Monday is Awards Day!

This coming Monday, January 18, the American Library Association will announce the winners of various children's and young adult literary prizes, including the Caldecot and Newbery awards. If you can't wait to hear who wins, tune in to watch a live presentation of the awards here. It's always fun to watch and hear which excellent books win awards and sad to think of the many wonderful books that seem to get overlooked. But that's what makes book sharing fun - the awards may generate the publicity but reading and sharing books with friends helps us find the hidden gems!

Announcing: Team RC20

Are you ready for a challenge? A reading challenge? Good, because we've got one for you!

There are 20 titles on the 2010 Rebecca Caudill list. All of them are great books just begging to be read. Can you read all 20 before the end of April? Yep, that's your challenge. We already have two 6th graders who are making an attempt and both have over half of the books completed already. Last year, we had one student who accomplished this feat. Will we have more this year?

Here's how it works:

1. Sign up to join the team in the Zion library. It doesn't cost anything to join. You are simply agreeing to try your best to read all 20 titles. Think of it as signing a contract with yourself!

2. Start reading. You may read the books in any order, in any way that you wish (listening to the books on audio tape or CD counts). When you have finished a book, take the book's AR test. A score of 70% or better will mean you successfully finished the book. If you receive a score of less than 70%, see Mrs. Sutera. Successful completion of the AR test will be 'proof' that you read the book.

3. You may have started reading the 2010 Rebecca Caudill's last spring and might have even finished a few this summer. They all still count towards your goal of reading all 20. In order to qualify for our challenge this year, the deadline for reading all 20 will be April 30th, 2010. Please note that in order to vote for your favorite, you will need to have three read by February. But because we're getting a late start this year, we're making the deadline for this year's 2010 challenge to be the end of April.

4. Are you interested in trying but the idea of reading 20 books scares you? That's OK, try anyway. Why not set a beginning goal to read 5 of the titles. Then once you've finished 5, set another goal to read an additional 5. That will give you 10 titles read, which means you're half-way there. Now the 20 doesn't sound so bad, right? If you take the list in small chunks, you can do it!

Sound interested? Are you up to it? Sign up in the library today!

A River of Words:

The Story of William Carlos Williams

Written by Jen Bryant

Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Most enjoyed by poetry lovers of all ages

William Carlos Williams wrote poetry for most of his adult life. Listening to his English teacher read poems aloud reminded him of the river near his home and sparked his love of poetry. Despite becoming a doctor with a busy medical practice, Williams always found time to write poetry. We still enjoy his work today. In fact, his poem 'The Red Wheelbarrow', plays an integral part in the well-loved book 'Love That Dog' by Sharon Creech.

'A River of Words' is a nice introduction for young readers to William Carlos Williams and his poetry, especially for those new to his work. Some of his poems are reproduced on the end pages and worked into the illustrations. Readers will notice the influence of everyday, ordinary objects and experiences on Williams' writing as they read 'This is Just to Say' about eating plums or 'Metric Figure' about a bird in a tree.

While the story of Williams' life is good, it's the illustrations that really enhance the narrative and make the book spectacular. Flipping through the pages created by Melissa Sweet, it's easy to see why it won a 2009 Caldecott Honor award. Done in a collage style, each page features drawings set against a backdrop of papers from old books and notebooks. This makes the book feel as if it's Williams' notebook, crammed full of his notes and observations to be used later in his poems. The result is a book that can be looked at over and over, each time revealing something new to the reader.

A perfect title for poetry month, 'A River of Words' is a joy to read. If you're new to William Carlos Williams, choose this title to become familiar with him, but if you've enjoyed Williams' poetry in the past, enjoy it anew with this beautiful book.

How I Learned Geography

Written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz

Most enjoyed by 3rd through 8th graders

2009 Caldecott Honor Book

This book appears deceptively simple. A young boy is flying over land covered with elements from many lands. A mosque, skyscraper, palm trees, a camel. It looks like it could be a story of a boy and his dreams. And it is, but this boy dreams to escape constant hunger and extreme poverty.

In 'How I Learned Geography', author Uri Shulevitz tells the story of how his family fled Poland in 1939, after the Warsaw blitz. They escaped to Turkestan where they shared a home with complete strangers and struggled to survive. One day, when his father returns from the market, Uri and his mother look forward to the bread he will bring for them. But instead of bread to feed their hungry bellies, he brings a map. A giant map, one that covers an entire wall of their house. At first, Uri is angry, but as he spends his days drawing pictures from the map, he begins to imagine life in all of the distant places the map shows. He climbs mountains, visits temples and desert sands, and makes little rhymes out of the names of places on the map. The world of war around him disappears as he draws and takes his imaginary journeys.

In time, Uri forgives his father for bringing home the map. He realizes it has given him hours of pleasure. Perhaps his book will inspire you to bring home a map of your own to dream over. It just might make the waning days of winter go faster!

Henry's Freedom Box

by Ellen Levine

Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

2008 Caldecott Honor Book

Most appreciated by all ages

Look at the eyes of the boy on the cover. Do you see any happiness there? Any of the joy we see would expect to see in a kid's eyes? No, the eyes of the boy are full of anger, hurt, and fear. Those are Henry's eyes and he's a slave.

Young Henry is lucky. He lives with his slave family on master's plantation where they are treated well. But his mother warns him that things can change just like the leaves on the tree. When master falls ill for the last time, he gives Henry to his son, forcing Henry to leave his loving family. While working for a new master, Henry meets Nancy, also a slave, and the two marry and begin a family. But Nancy works for a different master than Henry. One day, as Henry is at work, Nancy and their three children are sold at a slave auction to pay the master's debts. Henry arrives in time to see his family, all that he loves, carted away forever.

In his despair, Henry takes a desperate step. With the help of a white doctor, Henry packs himself into a crate and ships himself to Philadelphia and freedom at last.

Henry's story is true. It is based on the real life of Henry 'Box' Brown, who became famous around the world for having mailed himself to freedom in 1849. While the story is riveting, it's the pictures that bring home the horrors and cruelty of slavery. The bleak, somber faces on many of the pages reflect the hopelessness many of the slaves felt. Their lives were not their own; freedom only a dream. Illustrator Kadir Nelson does a wonderful job of portraying Henry and his emotions. Many of the pictures will remain with you long after you close the book.

This is an excellent story to read over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend or to share during African American history month. It emphasizes the importance of liberty, freedom and hope for all people.