Honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies the disability experience.
Best Young Children’s Book
A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Hurrah!!)
Best Middle Grades Book
Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell
Best Teen Book
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
Teen Readers and Adult Books:
Brewster by Mark Slouka
The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell
Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin
Help for the Haunted by John Searles
Lexicon by Max Barry
Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Mother Mother by Koren Zailckas
Relish by Lucy Knisley
The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
The Universe versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence
I’m planning on live blogging the awards this morning again. I always find it exciting, thrilling, and moving to hear the awards live. It also makes me damn proud to be a librarian too. Looking forward to great new books to read and hopefully to hearing some of my favorite titles of the year win some awards too!
(Expect plenty of typos as I try to keep up with the announcements. My apologies to all of the authors and illustrators whose names I mangle.)
Poem-Mobiles: Crazy Car Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and Douglas Florian, illustrated by Jeremy Holmes
This collaboration between two masters of children’s poetry will transport you to new and different places. Filled with cars that are amazing and wild, the humor-filled poems will delight. Visit the times of the dinosaurs, underwater driving, cars made of paper or shoes. Even cars made from bathtubs and bugs. The poetry flows fast and furious, a perfect pace for young car enthusiasts who may be surprised at how much they enjoy poems.
Lewis and Florian write with a single hand here, the poems flowing naturally from one to the other, the styles of each forming one cohesive whole. They use humor to great effect both in the titles of the poems and throughout, delighting with puns and word play. The poems are also very brief, perfect for young readers to enjoy or even memorize.
The art by Holmes plays up the humor in the poems. His busy active style has lots of motion and zany combinations. The dinosaur car looks like it could reach right off the page and grab you, the ocean page will have you floating along merrily, and the blueprint style of the contents page sets the tone early.
Perfect poems to share aloud with a class, this one may get lost in poetry collections but marketed correctly should zoom off of library shelves. Beep beep!
Reviewed from copy received from Random House Children’s Books.
Henny by Elizabeth Rose Stanton
Henny was born just a little different than all of the other chickens. She was born with arms instead of wings! Henny liked her arms sometimes like when they flapped when she ran. Other times, she didn’t like her arms. Sometimes she liked being different and other times it made her feel sad and lonely. Henny had to worry about different things than other chickens like gloves or mittens. She tried to fit in with the other chickens, but she was always different no matter what she did. Then one day, she caught a falling egg and started to see how many ways she could use her arms and hands.
Stanton has captured exactly what it feels like to be distinctly different from others and the transformation that can occur when you realize the good parts of being unique. The text of the book is simple. She uses humor throughout the book to make sure the spirit stays light, even during Henny’s darker moments of doubt.
The watercolor illustrations are also quite funny. I particularly love the image of Henny running with her arms flapping behind her and that being one of Henny’s favorite things about her arms. By the end of the book, you are almost surprised to see other chickens with wings since the arms suit Henny perfectly.
A great pick to start discussions about being different, the light touch here keeps the subject approachable. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
The amazing Cooperative Children’s Book Center has named the winner and honor books for the 2014 Charlotte Zolotow Award which is given to outstanding writing in a picture book published in the United States in the previous year. It is a delight to see many of my personal favorites of the year on their list.
WINNER
The Dark by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen
HONOR BOOKS
Building Our House by Jonathan Bean
My Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood by Tameka Fryer Brown, illustrated by Shane W. Evans
Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf
This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by James Ransome
Year of the Jungle: Memories from the Home Front by Suzanne Collins, illustrated by James Proimos
HIGHLY COMMENDED TITLES
Big Snow by Jonathan Bean
Max and the Tag-Along Moon by Floyd Cooper
Nino Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales
The Silver Button by Bob Graham
When No One Is Watching by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by David A. Johnson
The eighth biennial Dolly Gray Award Winners have been announced for 2014. They are awarded to the best books for children and young adults that “authentically portray individuals with developmental disabilities.”
Here are the winners:
Intermediate Award
Remember Dippy by Shirley Reva Vernick
Young Adult Award
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks
Max Makes a Cake by Michelle Edwards, illustrated by Charles Santoso
Max was growing up, he could dress himself, almost tie his shoes, and he knew the Four Questions for Passover in Hebrew and English. It was his mother’s birthday and he wanted to make her a cake. But when his little sister started to cry and Max’s dad took her for her nap. Max waited and waited for his dad to come back to bake the cake, but his sister just kept waking up and crying. So Max decided to make some frosting to help. It turned out very nicely, a mix of jam and cream cheese. Max knew that to bake a cake, he had to wait for his father. But then he had a great idea, one perfect for Passover.
Edwards has written a story that organically incorporates Passover and its meaning. She shows a warm and loving Jewish family with a father who takes expert care of his children. Max’s clever solution to the cake is nicely foreshadowed in the book but is also a wonderful surprise solution that readers will not see coming. It is also a pleasure to see a picture book about a child who solves a problem himself with creativity.
Santoso’s art conveys the same warmth as the text. He uses humor throughout in his images, with a cheery note. His depictions of Max are particularly well done as he solves the problem but not without a little mess.
Clever and creative, this is a welcome addition to public library’s Passover collections as well as a great choice for birthday story times. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from digital copy received from Edelweiss and Random House.
The Sydney Taylor Book Awards honor the best new books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Here are this year’s winners followed by the honor books:
Younger Readers Gold Medal
The Longest Night: A Passover Story by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Catia Chien
Older Readers Gold Medal
The Blessing Cup by Patricia Polacco
Teen Readers Gold Medal
The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb
Honor Books for Younger Readers
Stones for Grandpa by Renee Londoner, illustrated by Martha Avilles
Rifka Takes a Bow by Betty Rosenberg Perlov, illustrated by Cosei Kawa
Honor Books for Older Readers
The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
Dear Canada: Pieces of the Past by Carol Matas
Honor Books for Teen Readers
Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati
The War Within These Walls by Aline Sax, illustrated by Caryl Strzelecki
Waking Brain Cells 