2018 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award

I'm back from #ALAMW18 held in Denver, Colorado. It was an exciting adventure. In case you missed it, on Monday, February 12, the 2018 Youth Media Awards were announced at ALA's Midwinter meeting. I was thrilled with the titles chosen by the 2018 Robert F. Sibert Award Committee.  I can't believe I left off my best list Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961 by Larry Dane Brimner. It is an excellent book. I will be so happy when Cathy returns! (It should be soon) Two heads are always better than one.

I want to give a huge thank you to all the individuals on all the book award committees. They spend all their free time for a whole year reading and taking copious notes on hundreds and hundreds of books. (It's true!) Their dedication to the process is greatly appreciated.

The 2018 Sibert Honor Books

Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix

written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee; illustrated by Man One

Grand Canyon 

by Jason Chin

Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Having a Disability

written by Shane Burcaw; illustrated by Matt Carr

Sea Otter Heroes: the Predators That Saved an Ecosystem

written by Patricia Newman

And...the winner is...

Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961

by Larry Dane Brimner

2015 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award

Despite a snow storm raging in Chicago -- and in the Northeast -- on Monday, February 2, the 2015 Youth Media Awards were announced at ALA's Midwinter meeting. Cathy and I were thrilled by the titles chosen by the 2015 Robert F. Sibert Committee. We reviewed all of the honor books and the winner -- and placed them on our Best of 2014 list! We would like to give a huge thank you to all the individuals on all the book award committees, who spent pretty much all their free time for a whole year reading hundreds of books.

The Robert F. Sibert Medal is for the most distinguished informational book for children.

2015 Sibert Honor Books

Brown Girl Dreaming, written by Jacqueline Woodson

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia, 

written by Candace Fleming

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker, 

written by Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands, 

written and illustrated by Katherine Roy

Separate Is Not Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation, 

written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh 

And the winner is....

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, 

written by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Go here for a complete listing of all the youth media award winners.

Happy reading! 

Louise and Cathy

From the Backlist: Ballet for Martha

Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring 
by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
illustrated by Brian Floca
A Neal Porter Book (Roaring Brook Press), 2010.
ISBN: 9781596433380
Grades K-4
Awards: 2011 Sibert Honor

The reviewer borrowed a copy of the book from her school library.

Three artists collaborated to make this exquisite nonfiction picture book about the collaboration of three other artists. Greenberg, Jordan and Floca eloquently share the story of how Martha Graham, Aaron Copland and Isamu Noguchi worked together to create the iconic American ballet, Appalachian Spring, which debuted in 1944.

The book would make an excellent read aloud and an introduction to the world of ballet for many young readers. The authors share how Graham had the idea for a ballet set on a Pennsylvania farm during pioneer times.  Floca's watercolor illustrations depict Graham in graceful poses as she choreographs the ballet. Copland is seen working at his piano while manuscript paper serves as the background on the page. Artist, Noguchi, who lived in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, designed the set for the ballet. Greenberg and Jordan effectively weave quotations into the narrative, and a source note for each quote can be found in the back of the book along with a lengthy bibliography. An authors' note or "Curtain Call" provides readers with interesting background information about Graham, Copland and Noguchi. Readers who enjoy Ballet for Martha may want to check out Action Jackson by Greenberg and Jordan.

The Smithsonian provides educators with a Ballet for Martha lesson plan for K-4 classes. Be sure to share this YouTube video of Appalachian Spring.

Did you know that Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan and Brian Floca have each won three Sibert Honors for best informational book for children? Take a look at our Sibert Medal infographic for more Sibert stats.

From the Backlist- To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel

To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel
by Siena Cherson Siegel
illustrated by Mark Siegel
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006.
ISBN: 9780689867477
Grades 4-8

The reviewer borrowed a copy of the book from her school library.

A few days ago we posted an infographic about the Sibert Medal. One of the facts we included in the infographic is that two graphic novels have won Sibert Honors.

The Sibert Medal criteria states that the committee will look for: "excellent, engaging, and distinctive use of language" and "excellent, engaging, and distinctive visual elements." This emphasis on both language and visual elements means that graphic novels may be considered for the Sibert medal. In the first year of the Sibert Medal (2001), Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss and What I Learned by Judd Winick won a Sibert Honor.

In 2007, To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel also won a Sibert Honor. The graphic novel memoir is written in the first person narrative and tells the story of how Siegel loved to dance and move from an early age.  As a young girl, she studied ballet in her dance teacher's basement studio in Boston. After seeing the Bolshoi Ballet perform Swan Lake and reading A Very Young Dancer, Siegel was inspired to become a professional ballet dancer. At age eleven, Siegel was accepted by the School of American Ballet, and her family moved to New York City. In just 64 pages, the author describes family turmoil, dancing in George Balanshine's ballet company, meeting Mikhail Baryshnikov, attempts to have a social life as a teenager, grueling rehearsals schedules, and ankle injuries.

The graphic novel format lends itself well to the autobiography. Each page contains numerous panels, and the soft watercolor and ink illustrations by the author's husband strike just the right tone. The majority of the memoir is told through captions; speech bubbles are used occasionally. Whimsical ballet shoe ribbons are incorporated in illustrations throughout the story. Ribbons are used in the chapter headings and include characters from ballets such as Harlequin and Columbine from The Nutcracker.

The Sibert Medal criteria also considers whether books are "respectful and of interest to children." To Dance is definitely of interest to the children (especially fourth and fifth grade girls) in my library. I suggest adding this graphic novel memoir to your library's graphic novel collection instead of shelving it with biographies to get the most exposure and ensure high circulation. You won't even need to booktalk the book; just display it with the cover facing out. Your readers will scoop it up and then tell their friends about this engaging and appealing graphic novel memoir.

Read School Library Journal's interview with Siena Cherson Siegal.

The Sibert Medal Infographic

I was intrigued by the data that Travis from 100scopenotes.com shared in his Newbery Medal Infographic and Caldecott Medal Infographic, so I decided to try my hand at creating an infographic about the Sibert Medal. I used easel.ly.com and adopted the same format Travis used so data could be compared among the three awards. The results are really interesting and may compel readers to go back and revisit some favorite nonfiction titles from past years. 

The Sibert Medal Infographic