2009 ALSC Awards and the House in the Night

Below is the link to the 2009 American Library Association's (ALA) Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC) 's list of award-winning books for 2009.

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/2009medawardwin.cfm
Click the link for the complete list of winners and honor books in all categories.

Here are a few highlights:

The Caldecott Medal (picture book) went to
The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson, Houghton Mifflin Co.

The Newbery Medal (J Fiction) went to
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, HarperCollins Children's Books.

Unfortunately, because it is cataloged at a Young Adult book in my library, I did not read The Graveyard Book, and now I'm on the waiting list for a copy.

The Sibert Medal (non-fiction) went to
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, Disney-Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Disney Book Group

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) also chooses an annual award, the Orbis Pictus Award for outstanding non-fiction for children.

Their choice this year is:
Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator by Shelley Tanaka, illustrated by David Craig (click the link for Honor and Recommended books)

As the saying goes, so many books, so little time!

The House in the Night

Swanson, Susan Marie. 2008. The house in the night. Ill. by Beth Krommes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

This is a cumulative story in the vein of "This is the house that Jack built," or "There's a hole in the bottom of the sea." The difference is that this is a very simple, soothing story - less about participation and more about exploration, "On that bed waits a book. In that book flies a bird. In that bird breathes a song..." The text is simple and calming, one sentence or less on each page.

The double-spread illustrations are "scratchboard and watercolor." The only colors, however, are black, white, and a golden yellow. The yellow is used to illuminate light-giving sources in the night and to highlight small areas.

A perfect bedtime story, meant to be read slowly and savored.