Friday, January 22, 2016

Celebrating the 2016 Zolotow Books!


The Zolotow Awards have just been announced, and there are many tremendous books among the winners! (Read the full press release here.)

The Charlotte Zolotow award is given each year for outstanding writing in a picture book and is awarded by the Children's Cooperative Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This year has been extra fun because one of my colleagues is a member of the Zolotow committee. She has been all pent up lately with the secret knowledge of the choices, so it is great that the official word is out, and I can stop waiting to find out!

The 2016 Charlotte Zolotow Winner is ...



Drum Dream Girl: how one girl's courage changed music (2015) by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Rafael López.

This powerful true story tells about the early life of Chinese-African-Cuban Millo Castro Zaldarriaga. Millo broke the Cuban taboo against female drummers and performed with her sisters as part of Cuba's first "all-girl dance band" in the 1930s. This story inspired some powerful conversations with my students about rules, especially ones about things boys or girls are told they cannot do. (Reviewed 5/11/15)

Zolotow Honor Books



Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear (2015) by Lindsay Mallick and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. [Winner of the Caldecott Medal and chosen by my students as the winner of our Mock Caldecott.]


Hoot Owl: Master of Disguise, written by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jean Jullien.


Last Stop on Market Street (2015) by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson. [Winner of the Caldecott Honor, Newbery Medal, and more!] Read my original review here.


The New Small Person, written and illustrated by Lauren Child.


When Otis Courted Mama, written by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Jill McElmurry.


Zolotow Highly Commended Titles



Goodnight, Good Day (2015) by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by Rebecca Malone. Read my original review here.


How the Sun Got to Coco’s House written and illustrated by Bob Graham


Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation written by Edwidge Danticat and illustrated by Leslie Staub.


Maya’s Blanket / La manta de Maya written by Monica Brown, illustrated by David Diaz, Spanish translation by Adriana Domínguez.


Miss Hazeltine's Home for Shy and Fearful Cats (2015) written by Alicia Potter and illustrated by Birgitta Sif. Read my original review here.


A Poem in Your Pocket written by Margaret McNamara and illustrated by G. Brian Karas.


Ragweed’s Farm Dog Handbook written and illustrated by Anne Vittur Kennedy.


Waiting (2015) by Kevin Henkes. Read my previous review here.


Water Is Water written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Jason Chin.


When Sophie's Feelings are Really, Really Hurt (2015) by Molly Bang. Read my original review here.




Read up on last year's Zolotow Winners here.

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