Here are the rest of the 2012 Children’s and Young Adult book awards…”The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the top books, video and audiobooks for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Dallas.”
Category: Diverse Books for Kids
Diversity books for kids including authors and characters of color and diversity themes.
Books for Kids Who Hate Reading
I discovered this really excellent list of books to hook reluctant readers by SchoolBusProject.com. I love how it’s organized by topics and also that it has a range of books within each topic for different ages and abilities. Finally, I love how the books are so well chosen out with many award winning books across a whole jumble of children’s book awards as well as books that I know kids truly enjoy. Even if your child is not a reluctant reader, scan the list. There are discoveries waiting to be made here!
Grace Lin’s Dumpling Days: Delicious as Always!
To say that Grace Lin speaks to the Asian American experience is probably not specific enough and, simultaneously, also much greater than that. As a sensei (sorry, I’m half Japanese and this means second generation in Japanese), Grace speaks poignantly of the pushes and pulls between her homeland and her “Americanization” conflicts that stem from trying to find the space where she fits in and yet connects with her ethnicity. I especially love Grace Lin’s Pacy series. The Year of the Dog is where Pacy discovers her career path in writing and illustrating books. The Year of the Rat has Pacy dealing with big changes coping from the loss of her best friend — the only other Asian American girl in her class who moves away to California. In real life, this happens to Grace as well, and this best friend turns out to be her future editor!
Top 10: Best Historical Fiction for Kids
Please give a warm welcome to my librarian/blogger extraordinaire/Mom Friend The Fourth Musketeer! She graciously agreed to guest post on her her favorite books of 2011. I really, really wanted her list because she’s an expert in children’s and young adult historical fiction, and selfishly, I wanted this list for myself and my kids! We will work our way through it in 2012! How about you? What is your favorite historical fiction picture book, chapter book or young adult book?
Lifetime Achievement Award for Children’s Book Authors
Administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award was first given to its namesake in 1954. The award, a bronze medal, honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.
Learn Chinese Words and Culture Through Books for Kids
Mandarin Chinese is becoming very popular in the United States. I review a small stack of books that cover learning Mandarin Chinese as well as Chinese Culture including The House Baba Built by Ed Young, Find Out About China: Learn Chinese Words and Phrases, Life in China, History and Culture, Ni Hao series and Chinese Paradise series.
Best Multicultural YA Books for Teens
I found this on a great blog that I follow called PaperTigers that covers multi cultural kidlit and literacy around the world. They took YALSA’s (Young Adult Library Services Association) has just released their 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominations list and culled out the multi-cultural books. The books nominated have been published within the past 16 months, are recommended for ages 12 – 18, and meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens.