Books and Reading

    As we all respond to the tragedy in Haiti, share these children’s books about the island for an inside look at the people, the place and the culture.

    Diane Wolkstein visited Haiti to collect the traditional stories in her collection, “The Magic Orange Tree and Other Haitian Folktales.”

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Winners of the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, Printz Award, Coretta Scott King Award, and more were announced this morning at the American Library Association's midwinter conference in Boston.

See the list of 2010 Award-Winning Children's Books and 2010 Award-Winning Teen Books.

For a list of winners for all ALA book awards, see this press release.
 

I'm here in blustery, snowy Boston with about a thousand librarians and publishers gathered in the convention center to find out what books have won the prestigious awards for young people's literature.  There’s a buzz of speculation as people ask each other, “What do you think will win?” or “What is the book you gave your heart to this year?” 

    Last Tuesday, our librarians discussed ten books we found worthy of the Coretta Scott King author and illustrator awards.  The actual winners will be announced next Monday, January 18, at the American Library Association conference in Boston.  Click here on Monday morning at 7:45 for a live webcast of the announcements.

    The Coretta Scott King Awards are given to African American authors and illustrators for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions.  Among our nominations for the Illustrator Award is “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” a poem by Langston Hughes illustrated by E. B. Lewis. 

A loving relative (or maybe it was you, yourself!) was good to you this holiday season and now you want to fill up your Kindle or Sony Reader with books.  Or you are looking for even more to do with your iPod Touch. Try these sites for free eBooks:

    Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah was in New York studying to be a doctor when the September 11th attacks took place.  When he returned to his native Kenya in 2002, he told the story of what happened to his unbelieving Maasai friends and family. 

“Buildings so tall they can touch the sky? Fires so hot they can melt iron? Smoke and dust so thick they can block out the sun?”  Appalled, the villagers wanted to do something for these poor Americans.  For the Maasai herders, cows are life, so they decided to donate a herd of fourteen cows to America, in a ceremony that brought tears to the eyes of the American ambassador.

If you liked "Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner, you may also like these titles and authors:

"Some Nerve" by Jane Heller