This year’s Newbery and Caldecott winners are out and here is a list of the winners just hot off my e-mail. The awards this year bring additional attention to books about an English village, a Paris train station and so much more. They were announced along with recognition of a slew of other top books, videos and audiobooks for children and young adults. This is done annually by the American Library Association during its Midwinter Meeting, which this year was held in Philadelphia.

Locally, Poughkeepsie author Charles R. Smith Jr. had his book “Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali” recognized as a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. It is illustrated by Bryan Collier and published by Candlewick Press.

“Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village” by Laura Amy Schlitz, published by Candlewick Press won the John Newbery Medal for outstanding contribution to children’s literature. Illustrations are by Robert Byrd. Schlitz is a librarian in Baltimore and her publisher says she wrote some of the chapters specifically for her students at Park School where she works. The book is set in an English village in 1255, and the story is told in “dramatic vignettes illuminating twenty-two unforgettable characters,” explains the publisher.

“The Invention of Hugo Cabret” illustrated by Brian Selznick and published by Scholastic won the Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished Ameircan picture book for children. Not the first award for this book, it was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book, a Publishers Weekly Best book and a New York Pubblic Library Best Book for Reading and Sharing. The story is about Hugo, a clock keeper and thief who lives in the walls of a Paris train station. His life is turned around when he meets a “bookish” girl and an old man.

Here is the rest of the winners:

ALA Youth Media Awards for 2008:

Newbery Honor Books:

“Elijah of Buxton,� by Christopher Paul Curtis, published by Scholastic.

“The Wednesday Wars,� by Gary D. Schmidt, published by Clarion.

“Feathers,� by Jacqueline Woodson, published by Putnam.

Caldecott Honor Books:

“Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad,� illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine, published by Scholastic.

“First the Egg,� illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, .published by Roaring Brook/Neal Porter.

“The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain,� illustrated and written by Peter Sís, . published by Farrar/Frances Foster.

“Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity,� illustrated and written by Mo Willems, published by Hyperion.

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:

“The White Darkness,� by Geraldine McCaughrean, published by HarperTempest, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Printz Honor Books:

“Dreamquake: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet,� by Elizabeth Knox, published by Frances Foster Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

“One Whole and Perfect Day,� by Judith Clarke, published by Front Street, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, Inc.

“Repossessed,� by A. M. Jenkins, published by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins.

“Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath,� by Stephanie Hemphill, published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books.

Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults.

“Elijah of Buxton,� written by Christopher Paul Curtis, published by Scholastic.

King Author Honor Books:

“November Blues,� by Sharon M. Draper, published by Atheneum Books for Young Adults.

“Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali,� written by Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier, published by Candlewick Press.
King Illustrator Book:

“Let it Shine,� illustrated and written by Ashley Bryan, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

King Illustrator Honor Books: “The Secret Olivia Told Me,� by N. Joy, illustrated by Nancy Devard, published by Just Us Books.

“Jazz On A Saturday Night,� by Leo and Diane Dillon, published by Scholastic Blue Sky Press.

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award:

“Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It,� written by Sundee T. Frazier is the Steptoe winner. Published by Delacorte Press.

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences:

“Kami and the Yaks,� written by Andrea Stenn Stryer, illustrated by Bert Dodson and published by Bay Otter Press of Palo Alto, Calif. wins the award for young children (age 0 to 10).

“Reaching for Sun,� by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, published by Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books, New York is the winner in the middle grades category (age 11-13).

“Hurt Go Happy,� written by Ginny Rorby, a Starscape Book, published by Tom Doherty Associates, is the winner in the teen category (age 13-18).

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished book for beginning readers. “There Is a Bird on Your Head!,� written and illustrated by Mo Willems is the 2008 Geisel Award winner. Published by Hyperion.

