The Youth Media Awards 2019

This past weekend was the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference in Seattle. Since it was in town I spent Saturday and Sunday scoping out new titles that are not yet published yet.

A great thing about ALAMidwinter is that it is where they announce the winners of Youth Media Awards! So I wanted to highlight books I’ve reviewed so far that are now newly crowned with honors:

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Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration: Ekua Holmes for The Stuff of Stars

Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King/John Stepstoe New Talent Author Award: Oge Mora for Thank you Omu!

Caldecott Honor: Grace Lin for A Big Mooncake for Little Star

Winner of the Asian Pacific American Library Literature Award for Picture Books: Drawn Together written by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat

Winner of the Asian Pacific American Library Literature Award for Children’s Books: Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Newberry Honor Book: The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

A special shoutout to APALA! I have been a longtime member of this wonderful organization and this was the first year the APALA Literature Award was included in the Youth Media Award Announcement.

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There are so many winners and wonderful books that were recognized! I highly suggest you take a look, Here is the full list.

The Youth Media Awards are the Oscars of the Library/Book world. I want say a much deserved congrats to all the honorees and winners. Also I want to recognize many great titles that were not honored but still bring much needed beauty and representation in children’s literature. Thank you artists and storytellers that continue to create!

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

Written by Veera Hiranandani, Published by Kokila, 2018. (Historical Fiction, ages 10-13)

If you are looking for a book with a lot of meaty things to explore and discuss, this would be the book for you. Not only are the characters compelling and complex, it also covers a fascinating aspect of history.

BACKGROUND

Young Nisha lives at home with her twin Amil, Dadi, chef Kazi and father. Her life is suddenly turned upside down when the country is torn into two countries: Pakistan and India. Soon her family must chose between their Hindu and Muslim identities, unsure of what the future holds. #OwnVoices

BEST FOR

A historical fiction for readers who enjoy learning details of the lifestyles of characters and interesting parts of history. It is written in a diary format. This would be a great classroom read with plenty of material for discussions.

PAIR WITH

Step up to the Plate Maria Singh by Uma Krishnaswami

WHERE TO PURCHASE

If you have an interest in reading The Night Diary

Shop your local indie bookstore

or here is a link for the book on Amazon

BookTastings-The Night Diary

The Nian Monster by Andrea Wang

Written by Andrea Wang, Illustrated by Alina Chau, Published by Albert Whitman & Company, 2016. (Picture Book, ages 4-8)

IMG_0237There are plenty of books about Chinese New Year, but not many that include the legend of the Nian Monster. (The Nian Monster is the reason for many traditions during the holiday, such as setting off firecrackers). The only thing is Alina Chau made the monster so gosh darn adorable, it’s hard to believe he wants to gobble up everything! Oh, and an extra plus is that this shows contemporary China.

BACKGROUND

Xingling is with her family in Shanghai getting ready for New Years when the Nian Monster threatens to devour the entire city! Using traditional foods and practices Xingling keeps him at bay…for now. #OwnVoices

BEST FOR

A ten to fifteen minute read aloud that teaches kids some of the traditions of Chinese New Year through an entertaining story. Perfect for the Lunar New Year, a fun storytime or a folktale unit.

PAIR WITH

A New Year’s Reunion

Ruby’s Chinese New Year by Vickie Lee

WHERE TO PURCHASE

If you have an interest in reading The Nian Monster

Shop your local indie bookstore

or here is a link for the book on Amazon

BookTastings-The Nian Monster

The Shadow in the Moon: A Tale of the Mid-Autumn Festival by Christina Matula

Written by Christina Matula, Illustrated by Pearl Law, Published by Charlesbridge, 2018. (Picture Book, ages 4-8)

IMG_0236Ever since I was a little girl, I had this small paperback book of the story of Chang’e, the Lady of the Moon. The only problem was it was written in simplified Chinese (My mom is Filipino and my dad only reads Traditional Chinese) so for years I would stare at the illustrations imagining what the story was. Finally a family friend read it to me (I was much older at that point) but the story never lost it’s hold on me.  Now I’m so glad that there’s a picture book that I can actually read to my kids! I was also fortunate enough to receive a copy from the author Christina Matula herself as part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day. For more information, scroll down to the bottom of this post!

BACKGROUND

Two sisters celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with their family and beg Ah-ma, their grandmother, to tell them the story of Chang’e, the Lady of the Moon. #OwnVoices

BEST FOR

About a fifteen minute read aloud for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Also great for a folktale lesson. The Author’s Note has extra info about the Moon Festival along with a recipe for mooncakes.

PAIR WITH

A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin

Rabbit Moon by Jean Kim

WHERE TO PURCHASE

If you have an interest in reading The Shadow in the Moon

Shop your local indie bookstore

or here is a link for the book on Amazon

BookTastings-The Shadow in the Moon

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board!

