Newbery and Caldecott Awards

The 2010 Newbery and Caldecott awards have recently been announced. I must confess: I haven’t read any of them. I have heard great things about them and I’m sure they won’t disappoint, but I prefer to wait until the excitement wanes and then read them at my leisure. This year, however, I was attracted by David Shannon’s cover art on the Newbery Honor book The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick. I have not heard anything about this book, but when I read that Homer and his brother Harold shot each other dead during the battle at Gettysburg and lived to tell the tale, I was very much intrigued. Homer is quite the storyteller and this was a captivating read. I have to thank the Newbery committee for bringing my attention to a book that I might have otherwise overlooked. Perhaps you will feel the same. Here are the medal winners and honor books:

Newbery Medal Winner:




When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

Newbery Honor Books:

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
Hoose reveals the true story of an unsung hero of the Montgomery bus boycott. Hoose’s work stands out for its creative approach to narrative biography. Colvin’s own recollections are merged seamlessly with the narrative voice, providing a uniquely personal view of Colvin and the Civil Rights Movement.






The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her mother, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world with her grandfather, the latter of which leads to an important discovery.







Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade River.







The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War.









Caldecott Medal Winner:




The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
In this wordless retelling of an Aesop fable, an adventuresome mouse proves that even small creatures are capable of great deeds when he rescues the King of the Jungle.









Caldecott Honor Book:


All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Follow a circle of family and friends through the course of a day from morning till night as they discover the importance of all things great and small in our world, from the tiniest shell on the beach, to warm family connections, to the widest sunset sky.






Posted by Sue Ann

Kids In The Kitchen

Getting your kids in the kitchen is a great way to spend time with your kids. Kids love being able to help and having them make a delicious snack that they can eat too is even more rewarding! At the Syosset Library Children's room we have many cookbooks filled with recipes. There are so many yummy snacks and food recipes that vary from very easy recipes for preschool kids to a little more involved for the elementary school kids.

So grab your chef's hat and apron and let's get cooking.

Munch! Crunch! What's For Lunch? J 641.5 L

Cool Meals To Start Your Wheels. J 641.5 W

Holy Guacamole! and Other Scrumptious Snacks. J 641.53 F

The Sleepover Cookbook J 641.5 W

Cool Sweets & Treats To Eat J 641.53 W

Posted by Josephine

Civil Rights in the Library

While in yesterday's post about Martin Luther King Day, I mentioned segregation in schools as being one of the things brought to an end by the Civil Rights Movement, I thought today it might be interesting to address another matter that hits very close to home for us here at the Syosset Public Library.

As noted in Ann Malaspina's Finding Lincoln, there was a time when some public libraries were also segregated. This very unfortunate matter is addressed by Malaspina's character Louis, an African American boy growing up in 1950's Alabama, who would very much like to march up the steps to his local library and check out a book on young Abraham Lincoln for his school research report. Sadly, a "Whites Only" sign stands between Louis and the entrance to his library. Louis decides to "shake things up" as he imagines Lincoln might have when he himself was Louis' age.

Bravely Louis marches into the library, where he is met by ridicule and harsh words from many. One librarian kindly whispers for Louis to return the following day after 5, when the building closes. When Louis does this, the librarian is waiting and helps him find the perfect book for his report. She also issues him a library card, which even Louis' parents were not able to get at that time.

While Louis himself is not real, he is based on John Lewis, an African American boy who had suffered discrimination when he and his siblings tried to enter the segregated Library in their hometown of Troy Alabama. Though John Lewis' story does not have the happy ending that Louis' had in Finding Lincoln, he did grow up to become a congressman for the United States many years later.

Though the Supreme Court finally ended segregation laws by the close of the 1960s, we must never forget stories like Louis'. We here at the Syosset Library are proud to work together as a diverse staff serving an equally diverse community.

Posted by Miss Jessikah

A day to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

While all of our young school age patrons are used to having off on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it may surprise them to realize that 2010 marks the beginning of the 4th decade that this federal holiday has been observed. This makes this day the youngest of all the federal holidays celebrated.


