I treasure the time that I get to spend reading with my three young children. Books can bring out the best giggles, as well as questions and discussion topics from my children. A book can change a bad mood in an instant. The second Mr. Tigers gets naked or Flora and the Flamingo topple over the contagious giggles begin. While reading Island: Story of the Galapagos, many questions were asked and eventually inspired a loved of blue footed boobies within my oldest child. The exclamation point in a thought bubble within Creepy Carrots made my then two year old love the thought of new ideas. Because of this love of books, I have been discussing the upcoming awards with my children. They know that I wanted Paperboy by Vince Vawter to be awarded a Newbery (yay!!!!). Over the past couple of days my kids have picked their favorite books for the Caldecott based on our favorite picture books read over the past year. Gavin wanted Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, Autumn wanted Flora and the Flamingo and Evan wanted Carnivores. The first thing my kids asked me when I picked them up tonight was if any of their books got an award. Autumn was thrilled to learn that Flora was awarded an honor. Within all the book discussion excitement, my tender hearted six year old asked if we could give his teacher the "big" Caldecott award book, so that she can share it with his class. My husband and I both thought this was a great idea, so we have decided to start a tradition as our kids go through school. Each year we plan on donating the "big" Caldecott, Newbery, or Printz Award book the kid's teachers throughout their K-12 career. I know that there are many other books to be celebrated, aside from the medal winning books. However, I feel that this is going to be a fun tradition to watch evolve as my children grow older, and will hopefully lead to many thoughtful questions and discussions.
If you haven't had a chance to check out this year's medal winners, I encourage you to take a look and discover some new amazing reads.
2014 ALA Youth Media Award Winners
