The Cybils Awards are the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards and got their start in 2006. The kidlit blogosphere is certainly one of constant growth, so Jennifer and I both consider it a major honor to be involved with the judging panels for the Cybils for the last two years! For more information on how the award process works, check out the FAQ page.

In looking at the finalists and winners lists, it’s clear that this is a fabulous reference list to consult when looking for new books for your own children. Last year’s Fiction Picture winner, All the World by Liz Scanlon amazed me from my first glance, and it’s at the top of my list for gift giving still. The beauty of the rhyming text is rivaled by the gorgeous illustrations, and I’m left with a warm feeling every time I read it with my own children.

In 2008, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games received the Young Adult Fantasy/Science Fiction Cybils Award, and if you don’t know why, you need to get yourself to a bookstore or library immediately. Collins’ entire trilogy about a dystopian world in which a totalitarian government conducts “games” every year that are a horrifying mix of gladiator fights and reality television in order to keep its citizenry in check. These are definitely must read books and “classics” in their own time.

Two other titles stand out to me from the 2008 Cybils Awards, and although I have yet to read them, I’ve read enough about them to know that I will eventually enjoy them when they make their way to my shelf. The Middle Grade Fantasy/Science Fiction winner, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman has been highly recommended by many bloggers, and I think that my oldest son is now just the right age for it. Perhaps this will be our next read-together book! It might be a few more years, though, until he’s ready for the 2008 Young Adult Fiction winner, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, so I believe I’ll have to get to this coming-of-age tale on one my own!

How about you? Have you and your children read any Award Winners lately? If you blog about it, we’d love for you to link up with us here, or you could chat with us about it in the comments section, instead.

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Dawn hasn’t received many awards in her day (except for the coveted “Meanest Mommy in the World” title, more often than she’d like), but she is kind of a big deal on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

Every year, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards honor African-American authors and illustrators of exemplary pieces of literature for children and young adults. Initially created by two school librarians who wished more African-American authors were recognized by national awards, the Coretta Scott King award became associated with the ALA twelve years after its inception. Awards are now presented to both authors and illustrators, and I’d like to highlight two books that my children and I have been enjoying.

The 2000 Author Award Winner was Christopher Paul Curtis for his extraordinary middle grade novel Bud, Not Buddy. Holy cow, what an amazing book. My ten year old son read this over the summer, as it was included on a list of suggested summer reading, and he told me that I would probably like it, too. Upon starting the book, I was immediately drawn in by the protagonist’s voice. Bud is a ten year old orphaned child in 1936, who has suffered at the hands of foster families enough times that he decides to “go on the lam.” The few things he has of his mothers’ he has carried around with him in a small suitcase every day since she died four years ago, and Bud is convinced that these items hold the secret to the identity of his father.

The story follows Bud’s journey to find his father, depicting his experiences during the Depression in Michigan. Lines extending two city blocks for a meal at the Mission and police officers tearing down a “Hooverville” shantytown are just two representations of this time of suffering in our country. Bud meets with both cruelty and kindness at the hands of strangers, and his story is ultimately about finding one’s place in the world. It’s tender and touching, and Bud straddles the line of childhood innocence and awareness of the realities of the world, making him an engaging narrator and an extremely lovable character.

Not only was Bud, Not Buddy awarded with a Coretta Scott King Award, but was also the recipient of this long list of other honors: the Newbery Medal, ALA Notable Children’s Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, International Reading Association Children’s Book Award, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Golden Kite Honor Plaque for Fiction, Texas Bluebonnet Award, Parents’ Choice Story Book Award, AND eleven different state awards!

Langston Hughes’ poem My People, became a picture book with photographs by Charles R. Smith Jr., and received the 2010 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. As explained at the end of the book, Smith gave much thought to how he would illustrate Hughes’ short poem, wondering who the “people” would be in this book.

Langston wrote the poem to celebrate the pride he had for his black brothers and sisters in the late 1920s, when blacks were not acknowledged much in soceity. That helped answer one question: Only black people would be in the book, since they are who Langston celebrated. His words were not meant to dismiss other races; just to celebrate his own.”

As a white mother to three white children, one might think I would overlook this book at first glance, but I would be missing a work of beauty. Hughes’ poetry is so accessible to young children, and the photographs in this book are nothing short of amazing. We have indeed checked this book out several times before, and I predict it will make its way into our library bag many more times in the future.