Until January 20, 1986 the first official Martin Luther King Day in U.S. history, the only other individuals to have a federal holiday in their name were George Washington and Christopher Columbus.

It is important to remember that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a very prominent figure in the civil rights movement. While our children go to school with many classmates of diverse backgrounds, this was not always a given decades in the past.

Check out this website for kids run by Kenneth C. Davis, author of "Don't Know Much about History", for further information about Dr. King's life, and let us remember the words that inspired a generation to look past our differences and fight for equality.

Posted by Miss Jessikah

And the nominees are...

It’s awards season! For those of us in the book business it is time to honor our best and brightest.

First up…The Randolph Caldecott Award.

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Recently, I participated in the Nassau County Library Association’s Mock Caldecott event. My fellow librarians and I considered the following 18 titles:

All the World - Follow a circle of family and friends through the course of a day from morning till night as they discover the importance of all things great and small in our world, from the tiniest shell on the beach, to warm family connections, to the widest sunset sky.

Billy & Milly Short & Silly - Relates the adventures of Billy and Milly in very brief, rhyming text and illustrations.

Birds - Fascinated by the colors, shapes, sounds, and movements of the many different birds she sees through her window, a little girl is happy to discover that she and they have something in common.

Chicken Little - A retelling of the classic story of Chicken Little, who has an acorn fall on his head and runs in a panic to his friends Henny Penny, Lucky Ducky, and Loosey Goosey, to tell them the sky is falling.

Coretta Scott - This extraordinary union of poetry and monumental artwork captures the movement for civil rights in the United States, and honors it most elegant inspiration, Coretta Scott.

The Curious Garden - Liam discovers a hidden garden and with careful tending spreads color throughout the gray city.

Dinotrux - Millions of years ago, the prehistoric ancestors of today's trucks, such as garbageadon, dozeratops, and craneosaurus, roamed the Earth until they rusted out and became extinct.

Duck! Rabbit! - From the award-winning author of Little Pea, Little Hoot, and Little Oink comes a clever take on the age-old optical illusion: Is it a duck or a rabbit? Depends on how you look at it! Readers will find more than just Amy Krouse Rosenthal's signature humor here, there's also a subtle lesson for kids who don't know when to let go of an argument. A smart, simple story that will make readers of all ages eager to take a side, Duck! Rabbit! makes it easy to agree on one thing, reading it again!

The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau - The brief, evenly paced text, which includes a few direct quotes, describes Cousteau’s lifelong fascination with the sea, filmmaking, and invention, beginning with depictions of the scientist as a young boy, tinkering with cameras and swimming in the ocean to recover from chronic illness.

Hook - A chick hatched by hens turns out to be an eaglet who must get help from a boy in learning how to fly.

Jeremy Draws a Monster - A young boy who spends most of his time alone in his bedroom makes new friends after the monster in his drawing becomes a monstrous nuisance.

The Lion and the Mouse - In this wordless retelling of an Aesop fable, an adventuresome mouse proves that even small creatures are capable of great deeds when he rescues the King of the Jungle.

The Longest Night - One very long night, a crow, a moose, and a fox all claim they can bring back the sun, but the wind knows that only one little creature has what is needed to end the darkness.

Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes - Retells the fable of a frustrated fox that, after many tries to reach a high bunch of grapes, decides they must be sour anyway.

My People - Hughes's spare yet eloquent tribute to his people has been cherished for generations. Now, acclaimed photographer Smith interprets this beloved poem in vivid sepia photographs that capture the glory, the beauty, and the soul of being a black American today.

A Penguin Story - Edna the penguin tries to find something in her surroundings that is not black, white, or blue.

Red Sings from the Treetoops: a year in colors - Nature displays different colors to announce the seasons of the year.

Redwoods- A young city boy, riding the subway, finds an abandoned book about redwoods. He finds himself in the very forest described in the book. After finishing the book, he leaves it for someone else to read.

My personal favorite was The Lion and the Mouse and by an overwhelming majority it was the winner of the most distinguished picture book of 2010 at our mock debate (All the World came in a distant second). I encourage everyone to check out any or all of these books.

Click here to see a list of past winners.

The Caldecott winner will be announced on January 18th.

Posted by: Amy