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.
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
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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