2010 Children's Literary Award Winners

The winners of the 201o major literary awards for children were just announced at the American Library Association's Midwinter Conference in Boston.


[Click on each title to view in the catalog and to place a hold.]


Caldecott Medal Winner:
The Lion and the Mouse, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
In this wordless retelling of an Aesop fable, an adventuresome mouse proves that even small creatures are capable of great deeds when he rescues the King of the Jungle.



Newbery Medal Winner:
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.



Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner:
Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Bass Reeves seemed bigger than life. As a deputy U.S. Marshal-- and former slave who escaped to freedom in the Indian Territories-- Bass was cunning and fearless. This title reveals the story of a remarkable African-American hero of the Old West.


Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner:
My People, illustrated by Charles R. Smith, Jr. (written by Langston Hughes)
Langston Hughes's spare yet eloquent tribue to his people has been cherished for generations. Now, acclaimed photographer Charles R. Smith Jr. interprets this beloved poem in vivid sepia photographs that capture the glory, the beauty, and the soul of being a black American today.


Geisel Award Winner (for best beginning reader):
Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!, written and illustrated by Geoffrey Hayes
Brother and sister mice Benny and Penny track down a mysterious new kid who may have climbed over the fence into their yard and stolen Benny's pail (a no-no). But when they meet the culprit (a mole in a polka-dot dress, green flippers and goggles), they re-evaluate the situation.


Sibert Award Winner (for non-fiction):
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, written by Tanya Lee Stone
When NASA was launched in 1958, 13 women proved they had as much of the right stuff as men to be astronauts, but their way to space was blocked by prejudice, insecurity, and a scrawled note written by one of Washington's most powerful men.


For the complete list of this year's award winners and honor books, take a look at the ALA website.