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2009 Award Books for Children and Teens

Awards for Children's Books:
Newbery Award for Literature
Caldecott Award for Illustration
Colorado Children's Book Awards Colorado kids' choice!
King Award for African-American Authors and Illustrators
Carnegie Award for Video
Sibert Award Informational Book Award
Batchelder Award for Foreign Language
Dr. Seuss Award for Beginning Reader Books
Schneider Family Book Award
Pura Belpré Award for Latino Authors and Illustrators
Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for Literature
Odyssey Award for Audio

Awards for Young Adult Literature
Visit eVolver to see all the award books for teens!

View the 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005 Children's Book Awards

Follow the graphic and text links to request copies of these great books to be delivered to your neighborhood Denver Public Library.

Newbery Award for Best Literature and Honor Books:

	Winner: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.
	Honor Book: The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by David Small An old hound that has been chained up at his hateful owner's run-down shack, and two kittens born underneath the house, endure separation, danger, and many other tribulations in their quest to be reunited and free.
	Honor Book: The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle The poems in this book are hauntingly beautiful, revealing pieces of Cuba’s troubled past through the voice of Rosa, a nurse who does her best for everyone.
	Honor Book: Savvy by Ingrid Law Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her "savvy"--a magical power unique to each member of her family--just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.
	Honor Book: After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur's music, as together they try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live.

Caldecott Award for Best Illustration and Honor Books:

	Winner: The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson Glowing pictures explore the origins of light that make a house a home in this bedtime book for young children.
	Honor Book: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever written and illustrated by Marla Frazee Friends James and Eamon enjoy a wonderful week at the home of Eamon's grandparents during summer vacation.
	Honor Book: How I Learned Geography written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz As he spends hours studying his father's world map, a young boy escapes the hunger and misery of refugee life. Based on the author's childhood in Kazakhstan, where he lived as a Polish refugee during World War II.
	Honor Book: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant A picture book biography of William Carlos Williams, poet and doctor.

Colorado Children's Book Award: Books selected by Colorado Kids
The 2009 CBAs will be awarded in April. See the 2009 nominees and listen to podcast reviews by Brown Elementary students!

	Picture Book Winner: The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel; illustrated by Janet Stevens When a tennis ball lands in a prairie dog town, the residents find that their newfound frenzy for fuzz creates a fiasco.
	Junior Novel Winner: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.
	Runner-Up for Illustration: I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont; illustrated by David Catrow In the rhythm of a familiar folk song, a child cannot resist adding one more dab of paint in surprising places.
	Runner-Up for Novel: Flush by Carl Hiaasen With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of the floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home.

Coretta Scott King Award Honoring African American Authors and Illustrators, and Honor Books:

	Winner for Literature: We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson Tells the story of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through the decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947.
	Honor Book: The Blacker the Berry illustrated by Floyd Cooper, written by Joyce Carol Thomas A collection of poems, including "Golden Goodness," "Cranberry Red," and "Biscuit Brown," celebrating individuality and Afro-American identity.
	Honor Book: Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith, illustrated by E.B. Lewis A thirteen-year-old African American boy chronicles what happens to his family when his father, who temporarily left, returns home and they all must deal with their feelings of anger, hope, abandonment, and fear.
	Honor Book: Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper Jazz vocalist Billie Holiday looks back on her early years in this fictional memoir written in verse.
	Winner for Illustration: The Blacker the Berry illustrated by Floyd Cooper, written by Joyce Carol Thomas A collection of poems, including "Golden Goodness," "Cranberry Red," and "Biscuit Brown," celebrating individuality and Afro-American identity.
	Illustrator Honor: We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson Tells the story of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through the decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947.
	Illustrator Honor: Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Sean Qualls This lyrical picture-book biography of John Coltrane focuses on his childhood and how he interpreted sounds before he made his music.
	Illustrator Honor: The Moon Over Star by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney On her family's farm in the town of Star, eight-year-old Mae eagerly follows the progress of the 1969 Apollo 11 flight and moon landing and dreams that she might one day be an astronaut, too.

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award

Winner: Shadra Strickland, illustrator of Bird, written by Zetta Elliott
Bird, an artistic young African American boy, expresses himself through drawing as he struggles to understand his older brother's drug addiction and death, while a family friend, Uncle Son, provides guidance and understanding.

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children’s Video:

March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World

Winner for Best Children's Video: Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly of Weston Woods Studios, producers of March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World
Chronicles the day of the famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
View previous Carnegie Medal winners.

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for the most distinguished informational book for children, and Honor Books:

Winner: We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
Tells the story of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through the decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947.

	Honor Book: Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and Rediscovery of the Past by James M. Deem This book takes us on a captivating and creepy journey to learn about glaciers, hulking masses of moving ice that are now offering up many secrets of the past.
	Honor Book: What to Do About Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy! written by Barbara Kerley and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham Whether she was entertaining important White House visitors with her pet snake or traveling the globe, Alice bucked convention and drove her dad crazy.

Mildred L. Batchelder Award for the Most Outstanding Children’s Book Originally Published in a Foreign Language and Subsequently Translated into English, and Honor Books:

Winner: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi; translated from the Japanese by Cathy Hirano
The wandering warrior Balsa is hired to protect Prince Chagum from both a mysterious monster and the prince's father, the Mikado.

