Kids' books: A look at some potential Newbery and Caldecott winners

Around the nation, children's-book lovers are trading thoughts about which books will win the most prestigious awards in children's literature.

The winners of the 2010 Newbery Medal (for best-written children's book) and 2010 Caldecott Medal (for best-illustrated children's book) will be announced Monday (Jan. 18) by the American Library Association.

But list-servs and blogs devoted to children's literature have been buzzing with activity as librarians and children's-book lovers weigh the relative merits of various books. A number of libraries have even hosted mock Newbery and Caldecott events at which participants voted on "winners."

Here's a list of potential winners, drawn from the results of mock Newbery and Caldecott events, as well as discussions with several experts, including Anita Silvey, editor of "Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book," and Amy Kellman, a children's-literature consultant based in Pittsburgh.

CALDECOTT MEDAL

Some years, there are so many great books vying for the Caldecott Medal that it's nearly impossible to pinpoint a winner. In other years, however, experts converge on a clear potential winner.

This year, children's-book experts agree that the winner should be "The Lion & the Mouse" (Little Brown, $16.99), an Aesop's fable masterfully illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, who has won five Caldecott Honors.

As Kellman put it: "... if 'Lion & Mouse' doesn't win, there is no justice."

Pinkney's watercolor illustrations offer wonderful new insights — sometimes humorous, other times dramatic — into the classic story. There's another factor (which, under the rules, can't be considered by the Caldecott committee): If he wins, Pinkney would be the first individual African-American illustrator to win the Caldecott since it was created in 1938. (An interracial couple, Leo and Diane Dillon, have won two Caldecott Medals).

Interestingly, Pinkney also illustrated one of this year's potential Newbery contenders, "Sweethearts of Rhythm" (Dial, $21.99), written by Marilyn Nelson.

Other Caldecott possibilities include:

• "All the World" (Beach Lane, $17.99), written by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee, who won a Caldecott Honor last year for "A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever";

• "Birds" (Greenwillow, $17.99), written by Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes and illustrated by his wife, Laura Dronzek;

• "Crow Call" (Scholastic, $16.99), written by Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline;

• "The Curious Garden" (Little Brown, $16.99), written and illustrated by Peter Brown;

• "Duck! Rabbit!" (Chronicle Books, $16.99), written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld;

• "Hello Baby!" (Beach Lane Books, $16.99), written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Steve Jenkins;

• "Higher! Higher!" (Candlewick Press, $15.99), written and illustrated by Leslie Patricelli;

• "Moonshot" (Atheneum, $17.99), written and illustrated by Brian Floca;

• "Otis" (Philomel, $17.99), written and illustrated by Loren Long;

• "Tsunami!" (Philomel, $16.99), written by Kimiko Kajikawa and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Ed Young.

NEWBERY MEDAL

There are a number of top contenders for the 2010 Newbery Medal. What's particularly interesting about this year's possibilities, however, is the fact that several are nonfiction. Only a handful of nonfiction books have ever won the Newbery Medal, which usually is awarded to a novel.

Of the nonfiction possibilities, three in particular stand out as top contenders:

• "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" (FSG, $19.95), by Phillip Hoose, which just won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature;

• "Marching For Freedom" (Viking, $19.99), by Elizabeth Partridge;

• "Truce" (Scholastic, $19.99), by Jim Murphy.

Other nonfiction possibilities include: "Almost Astronauts" (Candlewick Press, $24.99 hardcover, $17.99 paperback), by Tanya Lee Stone; "Charles and Emma" (Henry Holt, $18.95), by Deborah Heiligman; "The Great and Only Barnum" (Schwartz & Wade, $18.99), by Candace Fleming; and "Written in Bone" (Carolrhoda, $22.95), by Sally Walker.

As for fiction, one novel, "When You Reach Me" (Random House, $15.99), by Rebecca Stead, has stirred much interest as a Newbery possibility, and has won many mock Newberys.

Other fiction contenders include:

• "Al Capone Shines My Shoes" (Dial, $17.99), by Gennifer Choldenko;

• "All the Broken Pieces" (Scholastic, $16.99), by Ann Burg;

• "Anything But Typical" (Simon & Schuster, $15.99), by Nora R. Baskin;

• "Crossing Stones" (FSG, $16.99), by Helen Frost;

• "The Dunderheads" (Candlewick, $16.99), by Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman;

"The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" (Henry Holt, $16.99), by Jacqueline Kelly;

"Heart of a Shepherd" (Random House, $15.99), by Rosanne Parry;

"The Magician's Elephant" (Candlewick, $16.99), by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo;

"Peace, Locomotion" (Putnam, $15.99), by Jacqueline Woodson;

"A Season of Gifts" (Dial, $16.99), by Newbery Medalist Richard Peck;

"Sweethearts of Rhythm" (Dial, $21.99), by Marilyn Nelson;

"Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" (Little Brown, $16.99), by Grace Lin.

Karen MacPherson, the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md., Library, can be reached at Kam.Macpherson@gmail.com.