#alsc

[florescreveu]

Eu não preciso de muito, eu só preciso de um pouquinho da sua atenção, um pouquinho do seu abraço, do seu carinho, da sua alegria, um pouquinho da sua presença... eu só preciso de um pouquinho de você.

Notas de Analu.

[literaticat]

This is maybe a dumb question but is the ALA as an organization only concerned with children’s books? (It seems like the awards are all for kidlit, right?).

I am not a librarian and I haven't got any esoteric knowledge about teh ALA or its history, but I have been to their conference many times (and looked on their website), so I know a little?

The ALA is a professional organization for all (American) libraries/librarians. That means school library, public library, research/academic libraries, etc etc, for all kinds of patrons.

The organization has different divisions for different kinds of libraries. The divisions that primarily concern themselves with children's books are ALSC (Assoc. of Library Services for Children) and YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Assoc.) But there are lots of other divisions for other kinds of libraries!

The ALA Youth Media Awards is the blanket term for the Kids & YA book awards that we all know and love and that people like me are always chit-chatting about on social media. These awards are administered by either ALSC (Caldecott, Newbery and other awards for children's books) or YALSA (Printz, Morris, and other awards for YA books).

The ALA does give out grownup book awards. The Andrew Carnegie Medal is the main one (administered by the Reference and User Services Assoc, if you are interested). It's just not part of the Youth Media Awards, hence, we aren't talking about it when we talk about the YMA. (There are also the Alex awards, administered by YALSA, that is given to grownup books that have strong appeal for YA -- those ones ARE, in fact, part of the Youth Media Awards, but mostly people ignore them. Sorry, winners!)

The reason kid's book people are always talking about the ALA YMA is because they are by FAR the biggest awards for kid's books that exist in this country. The reason you don't hear much about the Andrew Carnegie medal is because there are LOTS of other, much bigger deal, prizes for grownup books. We don't have a Nobel Prize or Pulitzer for kid's books, this is the best we've got!

(I am guessing here, but I would IMAGINE that this very fact is why those awards began in the first place -- because historically, just like today, many grownup book people mostly disdain children's books, think they are easy or dumb or "less than" or whatever -- so those awards likely began to give SOME recognition to an often ignored or maligned segment of the book industry. Whereas grownup books have never been maligned or ignored!)

[mock-caldecott]

Hi Tumblr, I love children's books and I'm looking forward to seeing the Caldecott Award winners announced in January. Until then though, I wanna try doing a mock Caldecott tournament here. IF you are unfamiliar with the Caldecott Award, it is a children's book award awarded to children's picture books that display an excellence in illustration. It is only for books published in America however, and only for books published in the same year. More info can be found here: https://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecottterms.htm

I am incredibly lazy and have no experience in making a bracket and so this will be a very laid back thing. To put together a list, I am referring to school library journal's lists, because again, I'm lazy. This includes:

An American Story by Kwame Alexander and Dare Coulter (disclaimer, I am biased, this is the one I want to win)

Evergreen by Matthew Cordell

The Fire of Stars: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of by Kirsten W Larsen and Katherine Roy

Nell Plants a Tree by Ann Wynters and Daniel Miyares

The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker

The Skull by Jon Klassen

Jumper: A day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan

There was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds and Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey

Tomfoolery: Randolph Caldecott and the Rambunctious Coming-of-Age of Children’s Books by Michelle Markel and Barbara McClintock

Big by Vashti Harrison

I intend to start things on Monday. Also, I said I am referring to the attached lists for this, but if there's a book someone else really thinks should be included, let me know!

[maxojir]

Art done for me by AAR0NJAY Full info: Szolnok ( "soul" "nok" ) , or often just Sol. He's an android designed as an anthro wolf. He's the secondary character, effectively the deutoragonist in my original story "What Remains" , which begins in 2059 and carries on through parts in 2060 & 2061. It's IRL-based, so not an anthro/furry world, but a few furries exist now in the form of some androids. Plenty of people would want one, but very, very few people can afford one (or afford a "normal" android for that matter).

