The Gift of Award-Winning Reading
There's always an occasion for giving a book as a gift. Here are some creative ways to enhance the gift of reading with companion gifts! The votes are in and the following books from 2007 were given awards by the American Library Association (ALA) just last month.
Knuffle Bunny Too, by Mo Willems (Hyperion). Willems, a Sesame Street Alum, just keeps collecting awards. Author of the award winning series Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and the Elephant & Piggie Books, he received a second Caldecott Honor for Knuffle Bunny Too, and a Theodore Seuss Geisel Award for a Beginner Book for There Is a Bird on Your Head. Bright, creative and cheerful, these books make Willems a star in the Children's Lit Firmament.
Gift Idea: A stuffed bunny, but it HAS to have character. Or better yet, give a child the stuffed animal from your own childhood.
First The Egg, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook). What begins as a simple baby animal to mature animal story, this book brilliantly makes the jump to broader horizons. First the egg, peeking through a cut-out, then the chicken appears on the next page. It would have been sweet enough to stick with nature (first the tadpole, then the frog), but Seeger adds a complex twist with "First the word, then the Story" and uses this very book as the example. Gosh, some people are clever. Received honors for both the Caldecott and the Geisel Award.
Gift Idea: Even though this is pre-K level book, I'd give this to an aspiring writer or artist with the tools of their trade. Try a simple art set or blank journal for a young child.
Jazz Baby, by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Harcourt). This book is a fantastic read-aloud, especially for music lovers. Page by page, an entire family and neighborhood surrounds this hip baby with rhythm and music and joy. But when the party is over, that little baby needs to sleep, sleep, sleep. Oh Yeah!
Gift Idea: Music, of course. Great Jazz CDs or a drum of their own.
Vulture View, by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (Henry Holt). Illustrated with cut-paper collages, these amazing vultures seem alive on each vivid blue page. Their purple skin heads seem to be smiling beneath their clear eyes. An author's note provides more vulture information. A Caldecott Honor.
Gift Idea: A vulture stuffed animal - - one with the bird call! Or for the naturalist, you can gift the gift of travel and visit one of the five Vulture Festivals across the country, (listed in the author's note) including one in Branson, MO in February!
The Wall, Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis (Foster/Farrar). A personal reflection of growing up in Cold War-Era Prague, Sis provides a startling look at a child's perspective of Communism. Laws of the day, such as public displays of loyalty, are mixed in with the desire for creativity and truthfulness. The importance of music and art are clear as secret images of the Beatles and Coca-Cola are kept behind closed doors. A Caldecott Honor.
Gift Idea: A blank journal to begin filling in a child's own history. Or, a classic Fab Four album!
Henry's Freedom Box, A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Scholastic). A Caldecott Honor winner, this is the story of Henry Box Brown who mailed himself from Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia and thus, to freedom. The emotional and luminous illustrations give us insight into this extraordinary man.
Gift Idea: Your Family Tree, including an exciting story of one of your own ancestors.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick (Scholastic). My favorite book of 2007, I was delighted to hear it won the Caldecott Medal! A boy lives inside the walls of a French Train Station, and yearns for a message from his father. A fascinating robot might just help deliver that message.
Gift Idea: An erector set, a beautiful watch or clock, or your favorite old movie.
Never one to throw away a book, Julie Hubble needs more shelf space in her Leawood home.