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Penny Warner’s The Code Busters 2: The Haunted Lighthouse won the 2012 Agatha Award. Capstone is adding 60 more Presidential titles to the K–3 PebbleGo Biographies module in August 2013. ABDO’s will publish library editions of IDW’s “Jurassic Park” and “Star Trek” graphic novels this fall.
Luci Tapahonso has been appointed the Navajo Nation’s first Poet Laureate. Arte Público Press launches a A Day without Sugar initiative to combat child obesity. The winners of the South Asia Book Awards and the Marion Vannett Ridgway Award were announced.
Celebrate 10 years of Mo Willems’s Pigeon with a visit to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, which will be hosting an exhibit on the award-winning author/illustrator. Winners for the Jane Addams, Golden Kite, and IRA awards have been announced. Attend a one-day workshop focused on integrating games into the K–12 classroom. These stories and more, in this week’s News Bites.
The Hans Christian Andersen Award shortlist has been revealed; the Christopher Awards names six winners in the Books for Young People category; and Shmoop, a publisher of digital curriculum and test prep, is offering a new SAT math practice tool—Math Shack. All of this and more in this week’s News Bites column.
Read News Bites for some great ways to connect with your students—learn more about the immigrant experience with the Smithsonian’s education conferences and offer students Shmoop’s video analysis of dozens of literature favorites.
Finalists for the Lamda Book Awards and Audie Awards were announced; Illustrators and Authors honored with Ezra Jack Keats Awards; March is Music in Schools Month, and other news tidbits for librarians.
Observe Children’s Book Week (May 13–19) in your library or classroom with a free poster by Brian Selznick and an activity guide that celebrates the idea that “books can take you anywhere.”
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.
From September 30 to October 6 libraries, schools, and bookstores will celebrate Banned Books Week, an annual event that focuses on First Amendment rights. “During Banned Books Week, we hope to remind Americans that the ability to read, speak, think and express ourselves freely is a right, not a privilege,” said Maureen Sullivan, American Library Association President. “As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week, it’s important to recognize that book banning does exist in this day and age. It’s up to all of us, community residents, librarians, teachers and journalists, to continue to stand up and speak out for the right to read.”
On August 31, Candlewick launched a yearlong video celebration of picture books in honor of their 20th anniversary. Every day for 365 days, as part of the We Believe in Picture Books campaign, Candlewick will offer a video shot by authors, illustrators, staff, and friends, sharing what picture books mean to them, recommending a favorite story, and more. Librarians and teachers are welcome to post these videos on their own websites to share with students. You can also submit your own video to the publisher in which you informally talk about your favorite picture book, what the format means to you, or why it matters.
The 50th birthday celebration of Norman Bridwell’s iconic Clifford the Big Red Dog will kick off on September 24th at 10 am with a party at Scholastic’s New York City headquarters. And everybody can join in on the “Biggest Birthday Party Ever!” The live event will be streamed to classes across the country. Teachers can register now so their students can watch the festivities and Bridwell’s 30-minute webcast. There’s also a free kit that includes lesson plans, art project ideas, and coloring pages. In addition, Norman Bridwell’s Clifford Collection, six stories originally published between 1963 and 1977, will be released on the same day.
Star Wars: National Star Wars Reads Day is October 6. The event is an initiative of Lucasfilm and its publishing partners, Abrams, Chronicle Books, Dark Horse, Del Rey, DK, Scholastic, Titan Magazines, and Workman. ABDO Publishing is offering a free Star Wars event guide containing teacher’s guides, promotional posters, interviews with celebrities connected to the franchise, a list of nearly 300 Star Wars universe terms, a video of the event that was held in the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis, and an order form for the 68 ABDO/Spotlight Star Wars library editions.
Awards
Show a little love: Nominations are open for the 2012 Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award. Library users can nominate a favorite public, school, college, community college, or university librarian based on the accomplishments in improving the lives of people in their community. Nominees must be employed librarians with a master’s degree from a program accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) in library and information studies or a master’s degree with a specialty [...]