Info on Sol : made by the Polish robotics-turned-android-developer company HussarAnd.

Cost $5 million

Scandium-added Aluminum (AlSc alloy) bones. Human muscle myo-fibers replicated with intricately woven-bundled VICC strands (voltage-induced-conformational-change) , or "electroflex" polymers. 2 graphene plate-and-bore batteries in place of lungs. DsDi ("Disdee") distilled dionized water coolant/space-filler. Quad-pack photonic processors. Blue, blinking "charging" status lights in his ears.

He's "locked" , or in more words, he's not connected to the internet, nor can he link to any devices. "Locking" is an optional feature, some customers choose it, some don't. It essentially inhibits an android to pull from anything other than their own experiences (and the knowledge + behavioral operation coding they're pre-loaded with) , having to see, read, do, or be told things, and then interflex those with whatever else it already has. It's essentially the closest to the "human experience" we can bring them. Although it's really for us to experience Them "experiencing" it, as most them aren't. As only Sol is canonically sentient, although other "mistakes" like him might be made in the future.

He was written off as "defective" & filed under "deconstructed" by HussarAnd's head of neuro-mimicry software development, after realizing he'd "taken it too far" and actually made Szolnok sentient. In reality smuggled to that lead developer's friend Nathan in the US and another, and the fabrication lab made another NON-sentient to the same order specs of the original customer. Artist's DA - https://www.deviantart.com/aar0njay

[megreadskidsbooks]

The Dream Catcher

Written and illustrated by Marcelo Verdad

Genre or category: fiction

Target Age Group: Grades preK-3

Summary

Miguel lives with his abuelito and sells dream catchers that he weaves, collecting coins every day to reach his dream. He learns how to appreciate where he is while still working toward his dream.

Justification

This book won the Pura Belpré Youth Illustrator Award in 2025. This award celebrates “the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children” (ALSC, 2025).

Evaluation

For this review, I will be evaluating tone, color, and composition.

Miguel weaves and sells dream catchers while his grandfather sells cold coconuts to people in Oaxaca, and he collects coins every day to achieve his dream of flying on an airplane with his abuelito to be with his parents. The underlying story is one of a child who lives apart from his parents and wants to see them again, but it is portrayed in a hopeful way for young children to understand and connect to. The tone is light and speaks of dreams, some whimsical and some realistic, and the lightness helps children stay interested in the story. The same story could be told in a very dark and depressing way, where the emphasis is on the feeling of a child missing his parents rather than appreciating where he is and working toward his dreams every day.

The illustrations in the book get increasingly colorful throughout. The story starts in shades of brown and gray when Miguel is at home, and then as he sees more people and learns about their dreams, the illustrations get increasingly colorful. The colors mirror the ways Miguel’s world expands, reaching a peak at the sunset when the pages are covered in color. The only set of pages that deviates from this pattern is when Abuelito is explaining how some people dream of the people they miss, and the colors return to gray. As Miguel returns home, the imagery returns to shades of brown and gray but they are bolder colors, except for a bright and colorful photo of Miguel and his parents in his room. The colors of Miguel’s room in the dark evoke a feeling of resolution, because they are bolder than at the beginning of the book, showing that Miguel has learned to appreciate where he is.

The art for the book was “created using acrylic paint, paper, and digital collage” (Verdad, 2024). The illustrations evoke the feeling of paper dolls, with how the characters move and how they dress portrayed using simple shapes and lines instead of having complex bodies and clothing. Having the characters look like this makes the book feel playful; as the characters on the page dream of castles and loved ones, I as a reader felt inspired to be creative in achieving my own dreams of filling the world with color.

References

ALSC. (2025). Pura Belpré Award. https://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpre

Verdad, M. (2024). The Dream Catcher. Hachette Book Group.

[getpaulhoward]

It's so amazing to be able to do what I love, utilizing my artistry, WHILE ALSO supporting individuals and entities making the world a better place!

Check out the latest project I did for ALSC that was released Friday.

