(Still embarrassed but)Tallying Up

No, I'm not over my humiliation of this morning. But I just wanted to say that I had better luck with the award that I wasn't following. This morning I told my friend that my pick for Caldecott was The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes. And it won! Go me.

So here's how I measured up against the official winners:

Newbery Winner:

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (we've been over that)

Newbery Honors:

• Savvy by Ingrid Law (one of my top ten)
• The Underneath by Kathi Appelt ('twas in my second top ten)
• After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson (I read it, but it didn't make my top lists)
• The Surrender Tree by Engle (No one has heard of it, so I don't feel too bad)

Printz Winner:

• Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (completely missed me)

Printz Honors:

• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II, The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson (I read Volume I last weekend... does that count?)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart (in my second top 10)
• Nation by Terry Pratchett (I read it - it was good. Barely missed my top lists)
• Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (Due to my now famous aversion to creepy/disturbing, I deliberately didn't read it)

Coretta Scott King Author Winner:

• We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson (umm... I didn't actually read it all the way through.)

Coretta Scott King Author Honors:

• Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford (On my second top list - and I own a signed copy!)
• Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith (One of my favorites!)
• The Blacker the Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas (it's a picture book, so while I've read it, it didn't qualify for my lists)

Also,

• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction a couple of days ago and Laurie won the Margaret A. Edwards Award this morning (it was on my top 10 list)
• Graceling by Kristen Cashore was a Morris Finalist (definitely in my top 10 list, I really enjoyed this book)
• I've read all but one of the Giesel Award winners, but as non-chapter books, they don't really count in the official tally. I just wanted to put it out there though.
  

So all in all, I've read, or chosen not to, most all of the winners. Thus, I came pretty close to meeting my goal. I'm glad I didn't really try to pick them: my favorite for the Newbery (Diamond Willow) didn't get any mentions or honors.

I don't think I will try for the same goal next year. I'm going to read less children's/teen's fiction and spend more time with living, breathing people. However, I've just thought of a goal for next year. Not to pick the winners, but simply not to have an embarrassing story. How's that? Think I can do it?

This is me eating crow

Well I guess "Newbery Day" is just my day to be embarrassed.

So. After a year and reading one hundred eligible titles, I make my predictions/wishes and in small print list one, just one, book that I'm not going to read. Yeah - that would be my downfall. Not only does the author personally comment to chastise me (Yup, he did.) but, IT WINS. It wins the BIG SHEBANG. Sigh. I am never ever going to live this down. Neil Gaiman chastises me on my little blog the night before he wins the Newbery. It was going to take me days to get over the fact that he saw my entry even if he didn't win and now this. Sigh.

So, will I read The Graveyard Book now? I honestly don't know. I still really really don't do creepy or scary. I started A Curse Dark As Gold (another winner today) but stopped when it got a little creepy. I get serious nightmares from the Wizard of Oz, people! I can't be in the same room as the movie (any part). Ask my little sister, she'll tell you how I stunted her pop culture growth by freaking out whenever she asked to watch it.

In rereading my fateful words , I did (cruelly) say I wasn't going to ever read anything by Neil Gaiman, so I hereby retract that. I eat the requisite crow. I am now officially on a hunt for something by this award-winning (and forgiving?) author that isn't scary.

My Newbery Favorites 2009 - Final Post?!

After my humiliating experience last year, I specifically tried this year to read lots of 2008 titles so that, while I may not actually predict the 2009 Newbery winners, I will have hopefully at least read them. And with that goal in mind, I am also hoping that I will have read a Printz and CSK winner too.

That being said, I've weeded the one hundred (give or take) 2008 titles that I've read down to 10 favorites that I hope will be on an ALA award platform:

In alphabetical order:
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Keeping the Night Watch by Anita Hope Smith
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roarke Dowell
The Trouble Begins at 8 by Sid Fleischman


And here are another 10 that I liked and might win, but that missed making my Top Favorites list:
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things by Look, Lenore
Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford
Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech
Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park
The Porcupine Year by Louise Erdrich
Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (I didn't really like it, but its literary merit compels me to include it)
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

Oh and I'm just saying here that I don't care if The Graveyard Book does win, there is no way you are getting me to read anything by Neil Gaiman. I don't do scary or creepy. At all. End of discussion.

My 2008 reads

I thought that my list of favorites would make more sense if I listed the books from which the list was chosen:

So here are the books published in 2008 that I read in 2008:

The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets by Springer, Nancy
The Totally Made-up Civil War Diary of Amanda MacLeish by Mills, Claudia
Swindle by Korman, Gordon
The Willoughbys by Lowry, Lois
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by Lockhart, E.
Found by Haddix, Margaret Peterson
Indie Girl by Daswani, Kavita
Uprising by Haddix, Margaret Peterson
As if being 12 3/4 isn't bad enough, my mother is running for president! by Gephart, Donna
Zen and the Art of Faking It by Sonnenblick, Jordan
Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall: A Novel by Mass, Wendy
Oggie Cooder by Weeks, Sarah
When Heaven Fell by Marsden, Carolyn
Kaline Klattermaster's Tree House by Kimmel, Haven
The Golly-Whopper Games by Feldman, Jody
I Hate Books by Walker, Kate
The Ghost, the White House and Me by St. George, Judith
Clementine's Letter by Pennypacker, Sara
The White GiraffeSt. John, Lauren
Keeping Score by Park, Linda Sue
Bird Lake Moon by Henkes, Kevin
Eleven by Giff, Patricia Rielly
The London Eye Mystery by Dowd, Siobhan
Looking for JJ by Cassidy, Anne
Blue Like Friday by Parkinson, Siobhan
Remembering Raquel by Vande Velde, Vivian
Uncle Pirate by Rees, Douglas
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great by Morris, Gerald
Uh-oh Cleo by Harper, Jessica
The Sherlock Files: The 100-year old Secret by Barrett, Tracey
Martin Bridge in High Gearby Kerrin, Jessica Scott
The Juvie Three by Korman, Gordon
The Baby-Sitters Club: Mary Anne Saves the Day by Martin, Ann M. and Raina Telegemeier
The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan by Springer, Nancy
Things that Are by Clements, Andrew
Nightmare at the Book Fair by Gutman, Dan
The Diamond of Darkhold by DuPrau, Jeanne
Savvy by Law, Ingrid
Rapunzel's Revenge by Hale, Shannon and Dean and Nathan Hale
Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never glue your friends to chairs by Applegate, Katherine
Ruby and the Booker Boys #1: Brand New School, Brave New Ruby by Barnes, Derrick D
Gorilla City : the first amazing, astonishing, incredible, and true adventures of me! by Small, Charlie
Butterfly Meadow: Dazzle's first Day by Moss, Olivia
Dinosaur Cove: Attack of the Tyrannasaurus by Stone, Rex
Brooklyn Bridge by Hesse, Karen
Hunger Games by Collins, Suzanne
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Birdsall, Jeanne
Graceling by Cashore, Kristin
The Mystery of the Martello Tower by Lanthier, Jennifer
Shooting the Moon by Dowell, Francis O'Roarke
The Underneath by Appelt, Kathy
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Pearson, Mary E.
The Red-Headed Princess by Rinaldi, Anne
Chains by Anderson, Laurie Halse
Cicada Summer by Beaty, Andrea
Princess Ben by Murdock, Catherine Gilbert
Trouble by Schmidt, Gary D
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things by Look, Lenore
Love Me Tender by Couloumbis, Audrey
Attack of the Growling Eyeballs by Oliver, Lin
Lost Time by Schmid, Susan Maupin
10 lucky things that have happened to me since I nearly got hit by lightning by Hershey, Mary
The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy by Stanley, Diane
The Baby-Sitters club #4: Claudia and the Mean Janine by Martin, Ann M. and Raina Telgemeier
My One Hundred Adventures by Horvath, Polly
Tennyson by Blume, Lesley M.M.
Diamond Willow by Frost, Helen
Little Audrey by White, Ruth
Masterpiece by Broach, Elise
Hate that Cat by Creech, Sharon
Waggit's Tale by Howe, Peter
The Postcard by Abbott, Tony
Outside Beauty by Kadohata, Cynthia
Keeping the Night Watch by Smith, Hope Anita
Knucklehead by Scieszka, Jon
The Trouble Begins at 8 by Fleischman, Sid
What I Saw and How I Lied by Blundell, Judy
Footprints in Time by Popescu, Petru
Jimmy's Stars by Rodman, Mary Ann
Waiting for Normal by Connor, Leslie
Nation by Pratchett, Terry
Little Brother by Doctorow, Cory
All Shook Up by Pearsall, Shelly
39 Clues: Maze of Bones by Riordan, Rick
A Thousand Never Evers by Burg, Shana
Sweethearts by Zarr, Sara
Suite Scarlett by Johnson, Maureen


And these are the books published in 2008 that I have read so far in 2009:
Science Fair by Barry, Dave and Ridley Pearson
Smiles to Go by Spinelli, Jerry
The Diamond of Drury Lane by Golding, Julia
The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Graff, Lisa
Greetings from Nowhere by O'Connor, Barbara
Chasing Normal by Papademetriou, Lisa
Kate Larkin, Bone Expert by Tate, Lindsey
The Boy Who Dared by Bartoletti, Susan Campbell
Gully's Travels by Seidler, Tor
Shifty by Hazen, Lynn E
Highway Cats by Lisle, Janet Taylor
After Tupac and D Foster by Woodson, Jacqueline
Jeremy Cabbage and the living museum... by Elliott, David
I Know It's Over by Martin. C.K. Kelly
The Leanin' Dog by Nuzum, K.A.
Moxy Maxwell does not love writing thank-you notes by Gifford, Peggy
The Porcupine Year by Erdrich, Louise
Audrey, Wait by Benway, Robin

Hats Storytime Class Plan

Audience: Preschool (ages 3+)

My Standard Opening Song: "What A Miracle" (Hap Palmer, Peek-a-Boo and Other Songs for Young Children)

Alphabet activity: Use Flannel Board letters to spell "H-A-T" and then substitute other letters (B, C, M, P, S) for H and sound out words.

Read Aloud Book: The Magic Hat by Mem Fox, illus. by Tricia Tusa

Song: "Pig On Her Head" (Berkner, Laurie, Buzz Buzz Buzz) - hand out bean bag animals for each child to put on head and dance with during song (great photo op!)

Book (Big book or Flannel Board): Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina [go over monkey words (tsk tsk tsk) and motions with kids - have them act along with monkeys in story]

Song: "Silly Hat Song" (Tune: This Old Man) [hand out plastic bowls/hats]
On my head, I wear my hat.
It is such a silly hat,
That my head will wiggle waggle to and fro.
Where else can my silly hat go?
[Repeat using foot, elbow, knee, etc. - ask for suggestions]


Book: Do You Have a Hat? by Eileen Spinelli (abridge reading if for younger crowd)

Song: "Mexican Hat Dance" (Stewart, Georgiana, Action Songs for Preschoolers) [Form circle around somberoes on floor and dance around]

Book: Which Hat is That? by Anna Grossnickle Hines

Optional song: "My Hat it Has Three Corners" (Beall, Pamela Conn, Wee Sing Silly Songs) [Use scarves folded in half]

My Standard Closing Song: "So Long Now" (Kidzup Productions, Kindergarten Songs)

All book cover images are from Amazon.com