Now it’s your turn. What award winning children’s books have you and yours been reading? Please link up with us below, or feel to share in the comments section.

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Dawn hasn’t received many awards in her day (except for the coveted “Meanest Mommy in the World” title, more often than she’d like), but she is kind of a big deal on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

In preparing for this month’s post, I was reminded of one of the American Library Association’s more recently created awards, and for my own family of readers, this award will soon become relevant to our book choices. The unique category of ‘beginning readers’ received its own ALA award in the form of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize authors and illustrators for “their literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading.” Who better to honor in name for this category of children’s literature than Dr. Seuss?

In my opinion, quality beginning reader books balance the need for sparse text with an engaging story- not always an easy task. Children just learning to read want to experience success with these books, but they don’t want to be bored to tears while doing it. (Sorry, Dick and Jane.) Since 2006, the winners of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award demonstrate this balance in action!

While I haven’t read many books in this category with my younger children, I remember back to when my oldest son was first learning to read. He was a big fan of the Henry and Mudge books, of which Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas was the 2006 Geisel Award honoree. Now that my middle child is almost four and a half, I envision visiting this section of the library more frequently in coming months, and I know of one particular series that never fails to please, even impressing the ALA enough to be awarded the medal two years in a row!

In 2008, the fabulous Mo Willems took home the Geisel Award for There is a Bird on Your Head!, only to be honored again for Are You Ready to Play Outside? Combining only a few words on each page with an incredible array of expressions and two very distinctive personalities in the main characters, Willems has created a series of books that most definitely is engaging, totally humorous and perfect at building budding readers’ confidence levels. These books beg to be read out loud and even acted out, which is perfect for my little youngsters. I imagine that we have many more years of fun to come with Elephant and Piggie, and I look forward to the day when my younger kids read them out loud to ME!

What award winning children’s books have been in your reading life lately? If you’re blogging about a book clad with one of those shiny medals, we want to read it, so please link up with us below. Or, you can start chatting with us about some of your favorites in the comments section– we definitely love to talk books!

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Dawn hasn’t received many awards in her day (except for the coveted “Meanest Mommy in the World” title, more often than she’d like), but she is kind of a big deal on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

Currently checked out from the library is A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (2002 Newbery Medal winner), and although it hasn’t been read yet, I’m confident that it will get my son thinking, as Park’s works are consistently thought-provoking and complex.

Also among his current library book selections is Christopher Paul Curtis’ Bud, Not Buddy (2000 Newbery Medal winner), which after just a few chapters he told me was “a really serious story.” He reported that he enjoyed reading the book, but that it did make him feel sad for the main character. Although he’s a voracious reader, he doesn’t talk much about the books that he’s read, so I was pleased to get even that short assessment out of him.

Jerry Spinelli’s Maniac Magee (1991 Newbery Medal winner) is one that my son did briefly describe to me, but his synopsis confused me a bit so I decided to look it up on my own. This folk tale about an energetic and excitable kid sounds fabulous, and the larger issues addressed here include racism and inclusion.

While my son has had his nose buried in those award winners, I grabbed one off his personal shelf that I hadn’t read before but had actually already viewed the movie version. A couple of years ago, he read Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1978 Newbery Medal winner), and I knew absolutely nothing about the story. I remember having a conversation with a friend who was more than a bit shocked when I mentioned this as his latest read (he was around seven at the time). “Do you know what happens in that book?” was the question she incredulously asked me, head cocked to the side. A year or so later, we watched the Bridge to Terabithia movie on DVD, and I realized what the fuss was all about. This is no lighthearted story.

Even though the book is more than thirty years old, I’ll stick to our ‘no spoilers’ routine and not give away any of the details. Suffice it to say that this story is steeped in emotion, and when reading I found myself responding to the tension and depth physically- yup, I bit my nails off toward the ending, even though I knew what was coming. Katherine Paterson writes succinctly and with a straightforward manner, and the reader is given a clear picture of the main character Jess Aarons’ life, emotions and struggles. The friendship, caring and authentic, between Jess and Leslie is heartwarming, and their playful experiences create an image of a childhood filled with imagination and creativity. Bridge to Terabithia is just a beautiful, albeit heartbreaking story for older children, tackling some heavy issues of family, love and loss.

