Children's Literature Legacy Award winner Grace Lin in her studio. Photo: Danielle Tait. First, the thank yous. Thank you to: My agent, Rebecca Sherman, whom I have forgotten to mention in the past, so your name goes first this time! My family — my parents, my sisters, and of course...
Floyd Cooper's family. From left: his son Dayton, wife Velma, and son Kai. Photo courtesy of Dayton Cooper. Bittersweet. I’d like to start off by thanking the 2022 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury, and of course ALA, for making this possible. But more importantly, I’d like to thank my...
I am grateful to the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury and for the support of Lerner Publishing Group and Carolrhoda Books, my editor Carol Hinz, art director Danielle Carnito, my agent Rubin Pfeffer, and my publicists Lindsay Matvick and Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati. Most of all, I am blessed that I...
Good evening. It is a particular joy to be addressing you in person as the two previous recipients of the Caldecott Medal were not able to do. On that note, because they missed out on their ballroom full of applause, I think we should give it to them. Please join...
"It could never happen for a kid like me." Photo courtesy of Donna Barba Higuera. If someone had told me as a child that not only would I one day write a book, but that book would sit alongside those “golden-sticker books” like A Wrinkle in Time or Mrs. Frisby...
What did winning the Newbery Medal mean to me? It has taken some time to wrap my head around this question. The Last Cuentista won the Newbery Medal! I’ve texted my editor, Nick Thomas, a few times with, “We won the Newbery” and “Did that really happen?” just to help...
Poetry has so much to offer young readers: beautiful language, musical rhythms, creative formats, powerful emotions, and so much more. Yet, when it comes to award recognition, poetry has rarely had a place at the Newbery table. Just sixteen books of poetry have been recognized with Newbery Medals or Honors...
In 2021, "the call" was a Zoom call. Photo: Tae Keller. As soon as the 2021 Youth Media Awards were announced, I started hearing from other writers, from friends, from family: The Newbery will change your life. This felt fairly accurate, considering I hadn’t slept for thirty-six hours, I had...
When most people think of the Newbery Award, they think of words, not art. After all, the Newbery criteria stipulate that “the committee is to make its decision primarily on the text. Other components of a book, such as illustrations, overall design of the book, etc., may be considered when...
600 articles