book awards

1. Heartfelt Congratulations to Kate Coombs on winning the 2013 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for Water Sings Blue (Chronicle Books, 2012), her first published book of children’s poetry, masterfully illustrated by Meilo So!

Water Sings Blue was also a 2012 Cybils Finalist and has earned a veritable galaxy of bright and shiny *starred reviews* and other well deserved accolades. The week it was released last Spring, Kate dropped by Alphabet Soup to tell us more about the book. At the time, I was so blown away by this stunner that I really wanted it to win the LBH Poetry Award — and now it has! *happy dance*

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2. Speaking of the Cybils, I am equally thrilled that Laura Purdie Salas’s BookSpeak (Clarion, 2011) recently won the 2012 Cybils Poetry Award!

Since the time we celebrated this perky, quirky, fun collection (charmingly illustrated by Josée Bisaillon) on its pub day, BookSpeak went on to win the Minnesota Book Award (squee!) as well as many other very cool honors (NCTE Notable Book, Bank Street Best Books, Eureka! Gold Medal, Librarians’ Choice, et. al.). We congratulate Laura again on winning this year’s Cybils and are only too happy to don top hat and tails for another happy dance :).

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3. Looking for a fun and delicious challenge to ward off cabin fever? Why not enter Playing by the Book’s 2nd Annual International Edible Book Festival?

This online competition is open to anyone, with or without a blog — children, parents, authors, illustrators, booksellers, librarians, families, bakers. All are invited to create an edible book based on a children’s book in any language. This year’s Festival patron is British author/illustrator Bruce Ingman, and the deadline for submissions is March 20, 2013. Click here for full details and also check out Playing by the Book’s Pinterest board for ideas and inspiration.

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4. If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, you probably already know about The Niblings, a new children’s literature blog consortium representing Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (Jules Danielson), A Fuse #8 Production (Betsy Bird), Nine Kinds of Pie (Philip Nel), and 100 Scope Notes (Travis Jonker). I like being able to nosh on the tasty links and kidlit news served up by all four of these powerhouse bloggers at the same table. 🙂

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5. Can you believe tomorrow’s the first day of March already? That means it’ll be Women’s History Month! Check in each day at the Kidlit Celebrates Women’s History Month blog for essays, book reviews and commentaries from authors, illustrators, and kidlit bloggers. This year’s theme is “Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.” This site is a great resource for those interested in both new and older books for young people focusing on notable women throughout history.

6. Finally, Children’s Book Week will be here before we know it (May 13-19, 2013). Brian Selznick designed this year’s snazzy poster,