The Golden Kite Awards have been announced.  They are given by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for the most outstanding fiction, nonfiction, picturebook text and picturebook illustrations.  This year’s winners are:

FICTION: 

Award:  Mary E. Pearson for A Room on Lorelei Street
Honor:  Deborah Wiles for Each Little Bird That Sings

NONFICTION:

Award:  Russell Freedman for Children of the Great Depression
Honor:  Suzanne Jurmain for The Forbidden Schoolhouse

PICTURE BOOK TEXT:

Award:  Pat Mora for Dona Flor
Honor:  Becky Birtha for Grandmama’s Pride

PICTURE BOOK ILLUSTRATION:

Award:  Melissa Sweet for Baby Bear’s Chairs
Honor:  Barbara McClintock for Cinderella

The Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) of the American Library Association also gives top software awards. The Current Notable Computer Software for Children List only has a few titles on it, but if you are looking to find the top encyclopedia program or software titles to use in the classroom, this is your list.

The Center for Children’s Books has announced the 2006 winner of the Gryphon Award.  This year’s winner is Stinky Stern Forever by Michelle Edwards.  The Gryphon Award is given to “an English language work of fiction or non-fiction for which the primary audience is children in Kindergarten through Grade 4.  The title chosen best exemplifies those qualities that successfully bridge the gap in difficulty between books for reading aloud to children and books for practiced readers.”  

The Scott O’Dell Award is given for excellence in writing historical fiction for children or young adults. This year’s winner is Louis Erdrich for The Game of Silence. What a great pick!

The 2006 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults have been announced. Each year there are specific subjects specified, so the books on the list are recent publications, but not constrained to being from the last year. The categories this year are Books That Don’t Make You Blush, Criminal Elements, What Ails You?, and GLBTQ.

The 2006 Current Notable Children’s Recordings List has been released. It is a collection of great book recordings for children.

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has its Current Notable Children’s Books List on their website.

YALSA has a list of the 2006 Selected Audiobooks that are recommended for their appeal to teens, the quality of their recording, and their enhancement of the written work. If you enjoy audiobooks or select them for a library, these are the ones to listen to.

If you are looking for books that will fly off your shelves, then this is the list for you: 2006 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. I always find books that I have never seen reviews for or even heard of. This year they selected 91 titles for the list. The list is designed as recommended titles for teens who do not like to read.