We are entering the two weeks’ windfall of children and young adult book awards and recommended titles—my favorite time to dream about having hours on end for reading!
Today, NCTE announced two winners, one of them for the brand new NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children and the other for the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children.
The Huck Award is not only new but it differs from other book awards because its focus is on the partnership between the child and the book not just on the book. Huck winners have the potential to transform children’s lives by inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder; stretching their thinking and feelings; connecting them to their own humanity; and offering them a rich experience. Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin (published by Feiwel and Friends) will certainly do that as will the five Honor Books and eight Recommended Titles selected.
This year’s Orbis Pictus Award, which promotes and recognizes excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children, went to The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming (published by Schwartz & Wade). You might want to listen to this recent podcast by the author. And, there are another five Honor Books and eight Recommended Books to add to your list!