Publications about books for children and young adults
David Wiesner has won the Caldecott Medal three times: in 1992 for Tuesday, in 2002 for The Three Pigs, and in 2007 for Flotsam. Which of these books is the illustrator’s favorite Caldecott winner? a) A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka (2012) b) The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (2008) c) Black [...]
In 2008 Laura Amy Schlitz won the Newbery Medal for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, which introduces readers to residents of a 1255 English village through twenty-two poetic portraits. Which of these other Newbery-winning books is her favorite? a) The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting (1923) b) Strawberry Girl [...]
Robin McKinley won the 1985 Newbery for her high fantasy The Hero and the Crown, in which Aerin, the outcast daughter of the king, battles the great dragon Maur. Can you guess which of these Newbery-winning books is the author’s favorite? a) Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (2003) b) Number the Stars by [...]
Emily Arnold McCully received the 1993 Caldecott Medal for Mirette on the High Wire, the story of a 19th-century Parisian girl who learns to walk the high wire and, in the process, helps her mentor overcome his fears. Which of the books below is the illustrator’s favorite Caldecott-winning picture book? a) The Man Who Walked [...]
Sharon Creech received the 1995 Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons, the tale of 13-year-old Sal’s quest to find her missing mother. Can you guess her favorite Newbery-winning novel? a) Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1992) b) Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (2000) c) Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voight (1983) This post is [...]
Russell Freedman received the 1988 Newbery Medal for his meticulously researched Lincoln: A Photobiography. Which of these books is the historian’s favorite Newbery winner? a) Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (1973) b) The Story of Mankind by Hendrick Willem van Loon (1922) c) A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (2001) This [...]
Paul O. Zelinsky took home the 1998 Caldecott Medal for the lush oil paintings in his retelling of Rapunzel. Guess which of the following titles is the illustrator’s favorite Caldecott-stickered book. a) Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears written by Margaret Musgrove and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (1977) b) Make Way for Ducklings [...]
Newbery speculation is alive and healthy, with even the mock awards receiving national news coverage (and with the USA Today reporter who interviewed me also confiding that his fifth-grade son was participating in one). Happily, the growing din of the buzz doesn’t seem to affect the pleasure of the surprise at the award press conference. [...]
Just as the proof of the pudding is in the eating, real appreciation of a picture book depends on more than a first taste, or a first look; truer evaluation becomes possible only after savoring every nuance. At first glance, illustrations may delight us with their beauty — their drafting, palette, forms, composition; with how [...]
What is Russell Freedman’s favorite Newbery Medal book?
