Today is the Big Day!

Today is the day that many of us who work with children's literature wait for with much anticipation all year...the day that the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards are presented.  To be on a committee such as the Newbery or Caldecott would be a DREAM, but I don't know if I'd like all the pressure.  And the fact that you have to choose just one as the best of the best...I'm not sure I could do it as there are so many great books out there!

Having said that, I'm going to be bold and make my predictions as to what books I think would win the Newbery and Caldecott if it were up to me! 

For the Newbery Award, I am hoping that Kirby Larson's The Friendship Doll  takes this honor.  This book was a pure joy to read.  I laughed, I cried, I cheered for the girls and this is a book I HAVE to order for my own school library.  It was a beautiful book and I hope author Kirby Larson gets the recognition she so deserves.

For the Caldecott Award, I know there is a lot of buzz about Me...Jane being the runaway winner, but I'm really pulling for Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet.  I learned so much from this book and as is the criteria for the Caldecott, the illustrations just blew me away!  I absolutely loved this book and have shared it with my elementary students and they have loved it as much as I have.

The winners are being announced in under two hours and I can't wait to hear who gets the awards!  So glad we have a 2 hour delay for school this morning so that I can hopefully catch the live stream here at home before leaving!

Good luck to all those authors out there waiting for the call this morning!