Exploring the Art and Business of Children’s Book Illustration~ May 30, Tokyo, Japan

Earlier today the American Library Association (ALA)  announced the top books, audiobooks and video for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Boston.

A complete list of all the 2010 literary award winners can be  seen here. Highlights include:

Winner of the John Newbery Medal (for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature):
When You Reach Me written by Rebecca Stead

Winner of the Caldecott Medal (for most distinguished American picture book for children):
The Lion & the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney

Winner of the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award (recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults):
Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Winner of the Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award:
My People illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr. and written by Langston Hughes

Winner of the Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award (honoring a Latino writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience):
Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day; Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros illustrated by Rafael López and written by Pat Mora

Winner of the Pura Belpré (Author) Award:
Return to Sender written by Julia Alvarez

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Lima International Book Fair~ ongoing until Aug 5, Lima, Peru

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ ongoing until Aug 16, Tokyo, Japan

READ!Singapore 2009 – Dreaming A Good Read~ ongoing until Aug 31, Singapore

Exhibition of Children’s Book Illustrations~ ongoing until Aug 31, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Enchanted Worlds – Art of Fairy Stories & Mermaid Tales exhibition~ ongoing until Sep 5, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Exhibition – Drawings from the Heart: Tomie de Paola Turns 75 ~ ongoing until Nov 1, Amherst, MA, USA

Picture Perfect: Art from Caldecott Award Books, 2006-2009~ ongoing until Nov 8, 2010, Chicago, IL, USA

Korean History & Culture and the Korean American Experience Sixth Annual Seminar for K-12 Educators~ Aug 3 -7, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Faraway Places – Real and Imagined Journeys with YA Authors Judith Simpson, John Nicholson and John Danalis~ Aug 4 – 5, Melbourne, Australia

Tokyo Reading Association Conference~ Aug 6, Tokyo, Japan

The 38th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference~ Aug 7 – 10, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Kazakhstan Reading Association Conference~ Aug 8 – 10, Astana, Kazakhstan

The 19th Biennial Congress of IRSCL: Children’s Literature and Cultural Diversity~ Aug 8 – 12, Frankfurt, Germany

LIANZA Children’s Book Awards Ceremony~ Aug 10, Wellington, New Zealand

Library Week~ Aug 10 – 16, New Zealand

6th Pan-African Reading for All Conference in Conjunction with Tanzania National Book Week~ Aug 10 – 14, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The Canadian Book Camp~ Aug 10 – 14, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Bookgig on the Road with Author and Illustrator Heath McKenzie~ Aug 10 – 21, Australia

Edinburgh International Book Festival~ Aug 15 – 31, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

On-line Launch for the 2009 Inky Awards~ Aug 20, Australia

Seminar on Reading Promotion and Storytelling for Children~ Aug 20 – 21, Pretoria, South Africa

Children’s Book of the Year Award Winner Announced~ Aug 21, Australia

The Crichton Award for New Illustrators Winner Announced~ Aug 21, Australia

Melbourne Writers Festival~ Aug 21 – 30, Melbourne, Australia

Children’s Book Week: Book Safari~ Aug 22 – 28, Australia

2009 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition of Children’s Books~ Aug 22 – Sep 27, Nishinomiya City, Japan

World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly “Libraries Create Futures: Building on Cultural Heritage”~ Aug 23 – 27, Milan, Italy

Storylines Festival of New Zealand Children’s Writers and Illustrators~ Aug 23 – 30, New Zealand

Manila International Storytelling Festival~ Aug 28 – 29, Manila, Philippines

Western Australia Spring Poetry Festival and National Poetry Week~ Aug 28 – Sep 4, Australia

Taranaki Children’s Book Festival~ Aug 31 – Sep 5, Taranaki, New Zealand

Singapore International Storytelling Festival~ Aug 31 – Sep 12, Singapore

On January 26 at 7:45 a.m. MT, the American Library Association, in Denver, Colorado for the ALA Midwinter Meeting, will provide a free live Webcast of its annual awards ceremony honoring outstanding books and media for children and young adults The awards can also be twittered, with live updates given as award winners are announced. The RSS feed from the Youth Media Awards Twitter site can be followed on Facebook.

Awards include:

• Alex Awards honoring the best adult books that appeal to teens
• Coretta Scott King Book Awards honoring African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to “the African American experience via literature and illustration.”
• John Newbery Medal honoring the author of the year’s most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Award honoring an author or illustrator whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.
• Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring an author’s lifetime contribution in writing for young adults as well as a specific body of his or her work.
• Michael L. Printz Award honoring excellence in literature written for young adults.
• Pura Belpré Award honoring Latino/Latina writers and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
• Randolph Caldecott Medal honoring the illustrator of the year’s most distinguished American picture book for children.
• Robert F. Sibert Medal honoring an author, illustrator and/or photographer of the most distinguished informational book published for children.
• Schneider Family Book Award honoring books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.
• Theodor Seuss Geisel Award honoring the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished book for beginning readers published in English in the United States.
• William C. Morris Award inaugurated in 2009, honoring a book published by a first-time author writing for teens.