Newbery 2009 Award Announced

The 2009 Newbery Award was awarded on January 26, 2009 to  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  The ALA site is here: 
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal.cfm

  

Newbery 2009 Honor Books this year:
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
Savvy by Ingrid Law
After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

     

There is always a lot of speculation about the possibilities and which books should receive the awards.  I have placed my order for the books that I did not already own.  What books have you read?  What books are you surprised about?

 

http://literatelives.blogspot.com/2009/01/our-newbery-picks.html
 Literate Lives predicated several of the winners here and wrote up wonderful reviews.  I appreciate Bill and Karen’s words.  You will too.

Caldecott and Newberry Books

Lots of blogs and websites are predicting the next Caldecott.
reading year link

school library journal link

the reading zone newbery post

good reads Caldecott contenders post

Caldecott is dear to heart. I adore picture books. I have 1,000′s of picture books. I probably have nearly 10,000 pictures books in my personal library. The biggest mistake I ever made was giving away many books when I first left the classroom. I should have kept the books for modeling the lessons. My son was born on March 22, Caldecott’s birthday. I received a note from my favorite English professor at Hope College
congratulating me on the birth of my son on Caldecott’s birthday along with a list of the current Caldecott books. This is a list of Caldecott books so far.
wikipedia Caldecott list link I wonder what the 2009 will be? I buy the set of Caldecott medal and the Caldecott honor books for my children. I started this tradition for my son. My children will have a wonderful children’s literature collection when they have their own children.

Small Moments List of Books

I am always looking for titles that work for Small Moments.
Salt Hands by Jane Chelsea Aragon
Saturday and Teacakes by Lester Laminack
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
Joshua’s Night Whispers by Angela Johnson
Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco (other books by this author)
Baghead by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Koala Lou by Mem Fox
The Leaving Morning by Angela Johnson
Joshua’s Night Whispers by Angela Johnson
Do Like Kyla by Angela Johnson
Snow Day by Lester Laminack
Trevor’s Wiggly-Wobbly Tooth by Lester Laminack
Jake’s 100th Day of School by Lester Laminack
Big Mama’s by Donald Crews
Shortcut by Donald Crews
Max’s Dragon Shirt by Rosemary Wells
Salt Hands by Jane Chelsea Aragon
Shortcut by Donald Crews
The Paper Boy by Dav Pilkey
Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe

Small Moments (Many Moments during a Big Idea)

Sometimes a story has a big idea. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst has one big idea, A BAD DAY. The picture story book has many events of the bad day. The teacher and students retell the story as she places a bead on the rope. The big idea is reinforced though by saying, “the rope is representing the bad day. All these things happened during the bad day.”

An effective analogy of a “many moments” story is a necklace. Some teachers bring in a rope and a string of beads. As the teacher retells the moments or events of Alexander, then the teacher places a bead on the rope. The students understand quickly and clearly.

Do Like Kyla by Angela Johnson has a big idea of a little sister copying a big sister. This is another “many moments” story which works perfectly with a the beads on a rope.

Small Moment: What Matters to You?

Small Moment Unit of Study

String of Mini Lessons: Writers write focused, true stories about their lives
· Writers zoom in (like a photographer) on just a small moment and recall it
· Writers focus in on most important part of a memory
· Watermelon/seed- big story –vs- small moment
· Share how a published author zooms in
· Contrast a list-like story and a story to stop writers from writing lists of what they did

String of Mini Lessons: Writers write sequenced stories about their lives by planning out what the story will sound like
· Writers plan stories and they tell their stories across fingers
· Writers plan stories across pages by touching each page or turning the pages of a pretend book
· Writers use timelines to help tell a story in a blow-by-blow fashion

String of Mini Lessons: Writers write detailed stories about their lives by adding by adding words.
· Writers stretch out the stories from their lives by writing a lot of details
· Writers add detail to a shared experience story
· Contrast a bare-boned story with a story full of detail Ask, which one gave you a picture in your mind?

String of Mini Lessons: Writers revise their writing
Writers can revisit a big story and write a whole story off of it focusing on one thing
Writers write new endings to their story in order to stay in the moment
Writers write internal thoughts of how they felt to add more to their story
Writers storytell their pieces to partners and ask, “Did you get a picture of this in your mind?”

Writing Mini-Lesson: Book List for Memoir

Abercrombie, Barbara. Charlie Anderson
Barber, Tiki and Ronde. By My Brother’s Side
Barber, Tiki and Ronde. Game Day
Bauer, Marion Dane. When I Go Camping With Grandma
Brinckloe, Judith. Fireflies
Chall, Marsha. Up North at the Cabin
Crews, Donald. Big Mamas
Crews, Donald. Shortcut
Curtis, Jamie Lee. When I Was Little
Dahl, Roald. Boy: Tales of Childhood (older kids)
DePaola, Tomie, Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs
Fletcher, Ralph. Marshfield Dreams
Fox, Mem. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge
Greenfield, Eloise. For the Love of the Game
Grey Moore, Libba. My Mama Had a Dancing Heart
Jordan, Delores. Salt in His Shoes
LaMarche, Jim. The Raft
Laminack, Lester. Saturdays and Teacakes
Little, Jean. “Hey World, Here I Am.”
MacLachlan, Patricia. All the Places to Love
MacLachlan, Patricia. Through Grandpa’s Eyes
MacLachlan, Patricia. What You Know First.
Paulsen, Gary. Woodsong (older kids)
Polacco, Patricia. My Rotten, Red-Headed, Older Brother
Polacco, Patricia. Thank You, Mr. Falker
Rylant, Cynthia. Christmas in the County
Rylant, Cynthia. When I Was Young in the Mountains
Rylant, Cynthia. When the Relatives Came.
Say, Allen. Grandfather’s Journey
Spinelli, Jerry. Knots in My Yo-Yo String: The Autobiography of a Kid (older kids)
Williams, Vera. My Mother’s Chair
Yolen, Jane. Soft House
Yolen, Jane. Owl Moon

