other good books … but still not as good as Barefoot! :)

This morning, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners of its Caldecott, Newbery, Coretta Scott King, and other awards for the best children’s and young adult literature at its Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia.

The winners are:

JOHN NEWBERY MEDAL for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices From a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick)

NEWBERY HONOR BOOKS

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic/Scholastic Press)
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion)
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam/GP Putnam’s Sons)

RANDOLPH CALDECOTT MEDAL for the most distinguished American picture book for children

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)

CALDECOTT HONOR BOOKS

Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story From the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine (Scholastic/Scholastic Press)
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter)
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís (FSG/Frances Foster)
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems (Hyperion)

CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARDS recognizing African-American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to “the true worth and value of all beings”

THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARD FOR AUTHOR

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic/Scholastic Press)

KING AUTHOR HONOR BOOKS

November Blues by Sharon M. Draper (Atheneum)
Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali by Charles R. Smith Jr. (Candlewick)

THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARD FOR ILLUSTRATOR

Let It Shine, illustrated by Ashley Bryan (Atheneum)

KING HONOR BOOKS FOR ILLUSTRATOR

The Secret Olivia Told Me, illustrated by Nancy Devard; written by N. Joy (Just Us Books)
Jazz on a Saturday Night, by Leo and Diane Dillon (Blue Sky Press)

MAY HILL ARBUTHNOT HONOR LECTURER honors an author, critic, librarian, historian, or teacher of children’s literature, of any country, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site

Walter Dean Myers

MILDRED L. BATCHELDER AWARD for an outstanding children’s book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the U.S.

VIZ Media, publisher of Brave Story, by Miyuki Miyabe, translated from the Japanese by Alexander O. Smith

BATCHELDER HONOR BOOKS

Milkweed Editions, publisher of The Cat: Or, How I Lost Eternity, by Jutta Richter, illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner, and translated from the German by Anna Brailovsky

Phaidon Press, publisher of Nicholas and the Gang, written by René Goscinny, illustrated by Jacques Sempé, and translated from the French by Anthea Bell

PURA BELPRÉ AUTHOR AWARD to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sean Qualls (Holt)

BELPRÉ AUTHOR HONOR BOOKS

Frida: ¡Viva la vida! Long Live Life! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand (Marshall Cavendish)
Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, retold by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael Austin (Peachtree)
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Holt)

PURA BELPRÉ ILLUSTRATOR AWARD

Los Gatos Black on Halloween, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Marisa Montes (Holt)

BELPRÉ ILLUSTRATOR HONOR BOOKS

My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: la vida de Gabriel García Márquez, illustrated by Raúl Colón, written by Monica Brown (Luna Rising)
My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo, written and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez (Children’s Book Press)

ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL for excellence in children’s video

Kevin Lafferty, producer, John Davis, executive producer, and Amy Palmer Robertson and Danielle Sterling, co-producers, of Jump In: Freestyle Edition

THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL AWARD to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the U.S. during the preceding year

There Is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems (Hyperion)

GEISEL HONOR BOOKS

First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter)
Hello, Bumblebee Bat, written by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (Charlesbridge)
Jazz Baby, written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Harcourt)
Vulture View, written by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (Holt)

ODYSSEY AWARD for the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the U.S.

Jazz, Live Oak Media

ODYSSEY HONOR AUDIOBOOKS

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy, Listen & Live Audio
Dooby Dooby Moo, Weston Woods/Scholastic
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Listening Library
Skulduggery Pleasant, HarperCollins Audio
Treasure Island, Listening Library SIBERT MEDAL for most distinguished informational book for children

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís (FSG/Frances Foster)

SIBERT HONOR BOOKS

Lightship by Brian Floca (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson)
Nic Bishop Spiders by Nic Bishop (Scholastic/Scholastic Nonfiction)

Here it is!

Should I keep the two blogs separate???

http://theotherjackson5.wordpress.com/

Thinking of starting a MOMS blog …

So, I’ve been reading a lot of other blogs lately, and to be honest, I’m wondering if I should start a fun moms blog for Indianapolis. I’m having a hard time finding anything popular and good in this city…at least not anything in the public eye. Stay tuned … maybe I’ll become a local celeb!

It’s about TIME!

Exciting, exciting, exciting news!

Barefoot Books announces that MOTHERBRIDGE OF LOVE has made TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 10 list of best children’s books for 2007!