[not-another-hs-kin]

happy 4/13 alsc i lcve ycur little alien buddy...

Happy 4/13. tysm1!1!1!1!1!! It’s actually my friends :D

[bookworm-library]

Reading Log #4

#1 - The Honeybee

Format: Physical

Category: Picture Book

Title: The Honeybee

Author: Kirsten Hall

Illustrator: Isabelle Arsenault

Page Count: 48

Dimensions: 8.75 x 0.5 x 11 inches

Publisher:  Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: May 8, 2018

Target Audience: Catalog: 2 to 5-years-old; Amazon: 1 to 4-years-old

My Target Audience: 1 to 5-years-old; I think that this story would be very entertaining for readers to engage with, even if they are really young and may not understand the words themselves.

Awards Won: Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Title, 2019

Qualities of Book: The book includes rhymes, as most poems typically do. What makes this book fun and engaging however is its consistent use of onomatopoeia throughout. They mimic the pace of a bee, which would be fast but exciting at the same time.

Potential Usage for Young Readers: I could see this book being used in a nature-themed program, likely around Earth Day, and can be used in both libraries and schools

Book's Appeal to Young Readers: The story is bright and colorful, which will likely catch the eye of the reader initially. The way in which the story is told will likely keep them engaged.

#2 - Snow Birds

Format: Physical

Category: Picture Book

Title: Snow Birds

Author: Kirsten Hall

Illustrator: Jenni Desmond

Page Count: 40

Dimensions: 9.35 x 0.65 x 10.85 inches

Publisher:  Harry N. Abrams

Publication Date: November 3, 2020

Target Audience: Catalog: 4 to 8-years-old; Amazon: 4 to 8-years-old

My Target Audience: I'm unsure about the target audience. For the most part, I agree with 4 to 8. Though there are instances where I think 4 might be too young. My only concern is that I'm unsure that telling young readers that the owl killed the bunny ("Did the hare escape? Almost.") is appropriate. Will they understand it? Perhaps not. It also shows a polar bear eating a seal. I think this is more up to the parent/teacher/caregiver on whether or not they expose a child to it than the child's age. There are a few kids that I know that I wouldn't read this to because they'd be too sensitive to it, but others at the same age might be okay reading it, as well as those who are older.

Awards Won: Junior Library Guild Selections, 2021; Notable Poetry and Verse Novels, 2021

Qualities of Book: The book, similar to her book The Honeybee, uses a lot of engaging onomatopoeia to help tell the story.

Potential Usage for Young Readers: If students are learning about different types of birds, their environment, or even about the food chain, this might be a good book to use in a classroom.

Book's Appeal to Young Readers: Readers can find their favorite bird and read poems about them.

#3 - National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry

Format: Physical

Category: Nature Poetry Anthology

Title: Book of Nature Poetry

Author: J. Patrick Lewis

Illustrator: N/A

Page Count: 192

Dimensions: 9.5 x 0.75 x 11.13 inches

Publisher: National Geographic Kids

Publication Date: October 13, 2015

Target Audience: Catalog: 3 to 5-years-old; Amazon: 3 to 5-years-old

My Target Audience: 3 and up; I think that there are some poems that may be tougher for a younger audience, but those would be good towards those even older than 5.

Awards Won: ALSC Notable Children's Books, 2016; Notable Poetry and Verse Novels, 2016

Qualities of Book: The book uses eye-catching pictures that coincide with the poems that are included

Potential Usage for Young Readers: This would be good for a classroom analysis, I think it would be too long of a book to include in a library program.

Book's Appeal to Young Readers: One of the biggest appeals that the book includes is its wide array of animals that are sure to grab the attention of those reading it.

#4 - A Year of Nature Poems

Format: Physical

Category: Nature Poetry Anthology

Title: A Year of Nature Poems

Author: Joseph Coelho

Illustrator: Kelly Louise Judd

Page Count: 32

Dimensions: 9.65 x 0.45 x 11.35 inches

Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions

Publication Date: January 8, 2019

Target Audience: Catalog: N/A; Amazon: 9 to 12-years-old

My Target Audience: 9 to 12-years-old; I wouldn't adjust the target audience. I think that the way that the poems are written are geared more towards an older audience, as would the programs and activities that would follow it.