On a side note, earlier this year Katherine Paterson was named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Librarian of Congress, a role she will play for two years, choosing “Read for Your Life” as her theme. With her impressive contributions to children’s literature over the years, this appointment is well deserved.

All this talk about award winning children’s literature is just firing me up! All of three of my kids are seemingly more aware of the medal stickers on the books we choose, and my son is using this awareness as guidance in his selection of reading material on library visits. How about you and yours? What award winners have you enjoyed this month? Please link up with us and share your stories!

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Dawn hasn’t received many awards in her day (except for the coveted “Meanest Mommy in the World” title, more often than she’d like), but she is kind of a big deal on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

In my family, this past month has involved extended out-of-town visiting for me and the kids (to be away from our house which is under some serious DIY renovations), which translated into zero trips to the library and a whole lot of exploring the scads of books on our own shelves. I found it to be a lovely experience discovering how many award winners we’re fortunate to have in our collection. For July, I’d like to focus on a few picture books that my four and two year old children have enjoyed, so we’re looking at some winners of The Randolph Caldecott Medal, which 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.”

One of our very favorites is the 2010 Caldecott Medal Winner, Jerry Pinkney’s The Lion & The Mouse. I shared my thoughts on this book earlier this year as a part of the Cybils Picture Book Finalists, and trust me this incredible wordless picture book deserves all the honors bestowed upon it! My children find new details in Pinkney’s illustrations with each reading, and the story played out in the pictures never loses its sparkle.

Another Caldecott Medal honoree that is a winner in our family, this one from 2004, is Mordicai Gerstein’s The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. My older son has been fascinated with this book for years, and if you read Jennifer’s Books on Screen post from last week, Let the Great World Spin/Man on Wire, this book provides an opportunity to share the story of Philippe Petit with your children, an interesting tale involving New York City’s beloved Twin Towers.

The 2000 Caldecott Medal winner, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, by Simms Taback, is delightful to read with extremely colorful and eclectic collage illustrations, including cut-out features that connect each page’s pictures with the story of a long useful piece of cloth. I adore the message and emotion behind this story, making it one of those picture books that I don’t mind reading again and again. (And let’s face it, again and AGAIN!)

And finally, a 2004 Caldecott Honor Book, Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine, is at the top of my four year old daughter’s list of fun books. Just like my daughter, Ella enjoys putting together an outfit that incorporates every single color of the rainbow along with a variety of bold patterns. Even though she’s encouraged by her family members to choose something different, Ella insists on her clothing choices, and in the end, she emerges from her room in her very own style.

How about you? We’d love to read about the Award Winners that you and your children have enjoyed together. Please link up with us here, and share the love by visiting around with us, and come back each Tuesday to join our other community events, including Kids’ Picks, What’s on Your Nightstand? and I Read It!

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Dawn hasn’t received many awards in her day (except for the coveted “Meanest Mommy in the World” title, more often than she’d like), but she is kind of a big deal on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

I hope that this challenge spurred you on to take some time out just to enjoy a simple mystery or two. I’m looking forward to hearing how you all wrapped up this challenge. As for myself, I picked up another Nancy Drew mystery (1932 edition). As I mentioned – I rather enjoy the 1930′s version of Nancy vs. the 1950 version. There is just something classic (pardon the heavy pun there) about the original Nancy Drew. They are definitely dated which, in my opinion, makes them a joy to read. It’s not just a fun(ny) mystery but it’s a history lesson as well! This month I read Nancy’s Mysterious Letter and it’s full of descriptions of life in the 30′s and a bottom line assumption that women were supposed to stay at home and not go out the countryside creating all manner of mysterious chaos. I chuckled my way through the book and wrote up a separate post at Reading to Know, detailing my amusement, if you’d like some more particulars.

In the meantime, if you’ve enjoyed this challenge and would like to continue on with Nancy, you will be happy to hear that Deborah at Books, Movies, and Chinese Food is hosting a Nancy Drew Challenge which lasts all year long! If you’d like to be involved in that, hop on over to see what Deborah has going.

Check out Dawn’s introduction to our new challenge for the next six months of the year (July – December) and get motivated in a new direction.

Ok! Ready to link up? Looking forward to reading your posts and thanks for a fun six months!

