Honoring the best in children’s books

Hollywood has its Oscars, TV has its Emmys and American book

publishing has its Newbery and Caldecott Awards--the Holy Grail of

American writers and illustrators of children’s books.

For the best published in 2002, the Newbery went to Avi’s

“Crispin: The Cross of Lead.” In his 50th book, the prolific author

serves up a page-turner that follows the plight of a 13-year-old

peasant boy across 14th-century England. Geared for readers from age

eight through 12, the action-packed narrative delivers a subtle

history lesson embedded into a story laced with period detail.

“Readers experience Crispin’s surroundings through Avi’s sensory

descriptions,” noted Starr LaTronica, chair of the American Library

Assn.’s 2003 Newbery Awards. “In the hands of a superb craftsman,

‘Crispin’ is a fascinating coming-of-age novel that invites [readers]

to consider how life hundreds of years ago echoes our contemporary

search for freedom.”

Five Newbery Honor Books were named: Nancy Farmer’s “The House of

the Scorpion,” Patricia Giff’s “Pictures of Hollis Woods,” Carl

Hiaasen’s “Hoot,” Ann Martin’s “A Corner of the Universe” and

Stephanie Tolan’s “Surviving the Applewhites.”

For best achievement in illustration, the 2003 Caldecott Medal

went to Eric Rohmann for “My Friend Rabbit.” While relishing the

trouble Rabbit stirs up with Mouse’s airplane, preschoolers will

delight in the physical humor of drawings that demand turning and

twisting the book. In a hilarious celebration of friendship,

characters tumble from the page in a dramatic visual romp.

Filling the Caldecott Honor Book roster are Tony Di Terlizzi’s

“The Spider and the Fly,” Peter McCarty’s “Hondo & Fabian” and Jerry

Pinkney’s “Noah’s Ark.”

Also awarded this month were the Coretta Scott King Awards

honoring African-American authors and illustrators of outstanding

books for children and young adults. For “Bronx Masquerade,” an edgy

novel featuring the voices of 18 urban youths, Nikki Grimes is a 2003

winner.

Grimes also is the author of “Talking About Bessie: The Story of

Aviator Elizabeth Coleman,” for which artist E.B. Lewis received a

Coretta Scott King Award for illustration.

“Each skillfully drawn, realistic and dramatic painting highlights

Bessie’s determination, excitement, pride or joy,” observed Award

Committee Chair Fran Ware.

For his powerful novel, “Postcards from No Man’s Land,” Aidan

Chambers received the 2003 Michael L. Printz Award recognizing

outstanding young adult literature. Told in alternating narratives of

a teen visiting Amsterdam to find his grandfather’s grave and the

woman who cared for the wounded man during World War II, the story

explores love, sex and family secrets. While discovering that nothing

in Amsterdam is what it appears to be, 17-year-old Jacob finds no

tidy answers, just a sense of the complexity of human love and

frailty.

* “Check it Out” is written by the staff of the Newport Beach

Public Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams with Bonnie

McLaren.