Awards Won: N/A

Qualities of Book: Each poem gives the reader an opportunity to learn something new (like the Summer Solstice and hibernation)

Potential Usage for Young Readers: I could see this book being used in a library or classroom setting, though I think it could be used more than once in a classroom setting as classes change every year.

Book's Appeal to Young Readers: Primarily the bright illustrations, which make the book seem calm and mystical

#5 - My First Book of Haiku Poems: a Picture, a Poem and a Dream

Format: Physical

Category: Haiku Collection

Title: My First Book of Haiku Poems

Author: Esperanza Ramirez-Christensen

Illustrator: Tracy Gallup

Page Count: 48

Dimensions: 10.2 x 0.5 x 10.2 inches

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Publication Date: March 12, 2019

Target Audience: Catalog: 5 to 9-years-old; Amazon: 5 to 9-years-old

My Target Audience: 5 to 9-years-old; the book is written in both English and Japanese, which might be difficult for young readers younger than 5.

Awards Won: Notable Poetry and Verse Novels, 2020; Skipping Stones Honor Awards, 2019

Qualities of Book: The book exposes children to more than one language. It also provides an explanation of each haiku that allow readers to reflect.

Potential Usage for Young Readers: I could see this being used in a library and classroom setting, perhaps with a translator to include the original Japanese text that the haikus are written in. As stated previously, it also includes explanations and opportunities for readers to reflect.

Book's Appeal to Young Readers: Japanese or Japanese American readers would likely be drawn to this book.

[iabookreviews]

The Girl from the Sea

Molly Knox Ostertag's graphic novel The Girl from the Sea was on the ALSC's Graphic Novel Reading List for 2022, and details the emotional journey as Morgan and Keltie fall in love and hold their own secrets close to their chest. I was able to get this book as a physical copy and loved seeing the illustrations on paper.

Cover

Genre

The genre of the story is fantasy fiction, and is a graphic novel. I've chosen this to be for the graphic novel portion of the list.

Target Age Group

The target age group is listed as for ages 10 and up, or a grade level of 7th and up.

Summary

Morgan has a secret, that she wants to kiss girls, and she can't wait to get away from the island so she won't even have to risk facing rejection or disappointment from her friends and family. It all changes when she almost drowns and is saved by a selkie named Keltie, and as their romance blossoms, they both realize their secrets might just ruin what they have.

Justification

When it comes to graphic novels, I've only read a couple, so I needed to find a list that would help me locate a good graphic novel to pick out. The ALSC had a graphic novel reading list, and I did some looking to find one that caught my eye. Nothing was looking good as I read through the synopses, and I was getting ready to find a new list when I spotted this one, and decided to give it a shot.

Evaluation

The three criteria used for evaluation are Style and Language, Plot, and Illustration.

There isn’t much to say about the style and language as it’s a graphic novel, but the dialogue is a good base to go off of when evaluating it. It feels natural and like what you’d expect from teenage conversations. The segments where texts are exchanged between the four friends are one of my favorite parts of the book because so much is told in those small pieces with the dynamics between the characters.

The plot of this graphic novel was one I enjoyed greatly because it was simple and moved along nicely. Personally, for graphic novels, simpler plots work better because the readers need to follow along with photos and illustrations, and trying to execute complex plots can lead to getting lost and needing to go back and reread. The big question is a bit muddled, as it can either be asking if Morgan will be accepted for being gay or if the seals will get saved, but no matter which question it is, it still gets answered and the conflict is resolved. The plot was moving at a fair pace and it didn’t feel rushed or slow either.

The illustrations of the graphic novel are probably my favorite thing about it because the artstyle is just right. It’s not too cartoonish like a younger one would be, but it’s also not so realistic like one geared towards older audiences would be. It’s the perfect mix and provides good visuals that carry the plot along. A lot can also be learned about the characters through their mannerisms that are illustrated, and there’s a whole section towards the end of the book where Ostertag dives into certain choices made when illustrating.

