In August of 2024, Illinois passed HB 4895, a bill mandating climate education in public high schools by the 2026–2027 school year. Four other states (NY, CA, CT, NJ) already mandate climate education in their schools. Recent surveys, however, show that the majority of U.S. teachers don’t teach climate change...
2025 Walter Award winners, honorees, and committee members. L to R: Jolynn Asato, Yasmeen Shorish, Aleksandra (Sasha) Dowdy, Shoshana Flax, Sherri Winston, Eden Royce, June Hur, Ekua Holmes, Renée Watson, Dr. Shanetia P. Clark (vice chair), Jenna Wolf, Jenell Igeleke Penn (chair). Photo courtesy of Dr. Shanetia P. Clark. I...
I have been to a lot of book award ceremonies in my career, and while the Newbery Awards’ ballroom of cheering people is glorious, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards back in the day were very fancy, the Blueberry Awards (now in its fourth year) genuinely inspire hope. Last Thursday,...
It was an absolute thrill, honor, and inspiration to accept the 2024 Mentor Honor on behalf of the Horn Book at the Carle Honors Benefit Gala at the New-York Historical Society in NYC on September 25. This special evening was hosted by the very charming, supremely talented, and velvety voiced Leslie...
Photo courtesy of Dean Schneider. I bet I’m the only grown person (near-elderly, actually) to have burst into tears in a Mac Barnett signing line. The book was The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse written by Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen, and it was the inaugural winner of...
PRESENTED TO MARTHA V. PARRAVANO "Keeper of the Horn Book Flame" On May 5, 2023, Martha retired from her position as book review editor after a decades-long career at the Horn Book. We are honored to present her with the first (and only) MVP Award for her expertise in...
Board books don’t tend to win major awards. True, a handful have been named ALA Notable Children’s Books, including one of my all-time favorites, Global Babies by the Global Fund for Children. Many a Caldecott winner has later been republished in board book format, and some work well, notably Kevin...
From Deborah Stevenson, chair of the O'Dell Award committee: Champaign, IL (January 10, 2022) — The 2022 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction goes to Ophie’s Ghosts by Justina Ireland, published by Balzer + Bray. Ophie is twelve when she sees a ghost for the first time: her father’s spirit warns her...
From the BCCB's Deborah Stevenson, chair of the O'Dell Award committee: Champaign, IL (January 18, 2019)—The 2019 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction goes to Finding Langston, by Lesa Cline-Ransome, published by Holiday House. Chicago brings culture shock for eleven-year-old Langston, who moves there from Alabama with his father in 1946 after his mother...
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