[headdesk!], then blushes and says Thank You!

Better late than never...

Thank you for whoever nominated (and voted for) Skerricks in the 2010 Edublog Awards!

Very kind of you, and most appreciated.  To be selected for the shortlist in such august (international) company (go read that list for some fabulous library/librarian blogs!) is a great honour.  That page will link you to the winners and the nomination list (Dopey Dora here didn't realise until, like, now, like, when it's all over and finalised!! - although mid-December last year, the end of term and the school year, was a tad busy...).

Cheers

Ruth

Amazing science photography

There are three finalists in this year's Eureka Science Photography prize.  Take a look:

http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Breakfast-on-the-Fly
http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Burn-Out
http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/A-kaleidoscope-of-dust-and-gas-in-Orion

and maybe share them with your Science staff?

You can also search on past Eureka Science prizewinners (there are lots of other categories as well as Science Photography - it's near the end of the list) by clicking here.

There are also Eureka teacher resources, state-specific and all!  Find them here: http://eureka.australianmuseum.net.au/teacher

No blog entry yesterday.  Yup, I know.  Not slackness, just a crazybeans day.  As happens.

Cheers

Ruth

Children's Book Council of Australia 2010 Shortlist

Find it here.

Initial reactions:

1. the older readers list titles (most relevant for a high school library) aren't ones yet that have garnered much of a following among my kids - they've been in the collection for varying amounts of time, but none have yet set the world on fire.  Hmmm.  I'll cherrypick from the picture books and information books lists with my high schoolers in mind.
2. I could sit here and reformat the list for publication on this blog as I've done in other years (A), or I could leave school at a respectable hour (B).
3. (B).  It's been a wet day, madly busy, a lunchtime that was crammed in the library, computer breakdowns all day.   You're all well able to click a link, aren't you?  Ciao!

Cheers

Ruth

2009 ABIA Awards

As helpfully posted to one of the teacher librarian email lists to which I belong, the 2009 ABIA (Australian Book Industry Awards).

Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia was among the winners.  Gad I love that book! (follow that link to read more AND go to an extract).  It's been great sharing it with kids during our roll call class reading visits this term.  Hope it wins the CBCA book of the year award (it's a nominee).

Cheers, Ruth

Anthony Browne: UK Children's Laureate

Illustrator Anthony Browne is the new Children's Laureate in the UK.  Read all about it in the Guardian newspaper here.  There is a gallery of his work to see if you click here.
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I love the AHA! moment when kids are looking at one of his picture books, and realise that you darn well better pay attention, because there is STUFF going on in the pictures and if you don't pay attention, you'll miss it.
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Cheers, Ruth
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CBCA Shortlist 2009

The Children's Book Council of Australia 2009 shortlist has just been published.

Book of the Year: Older Readers (These books are for mature readers):

D.M. Cornish: Monster Blood Tattoo Book Two: Lamplighter
Anthony Eaton: Into White Silence
Jackie French: A Rose for the Anzac Boys
Melina Marchetta: Finnikin of the Rock
James Mononey: Kill the Possum
Shaun Tan: Tales from Outer Suburbia
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Which have I loved best, by far? (not that I have any influence).
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Read the list in full here.   And the (longer) Notables list for older readers is here.
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I read it first on the Read Alert blog here (see, it pays to refresh your own blogroll!)
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NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2009

The NSW Premier's Literary Awards include two categories of particular interest to teacher librarians.
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Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature:
2009 shortlisted writers are...

• Dianne Bates: Crossing the Line
• Michelle Cooper: A Brief History of Montmaray
• D.M Cornish: Monster Blood Tattoo Book Two: Lamplighter
• Alison Goodman: The Two Pearls of Wisdom
• Nette Hilton: Sprite Downberry
• Joanne Horniman: My Candlelight Novel

Read more about this shortlist here.
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Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature:
2009 shortlisted writers are...

• Urusla Dubosarsky & Tohby Riddle (Illustrator): The Word Spy
• Bob Graham: How to Heal a Broken Wing
• Sonya Hartnett and Ann James (Illustrator): Sadie and Ratz
• Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King (Illustrator): Perry Angel's Suitcase
• Tohby Riddle: Nobody Owns the Moon
• Shaun Tan: Tales from Outer Suburbia

Read more about this shortlist here.
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Fiction Friday: ALA 2008 Teens' Top 10 & Australia's Inkys.

