Engle, Nivola Win Jane Addams Awards
RSSBy SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 04/28/2009
Two books, one about the first woman from Africa to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and the other, which deals with slavery and occupation in Cuba during the late 1800s, are winners of the 2009 Jane Addams Children's Book Awards, commending themes or topics that engage children in thinking about peace, justice, world community, and equality of the sexes and all races.
In the category of books for younger children, the award went to Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai (Frances Foster Bks,), written and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola, is a picture book that profiles environmentalist and activist Wangari Maathai, who founded Kenya’s Green Belt Movement in 1977 in direct response to the devastated natural resources and poverty caused by the deforestation of her homeland for commercial purposes..
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom(Holt) by Margarita Engle, a verse novel about Cuba's fight for independence, won in the category for books for older children. Engle’s own family history and historical fiction create a story about Rosa, born a slave and a healer, who responds to bloodshed by healing compatriots and enemies alike. The book also received a Newbery honor in January, marking the first time that a Hispanic author has ever received such a distinction.
Two books were named honor books in the Books for Younger Children Category:
The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos (Children’s Book Press) story by Cuento Lucía González and illustrations by Lulu Delacre, about Hildamar, an immigrant child in New York City in the 1930’s, whose community widens and deepens when she and her cousin meet Pura Belpre, the librarian at the local public library who not only speaks Spanish but invites families to the library to celebrate Three King’s Day.
Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad (Roaring Brook Press), written and illustrated by James Rumford, about a boy named Ali, who lives in today’s Baghdad and loves soccer, parent-rattling music, dancing, and calligraphy.
Margarita Engle won for The Giving Tree (Holt, 2008)
Two books were named honor books in the books for Older Children Category.
The Shepherd’s Granddaughter (Groundwood) by Anne Laurel Carter, a realistic novel set in contemporary Palestine.
Ain’t Nothing But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry (National Geographic) by Scott Reynolds Nelson with Marc Aronson, which tracks the real man behind the larger-than-life hero of folk song fame.
The 2009 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards will be presented Friday, October 16th in New York City. Details about the award event and about securing winner and honor book seals are available from the Jane Addams Peace Association (JAPA). Contact JAPA Executive Director Linda B. Belle, 777 United Nations Plaza, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017-3521; by phone 212-682-8830; and by email japa@igc.org.
