ALA 2013 – Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet!

Conference Corner 0

Sunday night – Time for the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet!

This year, ALSC was celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Caldecott Medal, so they had encouraged people to come in costume. I simply added a bell around my neck. If you could hear it, you still had the magic.

The backdrop for the above photo is from the illustration created by Randolph Caldecott on which the front of the medal is based.

I tried to take pictures of many people I saw in costume, but I didn’t write down all the names. If you know someone in a picture, let me know who it is in the comments!

First, Monica Edinger with a newspaper hat from Black and White. (And you can also let me know if I get the book references wrong!)

Then I got a picture of Monica with Roxanne Feldman, who was in a full newspaper costume.

I know I’ve met this nice person and gotten her name. She had badges with covers from ALL the Caldecott Medal winners! (And do you recognize the red balloon from A Sick Day for Amos McGee?)

They go all the way around!

Here’s Mary Ann Scheuer as an exquisite Olivia. I believe she’s with Kelly Celia (from Walden Pond Press)’s husband. I think his name is Eric. He’s a teacher, and was a nice addition to the children’s book crowd.

(Again, please correct me in all my photo identifications in the comments!)

Here’s Chelsea Couillard-Smith with cutouts from Lois Ehlert’s Color Zoo!

And here’s a fabulous Jumanji costume! (Anyone know this clever person’s name?)

Paul Zelinsky is again wearing his so-appropriate Rapunzel tie. He’s being interviewed by Betsy Bird, who explained her complete Caldecott medal-and-honors honoring costume on her own blog.

And my friend with the 75 badges got the red carpet treatment, being interviewed by Jim Averbeck:

Then I simply had to get a picture of the Queen of the Wild Things. Her badge says she’s Carol Phillips:

And once I saw that fine backdrop, I had to have my own new Facebook profile picture taken:

Then it was time for the meal. I got to sit with Cara Frank, whom I just met — but knew from Twitter. Here’s the important part of the meal:

In the break after the meal and before the speeches, I had to get a picture of the person sitting next to me, Leslie, an editor from Vizmedia. She was wearing a lovely tribute to Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears. (I like the way the colors went with the room, too!)

Finally, the speeches! Here’s Jon Klassen giving his acceptance speech for the Caldecott Medal for This Is Not My Hat.

I loved this quote from Jon Klassen:
“Storytelling in any form is a hopeful thing to do.”

I found most of the pictures I took of Honor winners were blurry or a little bit boring. But isn’t this picture cute of Laura Amy Schlitz accepting her Honor award from the Newbery Chair? I love the twinkle in her eyes!

Then came Katherine Applegate with her Newbery Acceptance Speech.

I’m pretty sure I caught her reading from one of her early efforts — a steamy Harlequin Temptation Romance. I loved her sense of humor about her career and these quotes:

“Writing is excruciating and writing is exhilarating.”

And especially:
“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

Finally, Katherine Paterson accepted the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for lifetime achievement. She moves a lot when she talks, and I was not able to get an unblurry picture of her.

She talked about how this award has come to her “by virtue of your most honorable shadows.”

At the end of all the inspiring speeches, we get to join the receiving line and congratulate the winners in person. I saw more people I knew in that line. I was kicking myself for not getting a picture of John Schumacher, Travis Jonker, Eric Carpenter, and Colby Sharp all together in line. Yay for the Kidlit men! 🙂

It was a marvelous evening, and the committee who put together the 75th anniversary activities can congratulate themselves for a job well-done!

This is my sixth ALA2013 post. Still to come are Monday’s programs and then the Printz Awards Reception. So much good stuff spinning in my mind!

Stand-out Authors: Second-Timers

Stand-outs 0

Here’s one last post about the authors who appeared on my 2012 Sonderbooks Stand-outs who have had Stand-outs in years past. This post will be about the twelve authors who are appearing this year for the second time. Most of these are only there the second time because I’ve only just discovered them. I’m looking forward to reading more of their work!

Let’s start with the one with the biggest gap. Back in 2002, Patricia Polacco had a #2 Sonderbooks Stand-out in Picture Books with the book Christmas Tapestry, a heart-warming picture book. This year’s Stand-out, The Art of Miss Chew, is yet another heart-warming picture book.