Reference

Ostertag, M. K. (2021). The Girl from the Sea. Graphix.

[literaticat]

Which book awards are widely recognized in the industry? How are books nominated? Thanks!

ThE iNdUsTrY is a big place. There are a lot of awards! All with different criteria. Most (all?) of them are decided on by a committee of judges, and that panel looks at all books that fit the specific criteria; publishers send them the books.

Big Huge Awards, Mostly for Grownups

Nobel Prize in Literature (given to an author for their whole body of work, winners get a LOT of $$$)

Pulitzer Prize in Fiction (for a distinguished book of adult fiction by an American author on an American topic published in the past year, chosen by a panel of judges, there's no kids category, winners get $$)

Booker Prize (best work of adult fiction published in the past year in the UK/Ireland, there is no kids category, chosen by a panel of judges, winners get $$$)

Kirkus Prize (all books that get a Kirkus star are automatically nominated, the finalists and winners are chosen by a panel, there's a fiction, nonfiction and young readers prize, they get $$$)

National Book Award (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature - must be published in the US in the past year, authors must be US citizens or residents, they get $)

You'll note that of these Big Awards, ONLY the Kirkus Prize and NBA have children's/YA categories.

There are also "smaller" (but still very meaningful!) awards in different genres -- for example the Nebula and Hugo awards for SF/F, and the Edgar awards for Mystery, all of which I believe have a young people's category.

Big Huge KIDS Awards, mostly for kids books

The biggest kids book awards in the US are given by librarian organizations (YALSA/ALSC) under the umbrella of the ALA Youth Media Awards, all of which are chosen by committees who look at all eligible books; each award has different criteria, and publishers send the appropriate books to those committees, any eligible book is technically 'nominated' just by dint of being eligible.

Those ALA awards include (but are not limited to) the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Printz, Pura Belpre, etc. You can find out more about all these awards here. There's really only one of these given to grownup books - that's the Alex Award, which is for grownup books that have high kids/YA interest.

All ALA awards are great to get, of course, and can be a nice boost to a book that wins -- but only the Newbery and Caldecott really make a huge impact on sales (and even those are less impactful than they used to be, sadly).

The biggest international kids awards are the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, "This global award is given annually to a person or organisation for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature" -- and the Hans Christian Andersen Awards, which "recognize lifelong achievement and are given to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature."

There are lots and lots of "smaller" awards too of course -- different states and regions have awards, lots of organizations have awards -- any of which are, naturally, an honor to get. But they probably would not have a huge impact on sales or anything like that.

[koolwise]

Another day to have a good day….Oct. 11,2024

Yankees advance to ALSC

[youngreaderreviews]

Book Review: Mexikid by Pedro Martín

Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir

Written and illustrated by Pedro Martín.

Genre or Category

Pura Belpré Winner

Target Age Group

PreK-6th grade

Recommended for ages 9 years and up, grades 5-9th

Format

Physical, print

Summary

What is a “Mexikid”? Pedro (or Peter, depending on who’s calling) Martín may have the answer! In this lively graphic memoir, Pedro/Peter sets out to tell the story of one wild road trip, wherein he and his family go to Mexico to retrieve his Abuelito who is coming to live with them. However, Abuelito won’t go without a fight! In fact, he has business of own to attend to before settling in the United States. Mexikid will have you laughing and sobbing all in one go! 

Justification

This book was chosen because it fulfills the category “Pura Belpré Winner.” This graphic novel has received many awards, all of which it absolutely deserves! To name a few, it was the winner of both the Pura Belpré Author and Illustrator Awards. It was also a Newberry Honor Book and an Odyssey Honor Audiobook! In addition to these awards and honors, it was also listed “Best Book of the Year” for NPR, Booklist, Kirkus, Amazon, New York Public Library, and the Chicago Public Library. It was also listed in lists for “Best Books of 2023” for Booklist and the New York Times, received “Best Graphic Novel of 2023” for School Library Journal, and was in the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)’s 2024 Notable Children’s Books. It also has many starred reviews in reputable literary review publications.