Found this here.  The longlist is here.  We have all of them but the last in the library, and they've been borrowed regularly.

The 2008 (USA) Teens' Top Ten

The vote is in! More than 8,000 teens voted on this year's winners. The 2008 USA Teens' Top Ten is: 

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
   
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
   
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
   
4. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
   
5. Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
   
6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
   
7. The Sweet Far Thing  by Libba Bray
   
8. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
   
9. Before I Die  by Jenny Downham
   
10. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
    

Australia's version of this is the Inkys , results not yet in for 2008.  Inkys longlist is here ; Inkys shortlist (3 Australian, 3 international) is here and shown below.

• Town, James Roy: My brother Kimlan works all night fixing the road. He wears a shirt that reflects the light from the cars. The boss man says that if he does not wear that shirt, no one will be able to see him unless he smiles.
  
• Tales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan: It's funny how these days, when every household has its own intercontinental ballistic missile, you hardly even think about them.
  
• A Brief History of Montmaray, Michelle Cooper: Officially, the head of our household is Uncle John, who is Aunt Charlotte's brother and Veronica's father (and the King of Montmaray), but he's rather distracted on his good days, and downright alarming on his bad ones.
  
• Genesis, Bernard Beckett: …the only thing the population had to fear, was fear itself. The true danger humanity faced during this period was the shrinking of its own spirit.
  
• Boy Toy, Barry Lyga: It was like watching the mating rituals of retarded birds, clumsily stepping the wrong patterns around each other over and over again.
  
• Before I Die, Jenny Downham: I sit up and switch on the bedside light. There's a pen, but no paper, so on the wall behind me I write, I want to feel the weight of a boy on top of me.
  

Off the top of my head, and without checking, I'd say Tales, Montmaray and Before I Die would be the ones of those which have been borrowed regularly from our library.

I Love My Librarian 2008

Well, I could if I was in the US.  ilovelibraries.org has annual awards for public, tertiary and school librarians. 

To quote from the site:

Librarians in our nation’s 123,000 libraries make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans every day. Now is your chance to tell us why we should shine the spotlight on a librarian at your public, school, college, community college or university library. Nominate your librarian for the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award!

Up to ten librarians will be honored. Each will receive $5,000 and be recognized at an awards ceremony hosted by The New York Times at TheTimesCenter in December 2008.

Just out of interest, these are the questions asked of those nominating a school library media specialist aka teacher librarian:

Reasons for Nominating this Librarian

• How did you come to know the nominee and how long have you known him or her?
• How has the nominee helped you and/or students at school? For example, did the nominee help you with a project, recommend resources or collaborate with you to enhance student learning?
• How has the library, and the nominee in particular, had an impact on students and the learning process?
• How does the nominee make the school a better place? Please be specific.
• How has the individual demonstrated leadership in the school community or the profession?

It's a useful exercise to self-evaluate on these criteria.  What answers can one give about oneself?

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Book Week 2008 - CBCA winners

Just announced today, the winners of the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards in 2008 are here if you'd like a printable version including publishers AND LOTS OF CAPITAL LETTERS.

And here, below.  (With fewer capital letters.)

Older Readers Book of the Year 2008

NOTE: Some of these books may be for mature readers

Winner: Sonya Hartnett, The Ghost's Child
Honour: John Heffernan, Marty's Shadow
Honour: David Metzenthen, Black Water

Younger Readers Book of the Year 2008

Winner: Carole Wilkinson, Dragon Moon
Honour: Sherryl Clarke (author) and Elissa Christian (ill.) Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!)
Honour: Odo Hirsch, Amelia Dee and the Peacock Lamp

Early Childhood Book of the Year 2008

Winner: Aaron Blabey, Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley
Honour: Mike Dumbleton (author) and Craig Smith (ill.) Cat
Honour: Margaret Wild (author) and Lucy James (ill.) Lucy Goosey

Picture Book of the Year 2008
NOTE: Some of these books may be for mature readers

Winner: Matt Ottley, Requiem for a Beast
Honour: Anne Spudvilas (ill. ) and Li Cunxin (text), The Peasant Prince
Honour: Colin Thompson and 13 other illustrators, Dust

Eve Pownall Book of the Year 2008
NOTE: Some of these books may be for mature readers

Winner: Frances Watts (author) and David Legge (ill.) Parsley Rabbit's Book About Books
Honour: Kaz Cooke, Girl Stuff: your full-on guide to the teen years
Honour: Macinnis, Peter, Kokoda Track: 101 Days

The full shortlist is here, and the 2008 Notable Books list here.

And what's an awards list without a variant opinion: I'm boggled that Armin Greder's The Island wasn't recognised.  It's a brilliant book.  It was shortlisted, but deserved more recognition.  Ah well.  I'm not on the judging panel.

Series from Newbery Medal winners

The Collecting Children's Books blog has a useful entry about Newbery Medal winners. It's interesting to read through the years and winners and be reminded of classic titles and more recent books, but the blog entry also, usefully, adds information on books related to each winner.

Kids like the comfort and familiarity of series, so this is a handy list for reference, based on some rather good books.

Australian Book Industry Awards 2008

Sydney Morning Herald article about the winners here.

Shortlist of nominees here - among the books, it can be interesting from a library collection point of view to know what else was considered worthy.

Or, if you want to know some of the winners (some of which are on the CBCA shortlist):

• Book of the Year - Geraldine Brooks for her novel People of the Book (HarperCollins Publishers Australia).
• Literary Fiction Book of the Year - People of the Book.
• Book of the Year for Younger Children - Li Cunxin's children's version of Mao's Last Dancer, The Peasant Prince (Penguin Group Australia), with illustrations by Anne Spudvilas.
• Book of the Year for Older Children and the International Success Award - John Flanagan for his novel Rangers Apprentice 7: Erak's Ransom (Random House Australia).
• General Non-Fiction Book of the Year - Kaz Cooke for Girl Stuff (Penguin Group Australia).
• Publisher Marketing Campaign of the Year 2008 - Allen & Unwin for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.
• The Pixie O'Harris Award for distinguished and dedicated service to the development and reputation of Australian children's books - Kate Colley.
• The award winners were chosen by an academy of booksellers and publishers.
  AAP

List taken from SMH link above.

Children's Book Council shortlist 2008

The Children's Book Council of Australia Awards shortlist was announced yesterday.

Web page shortlist here.

Printable pdf shortlist here.

Other shortlists include the Crichton Award for New Illustrators shortlist here

and the 2008 Notable Books list here

or in printable pdf here. There are judges' comments on the notable books in the Notable Books publication available from the CBCA.

Australian author Sonya Hartnett wins the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Award

Worth over three quarters of a million dollars (one of the richest literary awards), nominations from 442 organisations worldwide and with previous laureates including Maurice Sendak, Philip Pullman and Katherine Paterson, the Astrid Lindgren Award recognises that:

Good children’s literature gives the child a place in the world, and the world a place in the child.

The award's website says:

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2008 goes to the Australian author Sonya Hartnett.

The jury’s motivation is as follows:

“Sonya Hartnett (Australia) is one of the major forces for renewal in modern young adult fiction. With psychological depth and a concealed yet palpable anger, she depicts the circumstances of young people without avoiding the darker sides of life. She does so with linguistic virtuosity and a brilliant narrative technique; her works are a source of strength.”

There is a .pdf presentation on the site about Sonya Hartnett, which includes this quote from a lecture she gave in 2004:

A young person who reads a book today takes that book into tomorrow, is shaped and influenced by the work, learns from it, remembers it, holds it inside. And because this happens to books written for the young, children's and Young Adult literature is important - more important, one could argue, than writing for adults.

There were 155 nominees for the 2008 award - the list is here. Among the nominees (and I'll freely admit that my knowledge, limited by being an English speaker, means that these names are more familiar to me than writers in, say, Spanish or Estonian or Japanese):

• David Almond


• Aidan Chambers


• Quentin Blake


• John Burningham


• Anthony Browne


• Jean Craighead George


• Tomie de Paola


• Wolf Erlbruch (go the mole!!)


• Russell Hoban


• Eva Ibbotson


• John Marsden


• Walter Dean Myers


• Diana Wynne Jones


• Lisbeth Zwerger

Some other links:

• Sydney Morning Herald article about Hartnett's win
• another SMH article
• Guardian (UK)
• News.com.au
• The Age
• CBC (Canada)
  

Image source.