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Friday, January 30, 2015

Newbery and Caldecott Picks for 2015

The Newbery and Caldecott awards are going to be announced soon - all of the American Library Association youth media awards, actually, including the Alex, Printz, Morris, Coretta Scott King and Pura Belpre, Batchelder and Seuss Geisel awards. (along with a few more that I'm sure I'm forgetting!) But, the Caldecott and Newbery awards are the ones that get people really excited. I've put together a list of predictions - things that have been getting a lot of buzz. We'll see in a few days, if any of these end up as winners, or if the awards will go to some dark horse from a small press that none of us have heard of.

Caldecott Predictions


Sam and Dave Dig a Hole - Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen
     I loved this book. Will it strike gold?

Brother Hugo and the Bear - Katy Beebe & S.D. Schindler

Flashlight - Lizi Boyd

The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus - Jennifer Fisher Bryant & Michelle Sweet
     Super educational. Teachers and librarians will be so happy if this one wins. I like Michelle Sweet's illustrations a lot, even if they don't feel "strange" enough to win.

Draw! - Raul Colon

Firebird - Misty Copeland & Christopher Myers

Gaston - Kelly DiPuccio & Christian Robinson

Some Bugs -Angela DiTerlizzi & Brendan Wenzel

The Farmer and the Clown - Marla Frazee.
     Lots of good buzz on this nearly wordless picture book. I can see this one winning. I'm a longtime Frazee fan.

Grandfather Gandhi - Arun Ghandi & Bethany Hegedus & Evan Turk
     How great would it be if this was a winner? I love to think of generations of school children enjoying this title.

Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? - Rita Gray & Kenard Pak

Extraordinary Jane - Hannah E. Harrison

Firefly July - Paul B. Janeckzo & Melissa Sweet

Winter is Coming - Tony Johnston & Jim La Marche

Have You Seen My Dragon? - Steve Light 

The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse - Patricia MacLachlan & Hadley Hooper
     Another wonderful biographical picture book. I'm rooting for it.

Viva Frida - Yuyi Morales & Tim O'Meara
     Really distinctive.

Hi, Koo! - Jon J. Muth
     This book is such a charmer!

Baby Bear - Kadir Nelson

The Book with No Pictures - B.J. Novak
     I'm including this book, just to be ornery! I think it would cause such a stir to nominate this book for an award that goes to the best pictures.

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art - Barb Rosenstock & Mary GrandPre
     I think people will go wild, if the American illustrator for Harry Potter wins for this book.

Aviary Wonders, Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual - Kate Samworth
     Such a strange and wonderful book. This could really be a winner.

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Best Friend - Dan Santat

Henny - Elizabeth Rose Stanton

Bad Bye, Good Bye - Deborah Underwood & Jonathan Bean

Stella's Starliner - Rosemary Wells



Newbery Predictions

Crossover - Alexander Kwame
     I love narrative poetry.

The Madman of Piney Woods - Christopher Paul Curtis
     Lots of buzz for this one. Will multiple award winner Curtis snag the gold again?

Glass Sentence - S.E. Grove
     Fantasy doesn't usually stand a chance, but maybe this one will come up with an award.

The Secret Hum of a Daisy - Tracy Holczer

A Snicker of Magic - Natalie Lloyd
     This is the kind of thing that I'd love to see win. Magical and fun.

West of the Moon - Margi Preus

The Riverman - Aaron Starmer

Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson
     Okay, you heard it here first. I think this book is going to sweep multiple categories. I'm hearing so many wonderful things about it.


2 comments:

  1. NIce lists! I've read very few books from 2014 that I thought would qualify for a Newbery, but I also haven't read Brown Girl Dreaming. With so much award buzz already behind it, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it won. It will almost certainly earn a Newbery Honor, if not win outright.

    I think my main problem with the Caldecott is that it is ostensibly an art award but it is given by librarians, not by people who understand art and visual composition, so I'm almost always surprised by the winners.

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  2. Ah! I left a whole comment and my computer ate it. I think you are so right about the Caldecott. I do know it is supposed to go to a book where the text and art support each other perfectly. Librarians on the committee definitely make an effort to study up on art terms and techniques, but it's not the same as having a full-time art background.

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