Geisel Honor Books:

“First the Egg,� written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger and published by Roaring Brook/Neal Porter;

“Hello, Bumblebee Bat,� written by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne and published by Charlesbridge; “Jazz Baby,� written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie and published by Harcourt;

“Vulture View,� written by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins, published by Holt.

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults. Orson Scott Card is the recipient honoring his outstanding lifetime contribution to writing for teens for his novels “Ender’s Game� and “Ender’s Shadow.�

Pura Belpré Award honoring Latino authors and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in children’s books.

Yuyi Morales, illustrator of “Los Gatos Black on Halloween,� written by Marisa Montes and published by Holt is the winner of the 2008 Pura Belpré Illustrator Award.

Margarita Engle, author of “The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano,� illustrated by Sean Qualls and published by Holt, is the 2008 Pura Belpré Author Award recipient.

Two Honor Books for illustration:

“My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo gabito: La vida de Gabriel García Márquez,� illustrated by Raúl Colón, written by Monica Brown and published by Luna Rising

“My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo,� written and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez, published by Children’s Book Press.

Three Author Honor Books were named: “Frida: ¡Viva la vida! Long Live Life!� by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand and published by Marshall Cavendish; “Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale,� retold by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael Austin and published by Peachtree; and “Los Gatos Black on Halloween,� written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales and published by Holt.

Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children. “The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain,� written and illustrated by Peter Sís, is the 2008 Sibert Award winner. Published by Farrar/Frances Foster.

Sibert Honor Books:

“Lightship,� written and illustrated by Brian Floca, published by Simon & Schuster/ Richard Jackson

“Nic Bishop Spiders,� written and illustrated by Nic Bishop, published by Scholastic/Scholastic Nonfiction.

Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children’s video. Producer Kevin Lafferty along with executive producer John Davis, and co-producers, Amy Palmer Robertson and Danielle Sterling, are the 2008 recipients of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children’s Video – for the production of “Jump In! Freestyle Edition.â€?

Mildred L. Batchelder Award for the most outstanding children’s book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States.

VIZ Media is the recipient for “Brave Story.� Originally published in Japanese in 2003 as “Bureibu Sutori,� the book was written by Miyuki Miyabe and translated by Alexander O. Smith.

Batchelder Honor Books:

“The Cat: Or, How I Lost Eternity,� published by Milkweed Editions, originally published in German as “Die Katze,�

“Nicholas and the Gang,� published by Phaidon Press, originally published in French as “Le petit Nicolas et les copains.�

The first-ever Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production is Live Oak Media for “Jazz.�
Five honor titles were named: “Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary ‘Jacky’ Faber, Ship’s Boy,� produced by Listen & Live Audio; “Dooby Dooby Moo,� produced by Scholastic/Weston Woods; “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,� produced by Listening Library; “Skulduggery Pleasant,� produced by HarperChildren’s Audio; and “Treasure Island,� produced by Listening Library.

Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences
“American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China,� by Matthew Polly, published by Penguin/Gotham Books; “Bad Monkeys,� by Matt Ruff, published by HarperCollins; “Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm,� by Jeff Lemire, published by Top Shelf Publications; “Genghis: Birth of an Empire,� by Conn Iggulden, published by Delacorte; “The God of Animals,� by Aryn Kyle, published by Scribner; “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,� by Ishmael Beah, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Sarah Crichton Books; “Mister Pip,� by Lloyd Jones, published by Random/Dial Press; “The Name of the Wind,� by Patrick Rothfuss, published by DAW; “The Night Birds,� by Thomas Maltman, published by Soho; and “The Spellman Files,� by Lisa Lutz, published by Simon & Schuster.

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture recognizing an individual of distinction in the field of children’s literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site. Walter Dean Myers, widely acclaimed author of picture books, novels, poetry and nonfiction for children and young adults, will deliver the 2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture.

The ALA awards are intended to guide parents, educators, librarians and others in selecting the best materials for youth. They are selected by judging committees of librarians and other children’s literature experts For more information on the ALA youth media awards and notables.