Evaluation

For this review, I will be evaluating illustrations,accuracy, and design and layout.

Illustrations

Mexikid is a graphic novel for younger audiences that utilizes a variety of vibrant colors to bring its story to life! The illustrations are lined with a bold black line, which helps to separate details like clothing, hair, facial features, backgrounds, and objects that the characters interact with. Additionally, the linework comes in handy when diagrams are used to illustrate levels of the earth, maps, and areas within the Winnebago that he and his family drive cross-country. Although the illustrations seem simple, they are highly detailed with shadowing, cross-hatching, and other forms of emphasis that bring out things like texture and movement.

Accuracy

Mexikid is a graphic memoir, which is based on the experiences of the author, Pedro Martín, and his family. In the section titled “Some Of Your Questions Answered,” the author states that he likes to say his stories are “... 100 percent true, 90 percent of the time.” He also says that his heart and his memory like to play tricks on each other, too, which can make it difficult to remember specific details. With the information that he didn’t remember, or didn’t access first-hand, Pedro Martín states that he gathered information from his family and other loved ones who did have those memories, such as the ones of his Abuelita. Although this graphic memoir is based on a true story, the author tried his best to create a sense of authenticity that was real to his own understanding and perspective.

Design and Layout

The choice of text used throughout is incredibly fun to read through because of the way it mimics handwriting, especially handwriting that belongs to a young boy. Not only does this make it engaging, and sometimes easier to read, but it also creates a sense of relatability between Pedro Martín and the reader. Another interesting design choice was the use of less-than (<) and greater-than (>) symbols to let the reader know when characters were speaking Spanish throughout the graphic novel. Although, this is typically for longer pieces of text. Shorter sentences will often be written in Spanish, sometimes with an English translation at the bottom of the page, led by a asterisk (*).

References

Martín, Pedro. (2023). Mexikid: A graphic memoir (P.Martín, Illus.). Dial Books.

Martín, Pedro. (2023). Mexikid: A graphic memoir [Cover illustration] (P.Martín, Illus.). Dial Books. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/691514/mexikid-by-pedro-martin/

[nebulations]

[ID: Two excerpts from MDZS.

1. (At Mo Manor)

"Wake up," Wei Wuxian said. "Time to get to work!"

He never needed any complicated spells or summoning incantations to control corpse puppets. The most straightforward command would suffice. The walking corpses at the very front quivered as they struggled to shuffle a few steps. Then, the moment they approached Wei Wuxian, they fell face-first to the ground like living humans, as if their legs had grown weak from terror.

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry at this, Wei Wuxian clapped twice more, but much softer this time. However, these walking corpses had probably beer born at the Mo Estate and had died here as well. They'd never seen the world. So while they instinctively obeyed the summoner's command, they were alsc terrified of the summoner for some reason, Iying on the ground whimpering, too afraid to get up.

2. (On their way to the Nie saber tomb)

When Wei Wuxian saw them walking over, he knew this was going to be bad news. He bowed his head, retreating behind Lan Wangji. Sure enough, when this queue of wobbly walking corpses came within twenty meters of them, the moment they saw Wei Wuxian, they immediately turned around and wobbled on back from whence they came in terror, their legs moving threefold faster and more efficiently than when they had first surrounded them.

Wei Wuxian rubbed his temples. He then whirled around and said, his voice trembling with terrible fear, "Heavens, Hanguang-jun, you're so amazing! The moment they saw you, they ran away in fear! Ha ha." End ID]

low level walking corpses feeling so overwhelmed and terrified by wwx's power that they pass out our run away is honestly such an underrated part of mdzs LMAO

at Mo manor

on their way to the nie saber tomb

[technewspoint]

Rotary Clubs in Mumbai continue to save lives with ALSC Ambulance

http://dlvr.it/SrHY0W