Tuesday, January 15, 2008

2008 Newbery and Caldecott winners



The Invention of Hugo Cabret,by Brian Selznick, won the Caldecott medal. What an unusual book! As the author says,
"My new book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is a 550 page novel in words and pictures. But unlike most novels, the images in my new book don't just illustrate the story; they help tell it. I've used the lessons I learned from Remy Charlip and other masters of the picture book to create something that is not a exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things."

The people choosing the top books are looking for something that stands out, is different from other books, and this time they have outdone themselves!
The Newbery medal book has an interesting story too. It began as a reader's theater sort of set of monologues, written by a school librarian, Laura Amy Schlitz. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies is a masterpiece.

Caldecott Honor books are Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine; First the Egg, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis; and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems. (My students, preschoolers through fifth grade, all loved Mo Willems. This book is a winner.)

Newbery Honor books are The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt; Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson; and Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.