Category Archives: Youth Services

2016 Notable Children’s Books Announced

The Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) has announced their list of books from 2015 that were selected as Notable Children’s Books – 2016.  As it says on the web page, “According to the Notables Criteria, ‘notable’ is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding.” The list is divided into four sections: Younger Readers, Middle Readers, Older Readers, and All Ages. Each category is “loosely” defined by grade ranges in the introduction. Enjoy looking over the list and I hope you find something to add to your collection!

Something small and white this week reminded me of the picture book The Little Snowplow by Lora Koehler. The Little Snowplow joined the BIG trucks for the town, and they all told him to leave the jobs to them, they would handle them and he was too little. So he cleaned up after parades, cleared streams and other small jobs, but as fall began to change to winter he began his training exercises. When the snow fell, it was soon overwhelming. He kept clearing and clearing, and soon went to work to help the dump truck who was caught in an avalanche. Power of the small.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) Division of the American Library Association (ALA) announced Monday, January 11, 2016, the winner of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals.

Last Stop on Market Street written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson, is the 2016 Newbery Medal winner. Three Newbery Honor Books also were named: The War that Saved My Life written by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Roller Girl written and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson, and Echo written by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

The 2016 Caldecott Medal winner is Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear illustrated by Sophie Blackall and written by Lindsay Mattick. Four Caldecott Honor Books also were named: Trombone Shorty illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Troy Andrews, Waiting illustrated and written by Kevin Henkes, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement illustrated by Ekua Holmes, written by Carole Boston Weatherford, Last Stop on Market Street illustrated by Christian Robinson, written by Matt de le Peña.

To read a copy of the ALA press announcement and learn about all the other award winners and honor books, go to: http://nlc.nebraska.gov/youth/ala.yma.2016.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 22, 2015

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665

Young Readers Invited to Write to Favorite Authors

Young readers in grades 4-12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author for the Letters about Literature (LAL) contest, a national reading and writing promotion program. The letter can be to any author (living or dead) from any genre—fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic—explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s view of the world. The 23rd annual writing contest for young readers is made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which promotes the contest through its affiliate Centers for the Book, state libraries and other organizations. This reading and writing promotion is sponsored in Nebraska by the Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska Library Commission, and supported by Houchen Bindery Ltd. and Chapters Books in Seward.

Prizes will be awarded on both the state and national levels. The Nebraska Center for the Book’s panel of judges will select the top letter writers in the state, to be honored in a proclamation-signing ceremony at the state capitol during National Library Week in April 2016. Their winning letters will be placed in the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors at Bennett Martin Public Library in Lincoln. Nebraska winners will receive state prizes, and then advance to the national judging.

A panel of national judges for the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will select one National Winner per competition level (Level I for grades 4-6, Level II for grades 7-8, and Level III for grades 9-12) to receive a $1,000 cash award, to be announced in May 2016. The judges will also select one National Honor winner on each competition level to receive a $200 cash award.

Teachers, librarians, and parents can download free teaching materials on reader response and reflective writing, along with contest details and entry forms, at www.read.gov/letters. Nebraska-specific information (including lists of Nebraska winners of past competitions) is available at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/LAL.html. Listen to Nebraska winners, Ashley Xiques and Sydney Kohl, read and talk about and their winning letters to authors that meant something to them in their own lives on NET Radio’s All About Books (http://netnebraska.org/basic-page/radio/all-about-books). Submissions from Grades 9-12 must be postmarked by December 4, 2015. Submissions from Grades 4-8 must be postmarked by January 11, 2016. For more information contact Mary Jo Ryan, 402-471-3434 or 800-307-2665.

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, bringing

###

The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

Refresher for Series Reading

The Recaptains website reminds you what happened in a book to get you ready to read next book in series.  As it states on their web page, “Yay! The next book in your favorite series is coming out soon! But hey, wait a second… what was it that happened in book 1 again? Did they kiss? Did they beat the bad guy? Did they have to run for their lives and was there a Cliffhanger with Capital C?”  Now you can find out quickly and easily what happened in the previous book.

It contains Goodreads summaries and with a click on “read more” you can access more detailed information.  There it includes an “In Short” paragraph, a “What Went Down” bulleted list of actions that occurred in the book, and “How Did It End.”  I just read through the information on The Diviners by Libba Bray since I plan to read the sequel Lair of Dreams this weekend.  It did a great job of reminding me who the characters are and what events happened in the first book.  It doesn’t cover everything, I just searched for Terry Pratchett and he is not on their author list, still I’m going to be using this site often.

My highlighted book this time is Jack: The True Story of Jack & the Beanstalk by Liesl Shurtliff; I heard the author speak at the Norfolk Public Library’s 21^st Annual Literature Festival held on July 25, 2015, which is a great opportunity to hear authors talk about their writing processes and get a book signed!  (Their next Festival is scheduled for July 30, 2016.)

In the book, Jack’s 7-times great grandfather was the famous Jack the Giant Killer and this Jack wants to imitate him, except that there are no giants.  But then two giants come down from the sky and take everything – the entire town – and Jack is soon up in their land to find his father and slay some giants.  Things are not that easy.  Full of adventure this twist on the fairy tale is logical and fun – with a bit of a message about greed.  Fans of her book Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin (one of the Golden Sower nominees for 2015-2016) are sure to grab it.  This book is written for grades 3-6.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)