The Caldecott has gone to Flotsam!! Hip hip hooray!!
Honors are Gone Wild and Moses.
The Newbery has gone to a book that I just returned to the library this morning thinking I didn’t have time to read it. Time to run down and see if it has left the building yet! Higher Power of Lucky.
Honors are Penny from Heaven, Hattie Big Sky, and Rules.

Hurrah! The YALSA blog has announced the winner of the Printz Award:
Honor Books:
Octavian Nothing
Abundance of Katherines (HURRAH!)
Surrender
Book Thief (YIPPEE!)
WINNER: American Born Chinese
Well done, Printz Committee, well done!

ALA will once again be presenting a webcast of the Newbery, Caldecott, King, Printz and many other awards for teens and children. The webcast is live and is a lot of fun for those of us who won’t be at Midwinter to see it in person. I do plan on blogging the awards as they are announced. I only hope I manage to get a spot on the high speed access again. I know that many people were left out last year.
Tune in to the webcast on January 22nd at 7:30 am PST.
The lists of best books will also be released!

The finalists for the Cybils have been announced with some surprises, shocking omissions of my own nominations (joking!) and my joy at participating as a judge of the YA books.  Most of that joy comes from the fact that I have actually read 3 of the 5 novels!  Hurrah!  Anyway, there are a lot of fascinating and wonderful books on the lists that you should check out. 

The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books has announced their choices for Blue Ribbon books of 2006.  The choices represent picture books, fiction and nonfiction for children and teens.  I always enjoy the fact that they pick such accessible yet wonderful titles.  These books are ones that can be shared and enjoyed. 

The Nestlé Children’s Book Prize Award from the UK has been announced! And the winners are:

Ages 9-11

The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding.

Silver:  The Tide Knot by Helen Dunmore
Bronze: The Pig Who Saved the World by Paul Shipton (out in paperback in the U.S.)

Ages 6-8

Mouse Noses on Toast by Daren King.

Silver: Hugo Pepper by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell (coming in Feb. 2007 in the U.S.)
Bronze: The Adventures of The Dish and The Spoon by Mini Grey (available in U.S.)

Ages 5 & Under

    That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell (available in the U.S.)

Silver:  The Emperor of Absurdia by Chris Riddell (available in the U.S.)
Bronze:  Wibbly Pig’s Silly Big Bear by Mick Inkpen (available in the U.S.)

NPR has their own list of recommended titles for gifts.  Or in my case, for hoarding all to myself and reading!  Covering picture books to teen novels, they have some of my favorite titles and more that I haven’t read yet.  Hurrah!

The Horn Book Fanfare has been announced for 2006. It includes the best picture books, fiction and nonfiction of the year.
There are several fiction books that I haven’t read yet and that I have seen on other lists. Plus I am trying to get through as many Cybil YA Long List titles as I can before January. AND I have been completely distracted by the new Tamora Pierce novel… Ah well. So many books…

You all probably know about the great Richie’s Picks website filled with reviews of books for children and teens. Richie is always right on the money with his reviews and reads an amazing number of titles each year. Richie has just announced his Richie’s Picks Best of 2006.
I am prepared to forgive him his adoration of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane because he has so many great books on his list! 🙂