And the REAL Winner is . . .
Newbery
WHEN YOU REACH ME
CLAUDETTE COLVIN
THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE
WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON
THE MOSTLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF HOMER P. FIGG
Caldecott
THE LION & THE MOUSE
ALL THE WORLD
RED SINGS FROM TREETOPS
Geisel
BENNY AND PENNY IN THE BIG NO-NO
I SPY FLY GUY
LITTLE MOUSE GETS READY
MOUSE AND MOLE: FINE FEATHERED FRIEND
PEARL AND WAGNER
Carnegie
DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS
Sibert
ALMOST ASTRONAUTS
THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS
MOONSHOT
CLAUDETTE COLVIN
Arbuthnot
LOIS LOWRY
Batchelder
A FARAWAY ISLAND
BIG WOLF AND LITTLE WOLF
EIDI
MORIBITO II
Pura Belpre
RETURN TO SENDER (author)
DIEGO
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
BOOK FIESTA (illustrator)
DIEGO
MY ABUELITA
GRACIAS THANKS
Odyssey
LOUISE, THE ADVENTURES OF A CHICKEN
IN THE BELLY OF THE BLOODHOUND
PEACE, LOCOMOTION
WE ARE THE SHIP
Printz
GOING BOVINE
CHARLES AND EMMA
THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST
PUNKZILLA
TALES FROM THE MADMAN UNDERGROUND
YALSA Nonfiction
CHARLES AND EMMA
Morris
FLASH BURNOUT
Edwards
JIM MURPHY
Coretta Scott King
WALTER DEAN MYERS (lifetime achievement)
THE ROCK AND THE RIVER (new talent)
MY PEOPLE (illustrator)
THE NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS
BAD NEWS FOR OUTLAWS (author)
MARE’S WAR
Schneider
DJANGO (picture book)
ANYTHING BUT TYPICAL (middle grade)
MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD (teen)
Alex
TUNNELING TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
STITCHES
SOULLESS
MY ABANDONMENT
THE MAGICIANS
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
THE GOOD SOLDIERS
EVERYTHING MATTERS!
THE BRIDE’S FAREWELL
THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND
Filed under: Uncategorized
About Jonathan Hunt
Jonathan Hunt is the Coordinator of Library Media Services at the San Diego County Office of Education. He served on the 2006 Newbery committee, and has also judged the Caldecott Medal, the Printz Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. You can reach him at hunt_yellow@yahoo.com
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Thanks for posting the complete list! I was struggling to find it anywhere else. Biggest surprise for me: No Mo Willems in the Geisel.
Even bigger surprise: no Printz recognition for MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD.
Very surprised by no Willems in the Geisel but not surprised by lack of Marcelo. I liked the premise of Marcelo but the writing was just okay, not extraordinary. Was very happy about the Sibert going to Almost Astronauts. Only Newbery surprise was Honor for Homer P. Figg, although it had strong support early on. Very happy about the other 3 honor books, which were the ones I would have chosen. And not surprised about the Caldecott or Newbery winners, which most of the mock clubs & pundits had already chosen.
Always a thrill to hear the winners revealed!
I think the Newbery and Caldecott choices are nearly perfect. My only quibble with either committee is that I would like to swap out HOMER P. FIGG for something that seems more distinguished to me, something like THE DUNDERHEADS or MARCHING FOR FREEDOM. But that’s a small quibble.
Was anyone surprised there were only 2 Caldecott Honor choices or is that the norm? Glad to see Big Wolf, Little Wolf honored. My students and I really liked that book.
Jonathan, have you read HOMER P. FIGG?
I remember reading on Fuse 8 earlier this year that it was one of her very early predictions for Newbery . . .
I mentioned HOMER P. FIGG way back when as one I wasn’t impressed with. But that’s what makes horse races, right?
My immediate reactions:
GO Charles & Emma!
GO Gutsy Sibert Committee!
…(WAHH…Dunderheads!)
And even if the Newbery/Caldecott top medals are NO surprise, at least we can say that that in itself is unusual. Remember too that the buzz over WYRM caught Random House off guard. In a year of lots of titles by previously awarded authors, it was not the one that was being “pushed.”
Yeah, add me to the “Homer P. Figg? Why am I not familiar with this book?” camp. And the Printz committee pulled out some surprises… though having read their honor books’ summaries, I’m feeling a surprising lack of desire to go read them.
While my response to HOMER was similar to Nina’s I liked seeing a dark horse, of sorts, as an honor. I’m, er, pretty darn happy:)
And if ONE CRAZY SUMMER gets the medal next year (and I think it is a serious contender whatever else appears), I’ll be three for three with my NTTimes reviews (Graveyard, WYRM, and OCS).
I was fairly gobsmacked by the Sibert win for Almost Astronauts and, frankly, don’t understand it. By any of my standards for non-fiction, I can think of several books that “do it better”.
Like Nina said, it’s kind of funny to think about, but there was a time when When You Reach Me wasn’t that buzzed and definitely wasn’t the clear frontrunner–Monica was singing its praises almost solo for awhile, it seemed, and I remember at ALA in July talking with a large group of child_lit people, mentioning that WYRM was my choice for the Newbery so far, and getting a lot of polite nods and “yes, I’ve heard of that, I think”s.
Trying to dip into the specific award pages for more info…this is my favorite part of awards day: When the ALSC Website Crashes!
Ok, here we are: post “What I believe in” on November 16 I said:
“The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. This was pitched for the “humor” category, though it’s not funny. The unreliable-narrator has a humorous tone that should help temper a very serious story…but in the end just slights the material. Same story has been done better. I do like the way this one zips along.”
Of course, “same story has been done better” is not something the Newbery committee would consider. I do think the voice in this one stands out, but I thought the “interpretation of theme or concept” was problematic…I’d need to dig up my notes (back at work) to decide specifically why. I’m happy to concede this one…though not the claim that it’s a “funny” book that’s finally won. It’s really not funny: only the voice is. A truly funny book (DUNDERHEADS?) has yet to win.
Don’t you think The Westing Game is truly funny?
Yes..so is HOLES. I guess I meant “recently.”
Does anyone know when the final Notables lists will be up? I’m anxious to see what made the final cut!
Good thing PIGEON won the Carnegie, or it would have been a real downer day for Mo Willems. Doesn’t he always win something? 🙂
I was disappointed MARCELO didn’t win the Printz. I haven’t read any of their choices, though, and need to see what they thought was better.
I’m very happy about the Newbery and Caldecott choices, though. Only one problem with having followed it so long: The award announcement doesn’t suddenly dramatically increase my list of books to be read!
I’m really happy that “Charles & Emma” got significant acclaim. And smug because I already have “Going Bovine” checked out of the library on my nightstand. I’m just trying to decide whether to read it before or after “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon”, which I also checked out last week. 🙂
I’m really happy that “Charles & Emma” got significant acclaim. And smug because I already have “Going Bovine” checked out of the library on my nightstand. I’m just trying to decide whether to read it before or after “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon”, which I also checked out last week. 🙂
I agree about Almost Astronauts as a surprise. Good book, but there had been much talk about the presentation of the fact– how it fit into the category–non-fiction. What about C. Fleming or E. Partridge? There is little question of their merit this year.
I was very excited for WYRM and The Lion and the Mouse, and thought the Honor books were excellent choices. I read The Mountain and the Moon last week and thought it was terrific, glad to see a Newbery Honor for a younger book; haven’t read Homer P. Figg yet (actually checked it out and the beginning didn’t grab me at all, didn’t end up reading it before the return date, but I’ll give it another shot). Am reading Charles and Emma now and it is terrific, so glad it’s getting the recognition. Loved Calpurnia Tate, though I saw the flaws as well.
