The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators have announced the winners of the 2007 Golden Kite Awards:

Fiction

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate (on my to-be-read pile)

Nonfiction

Muckrakers by Ann Bausum

Picture Book Text

Pierre in Love by Sara Pennypacker

Picture Book Illustration

Little Night by Yuyi Morales

 

Honor Books:

Fiction

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauran Tarshis (Wonderful!  A great read.)

Nonfiction

1607: A New Look at Jamestown by Karen Lange

Picture Book Text

The End by David LaRochelle (Hurrah!  A wonderful book!)

Picture Book Illustration

Who Put the B in Ballyhoo? by Carlyn Beccia

Each year I sing the praises of the CCBC Choices list, but every year I am delighted at what makes their list and equally delighted to discover the titles that I missed. 

CCBC Choices 2008 is available in a preliminary pdf form.  The full list with annotations and recommended ages will be available after March 8th.  But now you can have a glimpse at some great books.

The Choices list is always strong in multiculturalism, nonfiction, poetry, and fiction for children and teens.  Many of my favorites of the year are on the list, far too many to list here, and there are so many treats in store to discover as well!  The covers above are ones I am particularly looking forward to reading.

And the nominees for Young Adult Fiction are:

Sherman Alexie for “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”

Geraldine McCaughrean for “The White Darkness”

Walter Dean Myers for “What They Found: Love on 145th Street”

Kenneth Oppel for“Darkwing”

Philip Reeve for “A Darkling Plain”

 

My favorites are the first two listed, but I haven’t read any of the others.  The first two are my among my favorite YA books of 2007.  Alexie’s novel is my #1 choice of the year.  It will be interesting to see what takes the prize.

The Rainbow List is vibrantly presented through their MySpace site.  The list is co-sponsored by the American Library Association’s Social Responsibility Round Table and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgendered Round Table.  This is the first Rainbow List, and covers books published from 2005-2007.

The list covers beginning readers through teens and is filled with important books for public libraries across the country to have.

The 2008 Amelia Bloomer List is out.  The award honors authors and illustrators whose books are feminist and expand the role of girls and women beyond the traditional.  Sadly, the 2008 list is accompanied by the very accurate assessment: 

We are frustrated by the
small number of truly powerful, well-written feminist books for young
readers, and by the small number of non-white, non-Western characters.
We are also dismayed by the dearth of authentic feminist fiction for
beginning and middle readers.

I am amazed at how few of the books I have read, though I love to read about strong female characters.  Definitely a list worthy of exploring.

Here are some of my favorites from the list:

Princess Pigsty by Cornelia Funke

Hiromi’s Hands by Lynne Barasch

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castelluci and Jim Rugg

Do any of you have other favorites on the list?  Or other books with strong female characters that did not make the list?

The United States Board on Books for Young People has released their Outstanding International Books list which is available at School Library Journal.  It is quite a fabulous list of international books brought to the US. 

Here are some of my favorites that appear on the list:

Picture Books

Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier
My Cat Copies Me by Yoon-Duck Kwon
New Clothes for New Year’s Day by Hyun-Joo Bae

Middle Grade

Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke

Teen

The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

Just in case you were searching for yet another Best Books of 2007 list, I have two more for you.  Both from Kirkus, they are broken into Children’s and Young Adult.  Both files are pdf’s and take a little patience when loading.  It’s nice to see two separate lists, because that way the YA list has plenty of room to spread out.  Plenty of my annual favorites are here, with a few new treats as well.  Enjoy!

The New York Public Library has released its list of the top 100 Children’s Books of 2007.  I am thrilled to see so many of my favorites on the list.  Far too many to list here.  The NYPL always does a great job of selecting titles that are child-friendly, expand horizons, and are well written.  Quite a combination to achieve. 

The Lee Bennett Hopkins Award for Children’s Poetry has been awarded. 

The winner is Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford.

The two honor books are:

Blue Lipstick by John Grandits

This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman