By Sheila Welch
Each January, the American Library Association announces the winners of a long list of awards. Here are four of this year’s honored books to share with children.
WAITING by Kevin Henkes, has been selected as a 2016 Caldecott honor book, adding to an impressive list of accomplishments for this author/illustrator. WAITING is an unusual book, both in its concept and appearance. Five tiny toys wait patiently on a narrow windowsill. Each one is anticipating something: bear, the wind; pig, the rain; owl, the moon; dog, the snow; and rabbit . . . well, rabbit just waits. This gentle, quiet tale employs realistic illustrations and magical realism to intrigue children from ages two to eight.
LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET with text by Matt de la Pena and illustrations by Christian Robinson is another Caldecott honor book and also the unanticipated winner of the Newbery Award, which is given to a book for its text, not its artwork. Only once before has a picture book won this prestigious award. A small boy rides a bus with his grandmother who helps him notice and appreciate the beauty in the sights and sounds of the city. This is a winner for ages four through one hundred four; the perfect read-aloud for a grandmother and her grandchildren.
A PIG, A FOX, AND A BOX by Jonathan Fenske is an honor book chosen for the relatively recent category, the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for beginning reader books. This one is a good fit for a child who’s just starting to learn sight words. The whole story, divided into three parts, is told with dialog inside bubbles like a comic book. The humor will appeal to most little kids. Fox repeatedly tries to fool Pig who accidentally gets the best of Fox.
One of three Newbery honor books this year is a novel called ECHO by Pam Munoz Ryan. This ambitious book is composed of four separate but intertwined tales with a fairytale beginning and ending. The author grants her characters the common gift of an amazing (magical?) harmonica and a deep love of music, then sets them in chronological time periods, touching on historical events and situations to whet young readers’ interest in by-gone days. While this book is fairly long, the print is large and easy to read. Children in third through seventh grade who enjoy, fairytales, magic, history, and especially music will love this book.
About Sheila
Sheila Kelly Welch is a mother, grandmother and retired teacher. She counts among her children’s fiction books LITTLE PRINCE KNOW-IT-ALL and A HORSE FOR ALL SEASONS. Sheila's novel, WAITING TO FORGET, has been selected by Bank Street College and Pennsylvania School Library Association for their lists of best-books-of-the-year. Her most recent stories, MESS-UP MOLLY and BIG CAT AND KITTEN, are published on-line by MeeGenius.