Honor Book: Garmann’s Summer by Stian Hole, translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
As the summer ends, six-year-old Garmann's three ancient aunts visit and they all talk about the things that scare them.

Honor Book: Tiger Moon by Antonia Michaelis, translated from the German by Anthea Bell
Sold to be the eighth wife of a rich and cruel merchant, Safia, also called Raka, tries to escape her fate by telling stories of Farhad the thief and his companion Nitish the white tiger.

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the Most Outstanding Beginning Reader Books, and Honor Books:

	Winner: Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems Friends Elephant and Piggie are playing outside when it starts to rain, and then they must decide what to do.
	Honor Book: Chicken said, "Cluck!" by Judyann Ackerman Grant, illustrated by Sue Truesdell Chicken wants to help plant pumpkins, but she seems to be getting in the way. Then grasshoppers invade the pumpkin patch and suddenly it's up to Chicken to save the day!
	Honor Book: One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger A boy creates ten paintings in this counting book that also explores the relationship of words within words.
	Honor Book: Stinky by Eleanor Davis Stinky is a monster who loves pickles and possums - but is terrified of people! When a new kid enters his swamp, this adorable little monster comes up with all sorts of crazy plans to scare him away.
	Honor Book: Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator by Sarah C. Campbell Rain trickles off the edge of a quaint, tidy porch and onto the shell of a sleeping creature. The water awakens the beast. Slowly, a slimy foot emerges from the shell, then a hideous head. The wolfsnail is on the prowl.

Schneider Family Book Award for a Book that Embodies an Artistic Expression of the Disability Experience for Child and Adolescent Audiences:
Recipients are selected in three categories: birth through grade school (age 0–10), middle school (age 11–13), and teens (age 13–18).

Winner of the Young Child Category:
Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum
written and illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker
Art Tatum came from modest beginnings and was nearly blind, but his passion for the piano and his acute memory for any sound that he heard drove him to become a virtuoso who was revered by both classical and jazz pianists alike.

Winner of the Middle School Category:
Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Schenectady, New York.

Winner of the Teen Category:
Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen
Plagued by Tourette's syndrome and a stepfather who despises him, Sam meets an old man in his small Minnesota town who sends him on a road trip designed to help him discover the truth about his life.

The Pura Belpré Award honors Latino/Latina writers and illustrators whose works best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. Winners and Honor Books:

	Author Winner: The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle The poems in this book are hauntingly beautiful, revealing pieces of Cuba’s troubled past through the voice of Rosa, a nurse who does her best for everyone.
	Author Honor: Just in Case by Yuyi Morales As Señor Calavera prepares for Grandma Beetle's birthday he finds an alphabetical assortment of unusual presents, but with the help of Zelmiro the Ghost, he finds the best gift of all.
	Author Honor: Reaching Out by Francisco Jiménez This is the story of how Francisco coped with poverty, guilt over leaving his family and self-doubt about succeeding academically at Santa Clara University.
	Author Honor: The Storyteller’s Candle / La velita de los cuentos written by Lucía González, illustrated by Lulu Delacre New York City's first Puerto Rican librarian, Pura Belpré, introduces the public library to immigrants living in El Barrio and hosts the neighborhood's first Three Kings' Day fiesta.
	Winner for Illustration: Just in Case by Yuyi Morales As Señor Calavera prepares for Grandma Beetle's birthday he finds an alphabetical assortment of unusual presents, but with the help of Zelmiro the Ghost, he finds the best gift of all.
	Illustrator Honor: Papá and Me illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez, written by Arthur Dorros A bilingual boy and his father, who only speaks Spanish, spend a day together.
	Illustrator Honor: The Storyteller’s Candle / La velita de los cuentos illustrated by Lulu Delacre, written by Lucía González New York City's first Puerto Rican librarian, Pura Belpré, introduces the public library to immigrants living in El Barrio and hosts the neighborhood's first Three Kings' Day fiesta.
	Illustrator Honor: What Can You Do with a Rebozo? illustrated by Amy Córdova, written by Carmen Tafolla A spunky, young Mexican American girl explains the many uses of her mother's red rebozo, or long scarf.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for a Substantial and Lasting Contribution to Literature for Children.
Awarded every two years.

2009 Winner: Ashley Bryan
Ashley Bryan has been named the 2009 Wilder Award winner. His numerous works include The Dancing Granny, Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum and Beautiful Blackbird.

See all of Ashley Bryan's books.

Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production and honorable mentions:

	Winner: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written and narrated by Sherman Alexie Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
	Honor Audio: Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady written by L.A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren Bloody Jack is back and this time, she's facing a situation far worse than a ship full of murderous pirates. It turns out that bloodthirsty buccaneers have nothing on the young ladies at the Lawson Peabody School!
	Honor Audio: Elijah of Buxton written by Christopher Paul Curtis, narrated by Mirron Willis In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.
	Honor Audio: I’m Dirty! written by Kate & Jim McMullan, narrated by Steve Buscemi A busy backhoe loader describes all the items it hauls off a lot and all the fun it has getting dirty while doing so.
	Honor Audio: Nation written by Terry Pratchett, narrated by Stephen Briggs After a devastating tsunami destroys all that they have ever known, Mau, an island boy, and Daphne, an aristocratic English girl, set about rebuilding their community and all the things that are important in their lives.