2015 Newbery and Caldecott Winners
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The 2015 Newbery and Caldecott winners have been announced by the American Library Association (ALA). Want to know who won?
2015 Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature is The Crossover by Kwame Alexander! It’s written in prose, like the beat of a basketball game, about twins who compete on and off the court. As you might expect, it’s amazing.
The two Newbery Honor Books are:
El Deafo by Cece Bell, illustrated by Cece Bell It’s the author’s own story of growing up with a hearing issue and told in graphic novel form. I liked it and thought her story was empowering and would help teach empathy and compassion.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is also written in prose and also the author’s own story about growing up as an African-American in the south and the north during the Civil Rights movement. It’s a good introduction to this time period and the issues of race in the United States since it’s told through the eyes of a child.
2015 Caldecott Medal
The Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children is The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend illustrated and written by Dan Santat. It’s a heart-warming story with absolutely incredible art. (Obviously.)
The six Caldecott Honor Books are:
Nana in the City illustrated and written by Lauren Castillo
I love this simple story of the little girl learning what there is to love about the city as she visits her beloved nana. And those illustrations!
The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art illustrated by Mary GrandPré, written by Barb Rosenstock
This looks incredible, I can’t wait to read it!
Sam & Dave Dig a Hole illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett
I’m a big fan of both Klassen and Barnett but am somewhat surprised that this received an honor award. Perhaps Klassen’s use of a earthy palette? Why do you think the Caldecott committee selected it?
Viva Frida illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Yuyi Morales
This is the kind of art I would hang on my walls — very bright colors, a Latin-vibe, and I’m a huge fan of anything Kahlo and love the art in this book.
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant
Not only do I love how they made this history so interesting, I absolutely adore the collage artwork of the talented Melissa Sweet. I’ve been a fan of hers for years and think everything she does is award-winning.
This One Summer illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki
I haven’t read this book yet but from what I understand, this is a YA graphic novel with language and sex. Have any of you read this book? It feels to me like an inappropriate selection for a children’s picture book award. Disappointing.
update: See the 2016 Caldecott and Newbery Award Winners
I’m not one for awards, but kidlit book awards DO excite me 🙂 I’m happy for all the winners, though I know there are a LOT of worthy books out there! 🙂
It has become way too politically correct with an emphasis on choosing black, Asian, and Latino stories over really top quality books. While I still use past lists, I don’t use anything from the past few years.
You’re thinking of the Caldecott as an award given to picture books for very young kids, but the Caldecott guidelines say this about what they consider “children” for purposes of this award:
“A “picture book for children” is one for which children are an intended potential audience. The book displays respect for children’s understandings, abilities, and appreciations. Children are defined as persons of ages up to and including fourteen and picture books for this entire age range are to be considered.”
This One Summer is about two pre-teens trying to figure out what it means to grow up and whether they’re ready to let go of childhood at all. It’s not perfect for every pre-teen or early teen reader, but it’s definitely appropriate for some thirteen and fourteen year olds–an age, by the way, that’s often overlooked in publishing because it’s stuck somewhere between mg and ya. Nobody is suggesting you’d read that to an elementary student. The Caldecott is SUPPOSED to consider books for older kids as well as younger, it’s just that they don’t often win.
Hmmm. I appreciate your comment but disagree. On the ALA page it says: “The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.” source: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal
I have always thought of picture books to be appropriate for children up to teen – 13 or 14 is fine. We can agree on that. However, I still would warn parents that this is not for children.
I love graphic novels, and don’t believe in censorship, but I do believe the ALA has a responsibility to be true to it’s original purposes.
The passage I quoted is also from the ALA, from the actual award guidelines page here:
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecottterms
It is being true to it’s purpose, it’s just that most of us have preconceived ideas about what that purpose is that aren’t necessarily accurate. Twelve may be your cutoff, but the Caldecott rules say otherwise. They actually give the same age range as the Newbery.
Monday afternoon I read most of This One Summer and am appalled that this would be considered a children’s book. Can not believe it was given a Caldecott. It is not appropriate for the age that this award was for, very disappointed in ALA.
Me too! I misread the recommended reading age for our elementary school. I thought it said AGES 9-12, and instead it was GRADES 9-12. Big difference. A fourth grader took the book to her teacher, who shared it with me. I was appalled. $hi! And the f word were on the same page. Shouldn’t we expect more from an award winner? I am not a prude but I am so disappointed with recent award winners. The 2016 Newbery is another example of this, in my opinion.
Oh, wow. I just looked at the “Look Inside” for This One Summer. Yikes!!! Seriously, that just makes me sad that they call that a children’s book. I’m completely disgusted.