
This week’s News Bites include info on Samsung’s competitions for teachers and students, 2 new picture book imprints, a new conference about kidlit in the digital age.
February 16, 2013
The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens

This week’s News Bites include info on Samsung’s competitions for teachers and students, 2 new picture book imprints, a new conference about kidlit in the digital age.

Move over Carrie Underwood, the Foo Fighters, Kanye West, and make way for the Okee Dokee Brothers—Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing. The group’s latest album, Can You Canoe?, nabbed the coveted 2013 Grammy Award for Best Children’s Album on February 10 at the star-studded awards ceremony held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

In recognition of the Caldecott Medal’s 75th anniversary, librarians at School Library Journal’s Leadership Summit shared their favorite winners and discuss beloved picture books that were overlooked for this honor but still stand the test of time.

The deadline has been extended until February 15 for the prestigious Sullivan Award for Public Library Administrators Supporting Services to Children. The annual award honors an individual who has shown exceptional Peggy Sullivanunderstanding and support of library services for kids. Sponsored by Peggy Sullivan, the former dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Rosary College, in River Forest, IL, and the American Library Association’s (ALA) one-time executive director, the award is administered by ALA. Nominees should also have management, supervisory, or administrative experience that has included public library service to children.

A week after the “big reveal” at the American Library Association’s midwinter meeting, everyone is still talking about the latest award-winning titles. Young Adult Library Services Association committees select books for teens from 12 to 18 years of age, with a broad range of reading abilities and maturity levels. Whether they are edgy or informative, these buzz-worthy books will circulate among your students for years to come.

In addition to best-selling mysteries and thrillers for adults, James Patterson also writes for young readers, and he’s extremely proud of his “Middle School” series. The latest entry, I Funny, is told from the point of view of a middle schooler who uses humor to help him cope with a physical handicap and the loss of his family. In this case, laughter really is the best medicine for Jamie Grimm, the narrator of I Funny.

Scenes from this year’s Midwinter meeting, from the Youth Media Awards to the National Forum on Libraries & Teens.

With the Youth Media Awards having been announced Monday January 28, buzz around the Caldecott-winning This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick), the Newbery-winning The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins), and the Printz-winning In Darkness (Bloomsbury), is higher than ever. School Library Journal has compiled a list of relevant blog posts, reviews, interviews, and articles related to the winners and honor books.

Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan and Jon Klassen’s This Is Not My Hat may have won the Newbery and Caldecott on Monday, January 28, but they were already stellar titles for School Library Journal’s Book Review editors. Both books made SLJ’s Best Books of 2012 list, as well as many of the other ALA’s Youth Media Award-winners. Check out SLJ’s reviews for the top prizes.

The audience erupted in cheers Monday after Katherine Applegate was named the winner of the Newbery Medal for The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins), and Jon Klassen was awarded the Caldecott Medal for This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick) at the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards for 2012, which were announced during its annual Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, WA.

Watch a short film by a semifinalist in the National Coalition Against Censorship’s 2012 Youth Free Expression Project Film Contest.

School Library Journal’s fifth annual Battle of the Kids’ Books tournament, affectionately known as “BOB,” is about to begin! Modeled after college basketball’s March Madness, the tournament pits 16 of 2012’s best books for young people—everything from fantasy to nonfiction to wicked good romance—against one another in a winner-take-all online elimination contest kicking off on Monday, March 12.

The American Library Association’s News Know-How initiative has selected the teen services department of the San Antonio Public Library to receive more than $50,000 to train and support kids in grades 10–12 in learning how to distinguish fact from opinion, check news and information sources, and distinguish between propaganda and news, the library announced this week.

The Association of Jewish Libraries has given its 2013 Sydney Taylor Book Awards to Hannah’s Way, by Linda Glaser; His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg, by Louise Borden; and Intentions, by Deborah Heiligman.

The Mystery Writers of America has announced the nominees for its 2013 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, and television from the previous year, in celebration of the 204th anniversary of Poe’s birth.

African-American writer, griot, and blues singer Arthur Flowers and Indian scroll painter Manu Chitrakar have combined their very distinctive storytelling traditions in an extraordinary jam session, creating I See the Promised Land, a stunning graphic narrative-style biography of Martin Luther King Jr. In honor of Black History Month, Groundwood Books will be giving away 10 signed copies.

With the ALA Youth Media Awards just around the corner, Junior Library Guild takes a look at some star-studded titles.

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center has awarded Each Kindness, written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by E. B. Lewis, its Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book. The 2013 Zolotow committee also named Flabbersmashed About You, Me and Momma and Big John, and Sleep Like a Tiger as Honor Books. The awards will be presented on April 6, 2013.







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