Scantily Clad in the Snow Break + Awards

Five consecutive snow days. I ate a lot of weird foods from deep in the cupboards and read. What did our students do?

One mother told me her 7 year old son read, and re-read, and re-read, the Calvin and Hobbes comic compilation he had checked out. He would occasionally emerge to ask the meaning of a word or phrase. "Mom, what does 'scantily clad' mean?"

A six-year old girl asked me upon return if I had a book, "How to Make a Great Spa."
"Spa?" I asked, not sure if I had heard correctly.
"Yes, my friend and I made a spa over the snow break and we gave each other facials and massages and manicures. Now I want to make it a really great spa." (Reminded me of when my six-year old son created his own casino.)

And an 11 year old boy, who volunteers in the library, re-arranged all the books on his shelves, explaining to his mother that he was placing some titles face out, like in the library, "because it looks so much more inviting."


I was most frustrated not to be able to order right away the surprise Newbery, Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Award winners when they were announced:

The Newbery Medal:
for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children

Newbery Medal Winner: Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. Did I buy it? No! Did I read it? No! Did I read a review of it? Maybe? This was a sleeper by a first time author. But yay! I'm in good company: even the avid book review bloggers failed to predict this one. New talent on the scene.





Newbery Honors:
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm. Hooray for the author of the beloved Babymouse series.
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus. Yay for the Japan class.
The Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. Hey! I bought and read this one! It's fabulous!

The Caldecott Medal:
to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children

The Caldecott Medal Winner: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Phillip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin E. Stead. Ordered it!







Caldecott Honors:
Dave the Potter, Artist, Poet, Slave, illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Laban Carrick Hill. Hey! I studied Dave in depth when doing a special project on the history of slavery. I bought it! I've read it to kids! I've sent it to teachers! I'm on it.

The Interrupting Chicken, written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein. Ditto! I read it aloud this week! Hilarious. A huge hit with the 5-6 year old crowd.

The Coretta Scott King Award:
Given to African American authors and illustrators
for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions

The Coretta Scott King Award (author):
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. Yay! Bought it! Read it! Sent it out to a teacher months ago! In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.










The Coretta Scott King Award (illustrator):
Dave the Potter, Artist, Poet, Slave, illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Laban Carrick Hill. I love teaching this book and talking about how enslaved people would assert their personhood and creativity, resisting oppression at every step. Dave defiantly put little poems and his signature on his magnificent pots at a time when it was illegal to teach slaves to read and write.