*View our 2019 Medallion Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-
*View our 2019 MCBD Author Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-2eN

Medallion Level Sponsors

Honorary: Children’s Book CouncilThe Junior Library GuildTheConsciousKid.org.

Super Platinum: Make A Way Media

GOLD: Bharat BabiesCandlewick PressChickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcitoKidLitTV,  Lerner Publishing GroupPlum Street Press,

SILVER: Capstone PublishingCarole P. RomanAuthor Charlotte RiggleHuda EssaThe Pack-n-Go Girls,

BRONZE: Charlesbridge PublishingJudy Dodge CummingsAuthor Gwen JacksonKitaab WorldLanguage Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ LanguagesLee & Low BooksMiranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, RedfinAuthor Gayle H. Swift,  T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s DaughterTimTimTom BooksLin ThomasSleeping Bear Press/Dow PhumirukVivian Kirkfield,

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board

Honorary: Julie FlettMehrdokht Amini,

Author Janet BallettaAuthor Kathleen BurkinshawAuthor Josh FunkChitra SoundarOne Globe Kids – Friendship StoriesSociosights Press and Almost a MinyanKaren LeggettAuthor Eugenia ChuCultureGroove BooksPhelicia Lang and Me On The PageL.L. WaltersAuthor Sarah StevensonAuthor Kimberly Gordon BiddleHayley BarrettSonia PanigrahAuthor Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing DreidelsAuthor Susan BernardoMilind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu KidTara WilliamsVeronica AppletonAuthor Crystal BoweDr. Claudia MayAuthor/Illustrator Aram KimAuthor Sandra L. RichardsErin DealeyAuthor Sanya Whittaker GraggAuthor Elsa TakaokaEvelyn Sanchez-ToledoAnita BadhwarAuthor Sylvia LiuFeyi Fay AdventuresAuthor Ann MorrisAuthor Jacqueline JulesCeCe & Roxy BooksSandra Neil Wallace and Rich WallaceLEUYEN PHAMPadma VenkatramanPatricia Newman and Lightswitch LearningShoumi SenValerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci SorellShereen RahmingBlythe StanfelChristina MatulaJulie RubiniPaula ChaseErin TwamleyAfsaneh MoradianLori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls RevolutionSoulful SydneyQueen Girls Publications, LLC

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts

A Crafty ArabAgatha Rodi BooksAll Done MonkeyBarefoot MommyBiracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms ShareColours of UsDiscovering the World Through My Son’s EyesDescendant of Poseidon ReadsEducators Spin on it Growing Book by BookHere Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin LeeJump Into a BookImagination Soup,Jenny Ward’s ClassKid World CitizenKristi’s Book NookThe LogonautsMama SmilesMiss Panda ChineseMulticultural Kid BlogsRaising Race Conscious ChildrenShoumi SenSpanish Playground

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Make A Way Media: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual @McChildsBookDay Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party ( a prize every 5 minutes!). GO HERE for more details.

FREE RESOURCES From MCBD

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/

Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

#christinamatula #charlesbridgepublishing

Meet Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi

Written by Saadia Faruqi, Illustrated by Hatem Aly, Published by Picture Window Books, 2018. (Fiction, ages 5-9)

There are currently five books in this series so far and they were all released last year in 2018. This makes it super convenient for young readers to get more of Yasmin!

BACKGROUND

From maps, art, construction, and fashion, Yasmin is a Pakistani-American who has a lot of interests. This also means a lot of adventures, creativity, and fun! #Ownvoices

BEST FOR

A realistic fiction ideal for readers that are just transitioning into chapter books. It is a graphic heavy book with bold illustrations. Also great to hand to students who love to try new things and explore.

PAIR WITH

Sofia Martinez by Jacqueline Julies

WHERE TO PURCHASE

If you have an interest in reading Meet Yasmin

Shop your local indie bookstore

or here is a link for the book on Amazon

BookTastings-Meet Yasmin!

The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer

Written by Marion Dane Bauer, Illustrated by Ekua Holmes, Published by Candlewick Press, 2018. (Picture Book, ages 3-8)

IMG_0178No matter where I go or where look there seems to be someone or something telling me to read this book so I finally did. Wow, they weren’t kidding. This picture does not do it justice.

BACKGROUND

Poetry embedded in swirling, splattering, marbling swarms of color that tells the story of the birth of the universe, and you.

BEST FOR

A five minute read aloud and discussion starter about the big bang, poetry, or to showcase different mediums of art. You could also just give this as a gift for a baby shower.

PAIR WITH

What If… by Samantha Berger

Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan

PURCHASE

If you have an interest in reading The Stuff of Stars

Shop your local indie bookstore

or here is a link for the book on Amazon

BookTastings-The Stuff of Stars