ALA Youth Media Awards Results

In case you missed it, yesterday, the American Library Association held their Youth Media Awards in Seattle, WA to honor the outstanding books and other media for children to young adults. Yesterday's awards did no less then honor some of the most rewarding, creative, and engaging books and writers of the past year. Probably the most recognizable achievements include the Caldecott Medal (of course), in its 75th year of recognizing the most distinguished illustrator of picture, and the Newbery Award, going to the most acclaimed author of a children's book.

This year's Caldecott Award went to This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. Amazingly, he also won one of the five Caldecott honors for his work on Extra Yarn. That's pretty awesome, I think.

The Newbery went to The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. I've not read it, but when you read a tweet that a whole class of 5th graders hugged, screamed and raved in celebration over it, then you know it must be special.

I was personally very thrilled that Katherine Paterson won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for an author or illustrator whose books have made a lasting contribution to children's literature. Just hearing her name flipped me back to my far-too-long-ago grade school years and the whimsical imaginings of my very own Terabithia, and for that instant memory alone I was far from surprised that she would be honored with such an award.

To read the full list of awards, visit the ALA website here. It might help contribute to your GoodReads "Want to read" list. At the same time, it leads me to wonder what classifies these as the most distinguished of a year's worth of publications. How innovative is too innovative for example? I haven't reviewed enough YMA recipient lists to glean any possibility of trends but I'd love to hear your thoughts.