This is a list I personally have been looking for. It is amazing what I find on my computer hard drive! Now it is stored in 2 safe places. Hopefully I will find it in one safe place when I need it.

Books with Strong Endings

8 Plus 1 Stories by Robert Cormier – poignant ending
Bad Day at Riverbend by Chris van Allsburg – surprise ending
Bea and Mr. Jones by Amy Schwartz – surprise ending
Beach Feet by Lynn Reiser
Best Friends by Lee Bennet Hopkins, editor
“Poem” by Langston Hughes
Big Book for Peace by Ann Durrell
Bob and Shirley by Harriet Ziefert – circular ending
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson – poignant ending
Children We Remember by Chana Byers Abells
Dear Daddy by Phillipe Dupasquier- poignant ending
Earthlets by Jeanne Willis – surprise ending
Every Living Thing by Cynthia Rylant – poignant ending, especially “Slower than the Rest” Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchiya -poignant ending
Father Like That by Charlotte Zolotow- poignant ending
Fig Pudding by Ralph Fletcher
Flossie and the Fox by Patricia C. McKissack -surprise ending
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes -circular ending
Frog Prince, Continued by Jon Scieszka- surprise ending
Gift of the Magi by O. Henry – many short stories have surprise endings
Going Home by Eve Bunting – very visual words
Gorilla by Anthony Browne – poignant ending
Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger – circular ending
Granpa by John Burningham – ambiguous ending
Hare’s Choice by Dennis Hamley – poignant ending
Hobbit by J. R. Tolkien – circular ending
I Know a Lady by Charlotte Zolotow
I Like to be Little by Charlotte Zolotow
If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura J. Numeroff – circular ending
In the Attic by Hiawyn Oram -surprise ending
Journey by Patricia MacLachlan – circular ending
Just Like Daddy by Frank Asch – surprise ending for young children
Just Like Everyone Else by Karla Kuskin – surprise ending
Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco – poignant ending
Louis the Fish by Arthur Yorinks – circular ending
Monster Mama by Liz Rosenberg
Mouse’s Birthday by Jane Yolen
On My Honor by M. D. Bauer – poignant ending
Paperboy by Dav Pilkey Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant – circular ending
Ring and the Window Seat by Amy Hest – poignant ending
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr – poignant ending
Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka
Super Dooper Jezebel by Tony Ross – surprise ending
Throwing Shadows by E. L. Konigsburg- poignant ending, short stories
Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg – circular ending
Two of Them by Aliki – poignant ending
Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews – circular ending
Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting – surprise ending
Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker – ambiguous ending
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox – poignant ending
William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow – poignant ending
Winter Place by Ruth Yaffe Radin – circular ending
Worn Path by Eudora Welty – short story with ambiguous ending
Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – circular ending
Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston – poignant ending

Books with Strong Leads or Beginnings

All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan
Babushka Baba-Yaga by Patricia Polacco
Bat Poet byRandall Jarrell Bea
Mr. Jones by Amy Schwartz
Beasty Story by Bill Martin, Jr.
Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco
Bigmama’s by Donald Crews
But I’ll Be Back Again by Cynthia Rylant
Cabin Key by Gloria Rand
Charlie Anderson by Barbara Abercrombie
Cinder-Elly by Frances Minters
Coyote Cry by Byrd Baylor
Cross-Country Cat by Mary Calhoun
Fireflies! by Julie Brinckloe
Frog Prince, Continued by Jon Scieszka
Ghosts Hour, Spooks Hour by Eve Bunting
Going Home by Eve Bunting
Granpa by John Burningham
How Many Days to America by Eve Bunting
I Can Hear the Sun by Patricia Polacco
I Know A Lady by Charlotte Zolotow
I Know an Old Lady by G. Brian Karas
I Like To Be Little by Charlotte Zolotow
Imogene’s Antlers by David Small
Iron Man by Ted Hughes
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night by Janet Ahlberg
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Just a Dream by Chris van Allsburg
Liliana’s Grandmothers by Leyla Torres
Louis the Fish by Arthur Yorinks
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinkney
Meteor! by Patricia Polacco
Monster Mama by Liz Rosenberg
Mr. Grigg’s Work by Cynthia Rylant
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow
Shreck! by William Steig
Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
Tar Beach by Faith Ringold
This Quiet Lady by Charlotte Zolotow
Thundercake by Patricia Polacco
Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow
To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda
Tree of Birds by Susan Meddaugh
Tree of Cranes by Allen Say
Tuesday by David Wiesner
We Are Best Friends by Aliki
Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
Willy the Wimp by Anthony Browne
Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull
June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner