Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: The ALA Youth Media Awards 2015 - Schneider Family Book Awards & the Sibert Awards

On Monday, February 2, 2015, over 1200 people gathered in the Skyline Ballroom at the McCormick Place Convention Center to celebrate the biggest day in Children's and Youth Literature. Everyone was gathered to hear the announcements of the 2015 American Library Association (ALA) Youth Media Awards. In addition to the live audience there were about 20,000 people live streaming the announcements. 

The ALA Youth Media Awards are a collection of 19 awards, which honor the best books in Children's and Youth Literature. To see a list of all of the winners, check out the press release here. 

One of those awards is the Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child or adolescent audiences. I am honored to have been able to serve on this committee these past few years. As a former Special Education teacher, this is a concern that is near and dear to my heart. 

Winner of the 2015 Book for Children Ages 0-8:

A Boy and A Jaguar
by Alan Rabinowitz; Illustrated by Catia Chien
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 

Winner of the 2015 Book for Middle Grade Audiences Ages 9-13:

Rain Reign
by Ann M. Martin
Feiwel & Friends, An Imprint of Macmillian

Winner of the 2015 Book for Teen Audiences Ages 14-18:

Girls Like Us
by Gail Giles
Candlewick Press

Another award that is obviously near and dear to my heart and ties in nicely with Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is the Robert F. Sibert Award.  The Sibert is given for the most distinguished informational picture book for children. There were five Sibert Honor Books:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (Nancy Paulsen Books)

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, & the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming (Schwartz & Wade)

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell; Illustrated by Christian Robinson (Chronicle Books)

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting With the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy (Roaring Brook Press)

Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh (Abrams)

And the winner of the Sibert Medal:

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant; Illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Eerdman's Books for Young Readers)

We may not have gotten many right on our Mock Sibert but we definitely called the medal winner. 

I will be sharing more from ALA Midwinter and the Youth Media Awards so keep an eye open for special posts. Until then, you can watch the Awards here.

Don't forget to link up you nonfiction reviews:

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Winner of the 2015 Mock Sibert Award

On Monday, February 2, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois, the ALA Youth Media Awards will be held.  One of the awards that will be announced is the Robert F. Sibert Medal winners. Though I am not sure who will win, I had fun hosting the 2015 Mock Sibert Awards with Kellee from Unleashing Readers and Carrie from There is a Book For That.  

*drum roll*

AND THE WINNER IS...

Congratulations to Cathy Ballou Mealey for being the winner of our 2015 Mock Sibert Award Giveaway. Her choice of a winning book was Handle With Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey by Loree Griffin Burns. 

Next year, Kellee, Carrie and I are looking forward to expanding the Mock Sibert Award to other blogs that might be interested in participating. Until then, we will all be eagerly awaiting the announcements on Monday. 

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Mock Sibert, Mini Reviews, and New Releases

Thank you everyone for participating each week in the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge (#nfpb2015). It is one of my highlights of the week to see all of the books that everyone has read and included in their posts. Today's post is a mixture of mini reviews and spotlights on new releases. - Happy Reading! 

2015 Mock-Sibert Award:

If you haven't checked out the Mock-Sibert Predictions that Kellee Moye (Unleashing Readers) and Carrie Gelson (There is a Book for That) and I have made, there is still time to do so and also enter the giveaway.

Mini Reviews:

Earmuffs For Everyone!: How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs by Meghan McCarthy (Simon & Schuster, January 2015) - Meghan McCarthy has a way of mixing humor with her work to draw in readers. I enjoyed how she provided readers with the history and how Chester Greenwood was credited with the invention despite others having put in patents earlier. Though this one may appeal more to those in colder climates, teachers can discuss the issues of getting patents, and who gets credit for discovering or inventing things with the reading of this book.

Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre (Beach Lane Books, January 2015) - Beautiful photographs and lyrical text made this a favorite of mine. Sayre provides young children with a delightful read aloud about rain and water, and older students with a mentor text for writing. This one is a must have in my opinion.

The Founding Fathers!: Those Horse-Ridin', Fiddle-Playin', Book-Readin', Gun-Totin', Gentleman Who Started America by Jonah Winter; Illustrated by Barry Blitt (Atheneum, January 2015) - This book is part background information, part encyclopedia, and part questions and answers all mixed with a reasonable amount of humor. This one can be read a little at a time and in whatever order that a student would like. I enjoyed learning new facts about the 14 Founding Fathers featured in the book.

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Praevot; Illustrated by Aurelia Fronty (Charlesbridge, January 2015) - I think I have read every picture book biography on Mama Miti. I enjoyed the focus on the political challenges that Wangari had to take on in order to see her dream come to fruition. A welcome addition to the collection of books on this amazing woman.

