The American Library Association announced the winners of this year’s Newbery, Caldecott, and other awards.
The Newbery Medal, “named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery, is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children… to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”
This year’s winner is The Graveyard Book, written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean (published by HarperCollins Children’s Books). The award announcement describes the book as “A delicious mix of murder, fantasy, humor, and human longing, the tale of Nobody Owens is told in magical, haunting prose. A child marked for death by an ancient league of assassins escapes into an abandoned graveyard, where he is reared and protected by its spirit denizens.”
The runners up, or “Honor Books” are:
The Underneath, written by Kathi Appelt and illustrated by David Small (Atheneum)
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle (Henry Holt)
Savvy by Ingrid Law (Dial)
After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
The Caldecott Medal is “named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott and is awarded annuall by the Association for Library Service to Children… to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.”
This year’s winner is The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson (Houghton Mifflin). The award announcement describes the book as “Richly detailed black-and-white scratchboard illustrations expand this timeless bedtime verse, offering reassurance to young children that there is always light in the darkness. Krommes’ elegant line, illuminated with touches of golden watercolor, evoke the warmth and comfort of home and family, as well as the joys of exploring the wider world.”
The runners up, or “Honor Books” are:
A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever illustrated and written by Marla Frazee (Harcourt)
How I Learned Geography illustrated and written by Uri Shulevitz (Farrar Straus Giroux)
A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet and written by Jen Bryant (Eerdmans Books)
The full list of this year’s winner and runners up is available on this page.