The 2015 Carnegie Medal Shortlist Announced

The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are the UK’s oldest and most prestigious children’s book awards. Often described by authors and illustrators as ‘the one they want to win’ – they are the gold standard in children’s literature.

The CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book for children and young people. 

So, without further ado, here are the shortlistees for this year’s Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals, the award chosen by librarians and famed for being the medal that authors and illustrators most want to win.

The CILIP Carnegie Medal 2015 shortlist

When Mr. Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury).

Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)

 

Tinder by Sally Gardner (author) and David Roberts (illustrator) (Orion Children’s Books).

 Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan Children’s Books).

The Fastest Boy in the World by Elizabeth Laird (Macmillan Children’s Books).

 

Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman (Walker Books).

 

The Middle of Nowhere by Geraldine McCaughrean (Usborne Books)

More Than This by Patrick Ness (Walker Books)

 

Stay tuned….Kate Greenaway shortlist tomorrow.

Lucha Libros

If I filled a library with books on topics I was interested in it would be a wonderful place. For me. Fortunately, libraries are built on the interests of everyone. Sometimes I share those interests, often times I don’t. Take wrestling for example. I am totally not interested in it. But there are several really great books for kids about lucha libre, a form of professional wrestling that has developed in Mexico and other Latin American countries.

The newest is Niño Wrestles the World written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales.The book is a testament to a child’s imagination.

Underpants clad Niño has no trouble fending off monstrous opponents, whose biographies appear on the end papers.  When his little sisters awaken from their naps, he is in for a no-holds-barred wrestling match that will truly test his skills. Sound effects and ring announcements pepper the age-appropriate text and the illustrations capture the essence of lucha libre and Niño’s imaginative play. I  predict this one will be on the Pura Belpré  Illustrator Award list in January 2014.

For a lightly older crowd, we have LUCHA LIBRE The Man in the Silver Mask : A Bilingual Cuento by Xavier Garza.

This bilingual book from 2005 would not stay on the shelves of my library.When Carlitos attends a wrestling match in Mexico City with his father, his favorite masked-wrestler has eyes that are strangely familiar. Garza captures Carlitos’ excitement and enthusiasm it is contagious! The graphic-novel-style illustrations, reminiscent of Mexican folk art,  enhance  the story.

Finally, for readers ready for chapter books there is Maximilian & The Mystery of the Guardian Angel  also by Xavier Garza.

This bilingual book was a  2012 Pura Belpré Author Honor Award winner. It is similar in that a young man, Margarito, loves lucha libre match. However,  in the summer just before sixth grade, he tumbles over the railing at a match in San Antonio and encounters his greatest hero of all time: the Guardian Angel. As the book unfolds, Margarito learns the surprising, true identity of the Guardian Angel.

These are all great books to get Hispanic boys reading. At my school, where we are about 70% Hispanic, this can be a struggle, but these 3 books will entice even the most reluctant readers.

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