Caldecott and Newbery Awards Announced at ALA today

The American Library Association's Midwinter meeting concludes today in Philadelphia with the announcement of this years children's and young adult literature awards.The Newbery Award for writing of children's books, The Caldecott for illustration of children's books and several other awards are listed in this press release:

' “Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village,” written by Laura Amy Schlitz, is the 2008 Newbery Medal winner. “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” illustrated by Brian Selznick, is the 2008 Caldecott Medal winner. The book is published by Scholastic.'

Take a look at this AP article for a summary of the award books:

'NEW YORK - A Baltimore librarian’s classroom project is now part of publishing history. "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village," first conceived a decade ago by Laura Amy Schlitz, is this year’s winner of the John Newbery Medal for best children’s book.The Randolph Caldecott award for top picture book went to Brian Selznick’s "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," a 500-plus page hybrid of a graphic novel and traditional illustration about an orphan boy and a robot in Paris at the turn of the 20th century.Also today, science fiction author Orson Scott Card won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for "lifetime achievement in writing for young adults." Mo Willems’ "There Is a Bird in Your Head!" received the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for "the most distinguished book for beginning readers." '

Newbery and Caldecott Awards of Best Children's Books

The 2006 winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Awards for childrens books were announced at the American Library Association's midwinter conference in San Antonio this week. Take a look at this page on the ALA website to see a description of the Newbery Winner for the best written childrens book of the year: Criss Cross by Lynn Rae Perkins. Here is a link to the Caldecott winner for best illustrated childrens book of the year, The Hello, Goodbye Window, illustrated by Chris Raschka. The ALA site also has lists of the Newbery and Caldecott Honor Books (runners-up that is) and all the award books since 1922 for the Newberys and Caldecott winners since 1938. There are many literary awards given out every year for childrens and young adult (teen) books and they are listed on the ALA website, so next time you are looking for the perfect gift for the children in your life, take a look at the awards lists.