Really disappointed Marcelo didn’t get a Printz Medal or Honor – thought it was a marvelous and original book, beautifully written, with a surprising plot (not just ‘boy on the autistic spectrum has to learn to deal with the real world’ – he has to deal with ethical problems that would challenge anyone, and it’s actually a page-turner to see what he will do). I’m very glad it got the Schneider, but would’ve liked to have seen it get the wider recognition of the Printz.
Also, I’m reading Marching for Freedom (thanks to Jonathan – will get to Claudette Colvin when I come up in the library queue) and it is so well done. I wish it could’ve gotten some recognition as well.
I loved Homer P. Figg when it came out. I’d forgotten that it was from this year. I don’t think it’s a “funny” book. The humor comes from the age old plotline of an innocent being thrown into the ridiculously corrupt world. So in a way, the story has been told many times before.
I haven’t read the reviews, but I read the Dunderheads. found it amusing in its subversiveness, but I don’t understand the raves for it.
I can’t help wondering if “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” might have won gold in a different year. It’s so simple and elegantly written and the messages are awesome.
Alice in Verse: The Lost Rhymes of Wonderland recaptures those once thought “lost dreams” of childhood with crisp, fluid verse so cannily on the mark Lewis Carroll himself would have been hard-pressed to discern it from his own:
“The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright–
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.”
— from Through the Looking-Glass (opening stanza of “The Walrus & the Carpenter”)
“The moon was shining on the sea,
So to eclipse the sun:
She did her very best to make
The billows roughly run–
And this was odd, because, of course,
The day had just begun.”
— from Alice in Verse: The Lost Rhymes of Wonderland (opening stanza of “The Walrus & the Carpenter Head Back”)
Since the greater half of Carroll’s poetry in both Wonderland and Looking-Glass was based upon popular rhymes of the day, an homage of this sort is most fitting. Yet the brilliance of The Lost Rhymes lies not only juxtaposition and homage. Like the poems of Wonderland and Looking-Glass, The Lost Rhymes are peppered with allegory and insight, from the legal sham of the Knave of Heart’s trial (with the obvious collusion of the Hatter as defense counsel and the Hare as prosecutor), where the King declares:
“We’ve heard the charge brought by the Hare
Upon this crucial matter.
And now, before we hang this rogue,
We’ll listen to the Hatter…”
to the surprisingly sound advice of the Cheshire Cat:
“If you really must go, then it’s best you should know
That to find you need only to seek–
But in seeking and finding, you may need reminding:
Once found, is what’s sought worth a peek?”
to the heartfelt reminder that “rhythm and rhyme are still virtues yet well worth defending.”
The accompanying illustrations are exceptional, with a thoroughly fresh and imaginative take on the occupants of Wonderland, including a Caterpillar with a set of wings that would put the Wright Brothers to shame; a pair of cunning Tweedles who appear as though they’ve substituted their last few Ritalin doses with a six-pack of Red Bull apiece; a Queen of Hearts who looks suspiciously like a cross between Jim Dale and Judi Dench; and a Hatter with what one can only assume to be a self-fashioned head-covering whose myriad mechanics and trappings are as mind-bogglingly mad as the machinations of the irreverent teetotaler himself.
Sharp, clever, and above all entertaining, Alice in Verse: The Lost Rhymes of Wonderland is more than just an homage to (or revisiting of) familiar material. It stands on its own merit as the definitive companion piece to Carroll’s original classic.
The preceding review is not mine — credit for it belongs to The Smoking Pen at Amazon.com — but I agree with every word of it. Alice in Verse: The Lost Rhymes of Wonderland should have at the very least been included on the Newbery Honours list. The book proves that rhyme is a valid form of poetic expression…and that it’s not just for kids.
If you’re a fan of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland/Looking-Glass books, skip the over-hyped, under-written Tim Burton movie, and read this book instead — you’ll be thanking me later 😉