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.

In the reading world that I share with my two youngest children, one that is dominated by picture books, the Randolph Caldecott Medal is held in high esteem because it recognizes outstanding illustrations in picture books. My oldest son has graduated to paying more attention to the John Newbery Medal winners, acknowledging the best of the best in American literature for older children. Rounding out the trio of the most well-known and respected American Library Association awards is the Coretta Scott King Book Award, distinguishing the best in African-American children’s literature.

Starting next month, our Children’s Classics Award Winners Challenge will begin, and we’ll ask you to link up your posts, or chat with us in the comments section, about any award winning children’s books you’ve read lately. Maybe you’ll want to be very specific in your goals, planning and gathering award winners from your own collection, or perhaps you’ll be compelled to write about a book with a fancy seal that your child pulled off the library shelf.

If you’re game, we’d love for you to write an initial blog post indicating that you’ll be participating in our challenge, at whatever level you wish, and link back up with us on this post. Beginning on July 13, and on the second Tuesday of each month through December, we’ll run our monthly carnival post and you can link up any posts you’ve written about the award winners you’ve read in the previous month’s time, on your own or with your children. With these award winners, perhaps the word “classics” won’t necessarily refer to the publication dates, but more to the books that will most certainly be treasured for many years to come. Personally, I’m hoping to incorporate this challenge in my children’s informal summer reading program over the next three months– since we will have more time to frequent the public library, what better time than now to seek out specific award winning books?

Will you walk down the “red carpet” of the children’s literature world with us for some time over the next six months? Are you looking forward to perusing one particular award, perhaps reading through past years’ winners and honorees, or are you looking forward to stumbling across some books adorned with the beautiful medal and honor seals during your next library visit?

Whatever your plan, we’d love if you would link up your own blog post of goals or ideas to this introductory post, and be sure to check back in with us on the second Tuesday of each month to keep sharing your experiences as well as to read about what other 5M4B community members have been reading, too!

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Dawn hasn’t received many awards in her day (except for the coveted “Meanest Mommy in the World” title, more often than she’d like), but she is kind of a big deal on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

There was one mystery-lovin’ boy though that I had never made the acquaintance of in my growing up years. A number of you were revisiting him during this challenge and were egging me on to read him for myself. This month I am happy to tell you that I have corrected a reading deficiency of mine — I read Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective. I am also happy to tell you (and my husband both!) that I am now a confirmed friend of Encyclopedia Brown!

Now, I might have liked E. Brown had I just picked him up on my own. I might have appreciated the fun of him based solely on the fact that my bloggy friends recommended him. I might been sentimentally in favor of Brown, based on the fact that my husband read him voraciously growing up. But the reason I LOVE Encyclopedia Brown is because Jonathan and I just finished watching the entire Monk television series. E. Brown is a boy Monk (just more outgoing and less OCD)! I read the first ten mysteries in Boy Detective and figured this is a series I could get excited about. I had fun trying to solve the mysteries before looking up the answers. (I succeeded about half of the time.) Jonathan said that he read these books with his dad when he was younger and the two of them would try to solve the mysteries together. (THOSE are the fun memories of childhood.) I don’t have childhood memories of Brown, but coming off of an emotional good-bye to Monk (yes, this is indeed a television show we grew a little obsessive about!) and being totally unable to connect with any other television character (not that we try very hard) I was full of glee reading about E. Brown. It was like starting Monk over from scratch and imagining his powers of observation at a young age. I read Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective with a grin on my face and I can imagine that we’ll be grinning over him for some time in our household. I’m so glad to know that there are so many books in the Brown series. I’ll be looking for more in the near future!

It’s a consolation prize for the Monk I miss.

So are there any children’s mystery detectives that you miss? I’m curious to see what you all read this month and I would remind you that you only have one more month to read a mystery as a part of this challenge. We’ve come up with some fun ideas for what Children’s Classics will look like post-June which we’ll tell you about later. Stay tuned for that! In the meantime, one more month to “cram.” If you haven’t participated in this challenge yet – feel free to jump right in! There’s no better time like the present!

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Carrie doesn’t connect to television characters very easily, if you were wondering. But when she does – oh my! Most of the time, she enjoys her detective stories in the books she reads and blogs about at Reading to Know.