The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.

 Each of the five chapters in “Tales for Very Picky Eaters” recounts James’ refusal to eat yet another disgusting, smelly, repulsive, lumpy or slimy food. Not only picky eaters, but all readers will delight in the outrageous suggestions along with the off the wall rationale from his very clever dad for why he should become more adventurous in his food selections. James turns the table on his father when he decides to become more daring and bold in his meal choices and actually tries something new.

Honor Books include:

I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems.

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

 See Me Run by Paul Meisel

 Just click on a blue title for a link to our catalog and more information about each title!

The 9th Annual Day of Reading was Wednesday February 8, 2012 – thanks to all who participated!  Keep on Reading,

Read any time, any where, anything! Come on you know you will do it, read 30 minutes in a day – all you need to do is stand up and be counted!

Our goal is 100,000 readers across the County of Summit on Wednesday, February 8th.  Read by yourself, in your classroom, in your bookclub, on your eReader, your laptop, book or magazine – just read!  If you haven’t registered your reading yet, you can go to www.thiscityreads.org and fill out a brief form there.  You can also stop by any library and pick up a form to turn in and we will input the information for you.  Then keep up the reading all year long.

It is time once again for the annual Family Reading Festival at  Akron’s Main Library on Saturday, February 4, 10 am – 4 pm.  Jim Gill, singer/songwriter from Chicago, is back by popular demand!  He will perform at 10 am and 2:15 pm.  We will also feature storyteller Robin Echols Cooper and musician David Young  at 1 pm.  They team up to take their audience on an animated journey as they bring stories to life.  WordGirl and Zoe will make appearances throughout the day.  There will be Irish dancing performed by Eternity Irish Dance Troupe at 3:15 pm to end the day.  Kids, don’t forget to pick out your free book before you go home.  Click here to see the flyer 

Then sign up at www.thiscityreads.org to commit to reading for half an hour on the Annual Day of Reading on Wednesday, February 8.  Our goal is 100,000 people across Summit County reading on that one day!

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade, written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet won the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for the most distinquished nonfiction book for children from the American Library Association.  It had also won the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children from the National Council of Teachers of English.  Few books have won both awards. 

Melissa Sweet uses collage art incorporating photos, toys, drawings, and watercolors to tell the story of Tony Sarg, the creator of the first balloons for the Macy’s Day Parade back in 1928.  He had always loved puppets, especially marionettes and conceived the balloons as upside-down puppets!  There are even references to a “company in Ohio” that makes blimps and that created the balloon fabric for the parade. 

Check out a copy for yourself here.  You can also visit the author/illustrator’s website to learn more at www.melissasweet.net.

Chris Raschka won the 2012 Caldecott Award for his wordless picture book, A Ball for Daisy.  The American Library Association announced the 2012 award winners on Monday, January 23.  The Caldecott Award recognizes the illustrator of the most distinguished American picture book for children.  This  wordless picture book is about all the fun a dog can have with her ball.

Three Caldecott Honor Books also were named: Blackout, illustrated and written by John Rocco, Grandpa Green illustrated and written by Lane Smith, and Me . . . Jane, illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell.

Jack Gantos’ book Dead End in Norvelt won the prestigious Newbery Award today after having recently won the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction for young people.  The Newbery Award is given to the author of the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature every January by the American Library Association. 

This humorous book tells of an incredible two months in the life of a kid named Jack Gantos in the summer of 1962. He is “grounded for life” and made to help an elderly neighbor type up obituaries filled with stories of the people who founded his utopian town.  This leads to strange adventures and lots of laughs. 

Dave Barry even says “This is a brilliant book, full of history, mystery, and laughs.  It reminded me of my small-town childhood, although my small town was never as delightfully weird as Norvelt.”

Find out more on the library’s catalog here.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos is the 2012 winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction for young people.  The award was announced on January 17, 2012.  The Horn Book publication states: The award, created by Scott O’Dell and Zena Sutherland in 1982 and now administered by Elizabeth Hall, carries with it a prize of $5000, and goes to the author of a distinguished work of historical fiction for young people, published by a U. S. publisher; and set in South, Central, or North America. The award committee (Ann Carlson, Oak Park-River Forest High School; Deborah Stevenson, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books; and chair Roger Sutton, The Horn Book) commended Dead End in Norvelt not only for the book’s evocation of 1962 Norvelt, Pennsylvania (a planned farmstead community created in the 1930s and named for its biggest booster, Eleanor Roosevelt) but for its hero, the mischievously named Jack Gantos. Jack’s life and imagination are rich in history: the town’s, as Jack discovers pieces of his local heritage while assisting the newspaper’s obituarist, Miss Volker; and the world’s, with Jack immersed in Landmark biographies and dreams of Atahualpa. In Jack’s own time, the Space Race and the Cold War march on; weighty matters indeed, but here pressed into service for the funniest book the O’Dell Award has yet honored.

Place a copy on hold in the library’s catalog here.

Celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr and explore Black History with Janice Chappell’s Majestic Wings Program Saturday, January 21 at 2 pm in the Children’s Library at Main. 

This program for all ages will use fun and interactive displays, music and movement to share the stories of heroes who inspire us to reach our full potential.  Ms. Chappell seeks to inspire young people to reach their best  by looking at the legacy of individuals who faced almost insurmountable barriers of injustice and overcame them.  By bringing their stories to life, she shows how they contributed greatly to American history.  Despite the great adversity they faced, they still sought to treat all human beings with dignity and respect. 

Join us this Saturday at 2 pm in the Children’s Library.

Here are a few outstanding titles from 2011 to check out:

Little White Rabbit. Written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes.  JE

The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale.  Written by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright.  Illustrated by Barry Moser.  JFIC

Okay for Now.  Written by Gary D. Schmidt.  JFIC

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans.  Written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.   JNF 973.0496 N427h

 Press Here by Herve Tullet.  

 Press the yellow dot on the cover of this book, follow the instructions within, and embark upon a magical journey! Each page of this surprising book instructs the reader to press the dots, shake the pages, tilt the book, and who knows what will happen next! Children and adults alike will giggle with delight as the dots multiply, change direction, and grow in size! Especially remarkable because the adventure occurs on the flat surface of the simple, printed page, this unique picture book about the power of imagination and interactivity will provide read-aloud fun for all ages!
 

Chanukah Lights by Michael J. Rosen  ; pop-up illustrations by Robert Sabuda 

 From a pop-up master and an acclaimed poet and author comes a glorious celebration of the true spirit of Chanukah. Open this beautiful gift book and follow the Festival of Lights through place and time — from Herod’s temple to a shtetl in Russia; from a refugee ship bound for the New World to an Israeli kibbutz. Inspired by Michael J. Rosen’s reverent poem, Robert Sabuda’s striking pop-ups depict each night’s menorah in a different scene, using imagery such as desert tents, pushcart lanterns, olive trees, and a final panorama of skyscrapers. Sure to be a treasured family heirloom, this stunning collaboration showcases the spirit and resilience of a people in search of home.