Congrats to Barefoot!

Happy New Year!

Hello!

It’s time to take advantage of the Barefoot Books Winter Sale! Save up to 70%!!

www.barefootbooksindy.com

Barefoot Book reviews

Read these awesome Barefoot Book reviews from Booklist …

For Listen, Listen – “Jay’s stylized pictures, with the texture of ancient frescos, are a window into a world in which the buzz of an insect and the whoosh of the wind lend surprising emotion. Illustrations filled with snowmen, anthropomorphized animals, and people running through a leaf-swept field will make children long to discover what is just over a hill or around the next bend. Capturing a summer idyll reading in a hammock with the same care as a warm evening by the fireplace, Jay invests each image with both joy and melancholy. This jewel of a book will draw children back again and again”-Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

For One City, Two Brothers – “Framed by a story of King Solomon dealing with two squabbling brothers, this tale tells of two other, quite different brothers. They live in two villages, sharing the land between them. For years, they have divided their harvest. One abundant year, the elder brother, who has a wife and children, worries that his unmarried brother needs to save for his old age. Secretly he brings extra grain to his brother’s storehouse. Yet the next morning, the elder brother seems to have the same amount of grain as before. Meanwhile, the younger brother has been worrying, too; his elder brother has a family to be fed. He is also secretly bringing grain to his sibling, then finding his own storehouse still full. The mystery is solved when the brothers meet on the hilltop, each with a donkey laden with grain. The blessed spot where they meet becomes Jerusalem. Based on a folktale told by both Jews and Arabs, this picture book beautifully captures the spirit of brotherhood and gives both readers and listeners hope for what could be if people thought more about one another than about themselves. The accomplished folk-style artwork, in shades of verdant green, heavenly blue, and harvest orange and yellow, does more than illustrate the story; it adds an air of peace and hope to which children will respond.” -Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

How SAD is this?

On November 19, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence, a new analysis of reading patterns in the U.S. The study, which is a follow-up to NEA’s 2004 Reading at Risk, revealed recent declines in voluntary reading and test scores alike, trends NEA described as having “severe consequences for American society.”

“The new NEA study is the first to bring together reliable, nationally representative data, including everything the federal government knows about reading,” said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. “This study shows the startling declines, in how much and how well Americans read, that are adversely affecting this country’s culture, economy, and civic life as well as our children’s educational achievement.”

Among the study’s key findings:

• Americans are reading less. Teens and young adults read less often and for shorter amounts of time compared with other age groups and with Americans of previous years. Less than one-third of 13-year-olds are daily readers, a 14 percent decline from 20 years earlier. Among 17-year-olds, the percentage of non-readers doubled over a 20-year period, from nine percent in 1984 to 19 percent in 2004. On average, Americans ages 15 to 24 spend almost two hours a day watching TV, and only seven minutes of their daily leisure time on reading.
• The declines in reading have civic, social, and economic implications. Advanced readers accrue personal, professional, and social advantages. Deficient readers run higher risks of failure in all three areas. Nearly two-thirds of employers ranked reading comprehension “very important” for high school graduates. Yet 38 percent consider most high school graduates deficient in this basic skill.

The full To Read or Not to Read study and an Executive Summary are available as downloadable PDFs on the NEA website, www.nea.gov.

Agh … December is upon us

Oh gosh. It’s already November 29. I’m freakin’ out.

I have two kids with December birthdays. Seriously. What in the world did we (and they) do to deserve this? (Don’t answer that!) It’s like one long party the entire month. It seems like almost every day that something is coming in the mail from someone–an aunt, a grandma (mostly grandmas). It’s obnoxious, actually. It gets to the point where the kids are EXPECTING a gift almost every day!

So yes, while most of you are probably thrilled that the holiday is upon us, we are not so much in the Jackson house. At least not the two of us in charge of keeping food on the table.

Happy Turkey Day

Just wanted to take a second to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for. Take a minute to reflect upon what you have in life and how lucky you are. Celebrate with loved ones. Hug your kids. Hug your mom and dad. Heck, hug the dog. Then eat the turkey.

An exciting Indy baby event!

Another great event all but fell in my lap recently when I was asked to edit a press release.

The IndyBabyExpo will take place in April 2008 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. It’s going to be a huge event, and I can’t wait to get Barefoot Books to as many parents, grandparents, friends, teachers and book lovers as possible.

Jenn Kampmeier has done tremendous work organizing this great event. Keep an eye out for it in April!