Both the Caldecott and Newbery Medal awards are annually given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The 2013 Caldecott Medal award winner is This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen, whereas The 2013 Newbery Medal winner is The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Congratulations to these two talented authors.
I believe, as children’s book authors, Klassen and Applegate must be proud to have the medals, the two most prestigious awards given by Association for Library Service to Children. The Caldecott Medal which recognizes “the best picture book for children” of the year, is named after a British artist, who illustrated many Children’s books during the 19th century, Randolph Caldecott.
The Caldecott’s winner of this year, This Is Not My Hat, tells a story of a tiny fish stealing a big fish’s hat. Caldecott Chair, Sandra Imdieke gave Klassen a very high compliment that “with minute changes in eyes and the slightest displacement of seagrass, Klassen’s masterful illustrations tell the story the narrator doesn’t know.”
The other highest award, Newbery Medal, honors an outstanding contribution to American children’s literature. It’s named for John Newbery, an 18th century English publisher of children’s book. Compared to Caldecott Medal which focuses on illustrations, Newbery Medal cares more about text. Candidate books for the Newbery Medal are judged solely on their written material, and not by presentation of illustrations. Newbery Medal Committee Chair Steven Engelfried also gave a good comment on Katherine’s book that The One and Only Ivan which is filled with wry humor, deep emotion and thought-provoking insights gives readers a unique and unforgettable gorilla’s-eye-view of the world that challenges the way we look at animals and at ourselves.
Grace Lin, a children’s book author and illustrator whose book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was a recipient of a 2010 Newbery Honor Book mention, is an American-Chinese. Even though she was not the winner of the medal, the award still brought a lot of attentions to her book. Once the book is selected to the lists of either one of the medal award runners-up called Newbery Honor Books or Caldecott Honor, and it definitely boosts book’s sales and makes it more attractive to educators.
For our blog article about Grace Lin and her Newbery Honor book "When the mountain meets the moon", please click here
Are you good at drawing or writing? Have you ever considered being an author or an illustrator? Maybe you will be the winner of Caldecott or Newbery award like Grace Lin. ALSC has lots of special Caldecott-related events and activities planned throughout the year to make it possible for you to be involved in the celebration, in person, online, and in print. It is good for you to obtain professional tutoring and have a sharing time with the excellent authors of children’s book.
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