Books I missed for the New Release Post:

28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World by Charles R. Smith; Illustrated by Shane W. Evans (Roaring Brook, January 13, 2015)

Gingerbread for Liberty!: How a German Baker Helped Win the American Revolution by Mara Rockliff; Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch (HMH Books for Young Readers; January 27, 2015)

Whale Trails, Before and Now by Lesa Cline-Ransome; Illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Henry Holt and Co., January 20, 2015)

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: Abayomi The Brazilian Puma

Abayomi: The Brazilian Puma
by Darcy Pattison; Illustrated by Kitty Harvill
Mims House (March 2014)
Audience: K-3
Nature * Science * Mountain Lions
Amazon * WorldCat
 

Description from GoodReads: ***Outstanding Science Trade Book 2015 from the National Science Teacher's Association***

From the award-winning team that brought you WISDOM, THE MIDWAY ALBATROSS, comes a new heart-warming story of an orphaned puma cub. 

A mother puma, an attempt to steal a chicken and an angry chicken farmer—the search is on for orphaned cubs. Will the scientists be able to find the cubs before their time runs out?

In this “Biography in Text and Art,” Harvill takes original photos as references to create accurate wildlife illustrations. These aren’t generic cats, but one particular individual in detail. Pattison’s careful research, vetted by scientists in the field, brings to life this this true story of an infant cub that must face a complicated world alone—and find a way to survive. 

My thoughts on this book: 
I discovered Abayomi: The Brazilian Puma on the NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books list a couple of months ago. Darcy Pattison saw my post and reached out to me about her book. Since I had marked it as one of the titles that I wanted to read, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review the book.

Though I was interested in the story of Abayomi, it was Harvill's illustrations that initially captured me. The soft watercolors were the perfect backdrop for the story Pattison was about to tell. In clear, straight-forward language, Pattison shares the story of a mother puma and her cub. Readers feel the emotions that rise as we learn of the loss of the mother puma and the relief when the cub is finally found. 

This story is accessible as a read aloud for younger classes and older students can read this one independently. The addition of the videos shown below provide students with a greater connection to this special cub, and also an awareness of how we need to be aware of crowding out animals from their homes, and create a safer environment for them to live.

For further background information about the impact the work of Pattison and Harvill have had, check out this article on the Mims House Website.  

Check out these videos of Abayomi.  Since I do not read Portuguese, I am not exactly sure what the text says, but the videos are self-explanatory.:

Abayomi protecting his food:

Abayomi checks out his surroundings:

Website: The Brazilian Puma Corridor Project

Thank you everyone for your support of the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge. Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews and stop by the other blogs to see what everyone is reading. 

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday: January New Releases

Welcome to the first Nonfiction Picture Book New Releases post of 2015, and thank you for supporting the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge for the 4th year. If you are just finding out about the challenge, it is not too late to join in. Actually, everyone is welcome to join in at any point in the year. This is a wonderful community of teachers, librarians, and other book related folks that love to celebrate nonfiction books for kids. So, if you are finding this for the first time, welcome and if you are returning, so glad you are a friend.

At the beginning of each month, I do my best to round-up as many new quality nonfiction books for children and share them with readers of this blog.  I know that this is an extremely useful resource for me and hope that it is to you as well. ~ Happy Reading!

Here are the new releases that are coming out this month:

December 23, 2014

Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century by Carole Boston Weatherford; Illustrated by Raúl Colón (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

January 1, 2015

Birdology: 30 Activities and Observations for Exploring the World of Birds by Monica Russo; Photographs by Kevin Byron (Chicago Review Press)

January 6, 2015

Big Red Kangaroo by Claire Saxby; Illustrated by Graham Byrne (Candlewick Press)

Bilby: Secrets of an Australian Marsupial by Edel Wignell; Illustrated by Mark Jackson (Candlewick Press)

Chasing Freedom: The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, Inspired by Historical Facts by Nikki Grimes; Illustrated by Michele Wood (Orchard Books)

Draw What You See: The Life and Art of Benny Andrews by Kathleen Benson Haskins; Illustrated by Benny Andrews (Clarion Books)

Earmuffs for Everyone: How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs by Meghan McCarthy (Simon & Schuster)

Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson; Illustrated by Sean Qualls (Schwartz & Wade)

The Founding Fathers: Those Horse-Ridin', Fiddle-Playin', Book-Readin', Gun-Totin' Gentlemen Who Started America by Jonah Winter; Illustrated by Barry Blitt (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayer (Beach Lane Books)

Sand Swimmers: The Secret Life of Australia's Desert Wilderness by Narelle Oliver (Candlewick)

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted a Million Trees by Franck Praevot; Illustrated by Aurelia Fronty (Charlesbridge)

January 20, 2015

Winnie: The Remarkable Tale of a Real Bear by Sally M. Walker; Illustrated by Jonathan D. Voss (Henry Holt & Co.)

January 27, 2015

The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage by Selina Alko; Illustrated by Sean Qualls (Arthur A. Levine)

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews: