Today is the day! It's AWARDS day! And WHAT A DAY! The American Library Association announced the Youth Media Awards today to much fanfare, and let me tell you, it was so thrilling to see books that I have read and loved being recognized for their excellence. I shouted with joy as I watched. These awards are the Oscars of our industry, and celebrating them makes me so very happy. I had planned to feature the cover of the book that won the Caldecott today, but I've featured it

It’s time! It’s time to talk about the Caldecott Medal! Book Award Season is my favorite time of the year*. (And since I live in Canada, I get to celebrate it TWICE -- once in November when the Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) gives out its children’s literature awards, and once in the winter, when the ALA announces its youth media awards. WOO-HOO!) This year, for fun, my family held our own Mock Caldecott jury session. We made a longlist, bundled up, trekked to the lib

Welcome to Cover Collection, my (mostly) weekly blog series in which I look at covers that I love and take them apart a little bit to see what makes them work. Right now I’m looking at picture book covers, because we’re building up to the ALA Youth Media Award announcements on February 12th starting at 8am mountain time, WHICH YOU CAN WATCH LIVE, DO IT, DOOOOO IIIIIIIIIT. (You should watch the whole thing, because YEAH BOOK AWARDS, but this year I'm highlighting the Caldecott

Welcome to Cover Collection, my (mostly) weekly blog series in which I take a closer look at my favorite book covers and talk about what makes them work. This week and for the next few weeks, in honor of the upcoming Newbery and Caldecott announcements, I want to talk about covers that grabbed me while my family was conducting our own Mock Caldecott jury session. (Look for that post later this week.) Today, I’m going to talk about the gorgeously glowing cover of THE ANTLERED