ALA literary awards were announced yesterday at the midwinter meetings in Seattle. One of the most prestigious awards for children's books, the Caldecott is awarded "to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children" (Caldecott Medal, ALA). This year's winner is Flotsam, by David Wiesner and is described on the ALA Caldecott page:
"Flotsam is a cinematic unfolding of discovery. A vintage camera washed up on the beach provides a young boy with a surprising view of fantastical images from the bottom of the sea. From fish-eye to lens-eye, readers see a frame-by-frame narrative of lush marinescapes ebbing and flowing from the real to the surreal." (ALA, Caldecott)
Though not surprised this book was deemed worthy for the award, Flotsam has been a favorite of mine (it's actually checked out to me now to use in a Mock Caldecott session), I was surprised the committee would award Wiesner a third Caldecott medal. Flotsam is a work of art in picture book binding.
It is always a fun exercise finding out if I previously purchased the award winning titles for the library collection, or if we have to wait for the second print run and get them with their ever important award stickers. I really missed the mark with Newbery Medal books, we do not have The Higher Power of Lucky or honor book Penny from Heaven, but I did very well with the remainder of award recipients (Printz, Coretta Scott King, Dr. Seuss Reader, and others). We will only need an award book, or two, and the 2007 Alex Award titles. The Alex Award books are a great way to get adult fiction into the library either as regular circulating and/or recreational reading.
On another note, I finished reading Gemini Summer, by Iain Lawrence at lunch today. I was first intrigued by this title because I have always been interested in the space program, airplanes, and the like. I do not like to fly in them, but movies about the space program (Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, From the Earth to the Moon mini-series), history channel series about the program, or visits to Florida and the cape are a definite draw (I have an old photo with two space shuttles on the launch pad!). This book was a natural for me to read.
Gemini Summer is a story about a family with two young boys that takes place in 1965. Danny and Beau are the sons of Old Man River and Flo and are in many ways typical of boys that age. They are sometimes embarrassed by their parents, Dad cleans septic tanks and Mom is enamored with all things Gone with the Wind. They have school friends, a neighborhood bully, and are interested in the buddy space program. Neatly juxtaposed with normal family happenings is the fact that this is also a time in history where the Vietnam war is looming and Old Man River is digging a hole in the family back yard. Old Man River is digging a hole in their back yard, preparing to make a bunker for the family's safety. Just an oddity with the neighbors, it becomes the sight of a terrible accident. The boys are playing and Beau falls into the hole, fatally wounded.
As the family struggles to deal with Beau's tragic death, Danny finds a stray dog who he believes is the reincarnation of his brother. After a letter arrives for Beau from Gus Grissom, Danny decides he must take Rocket, his brother, to see Gus at the Cape. By the time Danny begins his quest readers will be hooked. However, the sequence of events following Danny adventure as a runaway, including meeting Gus Grissom and being flown home in his T-38 going faster than the speed of sound, will be hard to believe. Realism aside, it is fiction after all, Gemini Summer is full of interesting space facts and believable family readers will understand.
Tags: David Wiesner,Flotsam, 2007 Caldecott, Gemini Summer, Iain Lawrence, Juvenile fiction, ALA
No comments:
Post a Comment