Kids' books: Winners of Newbery, Caldecott medals share their inspiration

"Inspirational" is the best word to describe the American Library Association's annual summer conference, at least for lovers of children's and teen literature.

For the ALA's summer meeting is the time when the authors and illustrators who have won the organization's top awards — the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, as well as a host of others — come and give their acceptance speeches.

The speeches are consistently thought-provoking and thoughtful, as authors and illustrators assess how the creative process, coupled with their life experiences, have brought them to the point of winning a top children's-literature award.

Two of the best speeches are invariably given by the winners of the Caldecott and Newbery Medals, and this year was no exception.

Jerry Pinkney, winner of the 2010 Caldecott Medal for his masterful retelling of an Aesop's fable, "The Lion & the Mouse" (Little, Brown, $16.99), noted that "at the age of 70, I've found it interesting to trace how the early chapters of my life have knitted themselves into my art."

In particular, Pinkney emphasized that nature has been an integral part of both his life and his art. "This interest in living, growing things, planted more than 50 years ago, blossomed in the illustrations for this adaptation of 'The Lion & the Mouse,' " Pinkney told his audience at the conference, held recently in Washington.

Pinkney made history this year as the first individual African-American to win the Caldecott Medal, given annually to the artist of the best-illustrated children's book. (An interracial couple, Leo and Diane Dillon, won two Caldecott Medals in earlier years.)

But, as someone who had previously won five Caldecott Honors, Pinkney said that he was trying hard to tamp down his hopes on Jan. 18 when the 2010 ALA awards were announced.

Pinkney noted that when he received a phone call that morning from Rita Auerbach, the chair of the 2010 Caldecott Committee, "informing me that I'd just received 'the Caldecott.' Time seemed to stand still as I waited for the word 'Honor.' "

It was especially meaningful for Pinkney to win a Caldecott Medal for "The Lion & the Mouse" because it's a fable "that's been coursing through my mind for years.

"... I believe ultimately the enduring strength of this tale is in its moral: no act of kindness goes unrewarded. Even the strongest can sometimes use the help of the smallest. To me the story represents a world of neighbors helping neighbors, unity and harmony, interdependence."

Pinkney concluded by asking the audience something he asks school children: "Do you think I am just as excited today as I was some 46 years ago when illustrating my first book?" The answer from the audience was a resounding "Yes!"

While Pinkney toiled for decades as a children's-book illustrator before winning the Caldecott Medal, Rebecca Stead won the 2010 Newbery Medal for her second children's novel, "When You Reach Me" (Random House, $15.99). The Newbery is awarded each year to the author of the best-written children's book.

Set in 1970s New York, Stead's story pays homage to the Newbery Medal-winning "A Wrinkle in Time" as it deftly combines mystery, time travel and a coming-of-age story.

In her acceptance speech — which was actually four short speeches — Stead began by wondering "when does the life of the storyteller begin?" Reading books was vitally important to Stead as a child and "by the time I was 9, I knew I wanted to write.

"But I didn't tell anyone, because it was too wild a dream. Instead, I told people I wanted to be an actress, which I thought was much more practical, and I waited. I waited about 20 years. Meanwhile, like a lot of people who secretly want to write, I became a lawyer."

After initially trying to write for adults, Stead said that "the universe intervened by telling my 3-year-old son to push my laptop off the dining-room table. No more stories." Stead later recalled how important books had been to her as a child and she started writing again, "but this time, I was writing for children."

Stead talked about another thread woven into "When You Reach Me" — her fear of writing it as her "younger self began to leak into the story in ways I'd never intended — memories of feeling mean and not being able to help it, of wanting things that I couldn't even begin to talk about, of that time in life when I started to see more, whether I wanted to or not."

Stead added: " ... was I really going to pour all of my inner weirdness into this book? Was I losing my story or finding it? I wasn't sure. ..."

After such a struggle writing the book, Stead said that winning the Newbery Medal "felt like a lightning bolt of joy. It felt like knee-locking happiness."

Stead, who has long hated having "Happy Birthday"sung to her, added: "It felt like the longest, loudest round of 'Happy Birthday' in the history of the world. And I loved every moment of it."

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