Living the Dream

My editor wrote recently to inform me that BIRD has been selected as a Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) “choices” book for 2009. It made me start to think about all of the honors that BIRD has received and what they all mean. For book readers who may not understand all of the lists and awards, here are BIRD’s awards explained in a nutshell:

Lee and Low New Voices Honor Award
Awarded by Lee and Low Books:
Established in 2000, the New Voices Award encourages writers of color to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent.

ALA Notable Children’s Book
Awarded by The American Library Association (ALA):
Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children’s books. According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children’s interests in exemplary ways.

John Steptoe Award for New Talent in Illustration
Awarded by the Coretta Scott King Award Committee, ALA
The award is established to affirm new talent and to offer visibility to excellence in writing and/or illustration which otherwise might be formally unacknowledged within a given year within the structure of the two awards given annually by the Coretta Scott King Task Force.

Ezra Jack Keats Book Award
Awarded by New York Public Library in association with the Ezra
Jack Keats Foundation
The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award was established in 1985 to recognize and encourage authors and illustrators new to the field of children’s books. Many past winners of the EJK Book Award have gone on to distinguished careers creating many books beloved by parents, children, librarians and teachers across the country.

The Ezra Jack Keats New Writer and New Illustrator Awards are given annually to an outstanding new writer of picture books for children (age 9 and under) and are presented jointly by the New York Public Library and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. A distinguished selection committee consisting of early childhood education specialists, librarians, illustrators and experts in children’s literature review entries, seek books that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world. As of 1999, the Award is being given annually rather than with the previous biennial cycle.

“Choices”
Awarded by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC)
CCBC Choices is created annually by the librarians of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center and published by the Friends of the CCBC, Inc.

This active organization with over 700 members sponsors programs to develop public appreciation for children’s literature and provides funds for many projects at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center. Anyone interested in children’s and young adult literature is welcome to join.

Celebrate with Books
Awarded by Cleveland Public Library
In 1906 the Cleveland Public Library published, for the first time, a list with suggestions for holiday book purchases for boys and girls. The list has evolved into an annual guide to the year’s best books for children issued in celebration of Children’s Book Week; it is now known as Celebrate With Books.

Titles are selected for their distinctive quality, extraordinary craftsmanship and reader appeal. All titles are available for request at the Main Library or any of the Library’s 28 branches and Mobile Unit.

Best of 2008
Kirkus Reviews

Editor’s Favorites
The Bloomsbury Review

Both of these honors are bestowed by the editors of these particular magazines and reflect their choices of the best in children’s books for that year.

That’s it in a nutshell! Thanks to all for such wonderful honors~