Another picture book author from this year, Kate DiCamillo, co-author of Bink and Gollie: Two for One, had a book on my 2003 Sonderbooks Stand-outs, her Newbery-winning The Tale of Despereaux, which came in at #3 in Children’s Fantasy.

And while I’m talking about Bink and Gollie: Two for One, I should mention that its illustrator, Tony Facile, appeared on my 2011 Sonderbooks Stand-outs with a book he illustrated and wrote himself, Mitchell’s License, my #3 choice in Picture Books in 2011. His style, developed in animation, works so well in picture books.

Back in 2004, another author with a picture book on the list this year had a children’s novel on the 2004 Sonderbooks Stand-outs. Kevin Henkes, author of my #1 Picture Book this year, Penny and Her Song, was #8 in Children’s Contemporary Novels in 2004 with Olive’s Ocean.

And one more picture book author from this year is a second-timer. Jon Klassen’s two Hat books, besides winning ALA recognition, were both Sonderbooks Stand-outs. This year’s offering and Caldecott Medal winner, This Is Not My Hat was #4 in Picture Books on my 2012 Sonderbooks Stand-outs. Last year’s I Want My Hat Back was also #4 in Picture Books, but this one was on my 2011 Sonderbooks Stand-outs.

This year’s Caldecott Medalist is a Second-Timer to Sonderbooks Stand-outs, and so is this year’s Newbery Medalist, Katherine Applegate. The Newbery Medal-winning book, The One and Only Ivan, was #2 in Other Children’s Fiction on 2012 Sonderbooks Stand-outs, but I first discovered her writing in 2009, when Home of the Brave was #1 in Other Children’s Fiction on my 2009 Sonderbooks Stand-outs. (And I usually don’t like prose poems! In both these cases — gorilla or immigrant without much command of English — it seemed completely appropriate.)

And another Newbery Medalist first appeared on my 2009 Sonderbooks Stand-outs, but for Rebecca Stead, it was the earlier book, When You Reach Me, that won the Newbery Medal. It also was my #1 in Children’s Fantasy and Science Fiction. This year, with Liar and Spy, she was #4 in Other Children’s Fiction.

And yet another Newbery Honoree first showed up in 2009. Grace Lin’s Newbery Honor Book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, was #5 in Children’s Fantasy and Science Fiction on my 2009 Sonderbooks Stand-outs. This year, the companion novel, Starry River of the Sky, was also #5.

There’s one more Second-Timer in Children’s Fiction, and I’m happy to say that she’s a new writer. Her first two books have both been Sonderbooks Stand-outs, and I am hopeful there will be many more to come. Stephanie Burgis’s debut novel, Kat, Incorrigible was #4 in Children’s Fiction on my 2011 Sonderbooks Stand-outs. The follow-up, Renegade Magic, was #8 in Children’s Fantasy and Science Fiction on this year’s list.

One author of Children’s Nonfiction made the Sonderbooks Stand-outs for the second time this year. Philip Hoose had a #1 book on my 2009 Sonderbooks Stand-outs with Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, and this year he made my list again with Moonbird, at #9 in Children’s Nonfiction.

One writer of Nonfiction for adults appeared on my lists the same two years as Philip Hoose. Karen Casey’s book Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow was #2 in Other Nonfiction on my 2009 Sonderbooks Stand-outs. That led directly to my purchasing Each Day a New Beginning, which was #7 in Other Nonfiction on this year’s list.

Finally, one last Second-Timer is the only one writing novels for adults. Chris Cleave first appeared on my 2010 Sonderbooks Stand-outs with the stunning novel Little Bee. Little Bee was #4 in Fiction, and is a book I will remember all my life. (It was only the disturbing nature of the book that got more pleasant books ranked above it. Powerful stuff, though.) This year’s book about the Olympics, Gold, was also #4, this time in Other Fiction (as opposed to Fantasy).

I hope I haven’t seen the last of these authors! May they write many more books, and may I love their future work as much as I did these. If you haven’t caught these books from the past, I highly recommend them. At least with these second-timers, you can easily catch up!