The ALA Awards: The Best of the Best 2012

On Monday, January 28, the American Library Association announced their annual award winners and honor books. You know the Newbury and the Caldecott, but do you also know the Coretta Scott King, the Printz, the Sibert, and the Pura Belpré? Here's the list. For any book the Book Pile has reviewed, the title is linked to that review.

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature:
WINNER: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate | HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.

HONORS: Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz | Candlewick Press; Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin | Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press; Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage | Dial Books/Penguin


Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
WINNER: This Is Not My Hat illustrated and written by Jon Klassen | Candlewick 

HONORS:  Creepy Carrots! illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds | Simon & Schuster;  Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett | Balzer + Bray; Green illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger | Roaring Brook Press; One Cool Friend illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo | Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin; Sleep Like a Tiger illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue | Houghton Mifflin

Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:
AUTHOR WINNER: Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney |Disney/Jump at the Sun Books.

AUTHOR HONORS: Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis | Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin and No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie | Carolrhoda Lab.

 ILLUSTRATOR WINNER: I, Too, Am America illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Langston Hughes | Simon & Schuster.

ILLUSTRATOR HONORS: H. O. R. S. E. illustrated and written by Christopher Myers | Egmont USA; Ellen’s Broom illustrated by Daniel Minter, written by Kelly Starling Lyons | G. P. Putnam’s Sons/Penguin; and I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Martin Luther King, Jr. | Schwartz & Wade Books/Random House


Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
WINNER: In Darkness by Nick Lake | Bloomsbury.

HONORS: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz | Simon & Schuster; Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein | Hyperion/Disney; Dodger by Terry Pratchett | HarperCollins; The White Bicycle by Beverley Brenna | Red Deer Press.
  


Pura Belpré Award honoring a Latino writer and illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:
ILLUSTRATOR WINNER: Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert illustrated by David Diaz, written by Gary D. Schmidt | Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

AUTHOR WINNER: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz | Simon & Schuster.

AUTHOR HONOR: The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano | Scholastic.

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children:
WINNER: Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin |Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press.

HONORS: Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin written and illustrated by Robert Byrd | Dial Books/Penguin; Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip M. Hoose | Farrar Straus Giroux; and Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson | Scholastic Press.

There are other awards, as well. For a full listing, visit here.