American Library Association Announces Children’s Book Award Winners

The American Library Association just released the winners of their prestigious Newbery Medal, and Caldecott Medal. These awards are given to authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult books.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal was established and “named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.” 

The 2013 recipient is Jon Klassen for This is Not My Hat, written and illustrated by Klassen.

From Amazon’s book page:  When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it’s a good thing that enormous fish won’t wake up. And even if he does, it’s not like he’ll ever know what happened. . . . Visual humor swims to the fore as the best-selling Jon Klassen follows his breakout debut with another deadpan-funny tale.

The Newbery Medal was created to honor the “eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”

The 2013 recipient is Katherine Applegate for her book The One and Only Ivan.

From Amazon’s book page: Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

There were multiple categories within each of these awards. For a complete list of winners and honorees, Newbery Medal click here and Caldecott Medal click here.