Your 2012 Newbery / Caldecott / Printz Predictions?

The winners of the 2012 Newbery, Caldecott, and other ALA Youth Media Awards will be announced on January 23,  but we don’t have to wait until then to talk about them.  Leave a comment here and share your predictions.  What books do you think will win? What books do you want to see win? What books from 2011 do you love that you are sure will never win?  What do you like or hate about these awards, and how could they be made better?  If you correctly predict the winner of one of these awards in a comment on this post you will receive a prize book for your library!


Here are some descriptions of the awards, and links to lists of past winners:

John Newbery Medal

The Newbery Medal was the first award for children’s literature in the world.  It is awarded each year to the author of “the most distinguished contribution” to American children’s literature published in the previous year.  Although most often awarded for a novel, the award is open to nonfiction, poetry, and any other children’s texts.  Illustrations are not considered when judging a text for Newbery recognition.  The intended primary audience of a Newbery winner is children readers, ages 9-14.  In addition to awarding the medal,  the Newbery committee also gives recognition to several runner-up books, which are designated Newbery Honor books.

List of Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922 – Present

Randolph Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott Medal is awarded to the artist of the “most distinguished American picture book for children” published in the previous year.  The book must provide a visual experience, and have children (up to the age of 14) as an intended primary audience.  The Caldecott also gives recognition to runner-up books, designated Caldecott Honor books.

List of Caldecott Medal and Honor Books, 1938 – Present

Michael L. Printz Award

The Printz Award is a much newer award (it was first given in 2000), designed to recognize a book that “exemplifies excellence in literature for young adults.”  Eligible books must have been published with a primary intended audience of “young adults” (defined as ages 12-18).  This award does not shy or back away from controversial and provocative works.

List of Printz Award and Honor Books, 2000 – Present

Other ALA Youth Media Awards

In addition to the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz awards, there are many other interesting and useful children’s and young adult literary awards given by the American Library Association.  Check out this fact sheet to see more information about all of them.

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17 thoughts on “Your 2012 Newbery / Caldecott / Printz Predictions?”

  1. My two picks for best children’s books of the year are Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick and Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson. Both of these books give equal weight to text and pictures, which is one of the reasons I love them. Either of these could easily win the Caldecott for the illustrations.

    Predicting either of them for Newbery is more problematic because the Newbery Award is given only for the text, and the illustrutions are crucial to both of these texts. So ultimately I wish there was a new category of award for this growing group of books (“hybrid fiction,” “highly illustrated fiction,” whatever you want to call them) in which both pictures and text play crucial roles.

    Nonethless, here are my predictions:

    Caldecott: Heart and Soul
    Newbery: Wonderstruck

    also,
    Caldecott Honor: Me…Jane
    Corretta Scott King: Heart and Soul

    1. P.S. I’m not predicting a Printz because I didn’t read much YA literature in 2011, so my guess would only be based on the reviews and hype of others. Since I am giving this contest I have nothing to win, so I don’t need to put something ignorant out there just to have a chance.

  2. I think the Newbery and Caldecott Awards are somewhat frustrating. Most of the time I totally disagree with the award winners.

    I would love to see OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D. Schmidt win the Newbery this year. I cannot even express how much I loved this book. The thing that stood out for me was that each chapter begins with an Audoban drawing and somewhere in the chapter we learn something about what makes the drawing good. Since I know nothing about art, I was amazed by all that I learned about art composition- in a novel- in just a few sentences. But this book isn’t about art or Audoban or even birds. It is about an 8th grade boy in a new town in 1969 with a dysfunctional family, having a hard time making friends. And it is about the townfolk and how some help him and others judge him by his family. It was wonderful.

    I agree with Josh about Wonderstruck for the Caldecott. I also love Grandpa Green.

  3. I agree with Josh. I am having a hard time deciding between two books for the Newbery. My prediction is that it will either be Okay for Now! by Gary D. Schmidt or it will be Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. They are both very good.

    As far as the Caldecott. I am with Josh on this one. I will very surprised if Heart and Soul doesn’t get the award.

    I can hardly wait!!!!

  4. My prediction for Newbery is Wonder by R.J. Palacio. It has everything that makes a book great: interesting characters, situations for discussion and it makes you think about yourself and how you react to people who are different.

    1. Wow, I’m glad you liked that so much. I’ll have to read it. Since it comes out this year, it won’t be eligible until next year, so you’ve already put in your prediction for 2013!

  5. Wonderstruck for the Caldecott. Some other books with wonderful illustrations are Sea of Dreams, by Dennis Nolan and Blue Chicken, by Deborah Freedman.

  6. I probably haven’t read enough to predict, but I really liked Na’Amah and the Ark at Night. I loved the pictures and thought it was an inovative idea for the lullabye text. It may not be the best pik for school, though, since it is more religious in nature. I really want to read Okay for Now and Life of Pi since I’ve heard good things about them.

  7. I’d love to see Wonderstruck win for Caldecott, but I don’t know if the fact that Hugo won a few years ago will hurt its chances. As far as Newbery, I have no idea. I’m always surprised by the winner of this category!

  8. Just to clarify, only staff of Granite School District schools are eligible to win a prize for a correct prediction, and that prize takes the form of a book or books that will be given to the staff member to add to their school’s library collection.

    We do appreciate the comments and predictions from visitors outside the district, though. Thanks for looking!

  9. For Caldecott: “Grandpa Green” by Lane Smith or possibly “Wonderstruck” by
    Brian Selznick
    For Newbery: “How They Croaked” by Georgia Bragg

    Whether these win or not they are great books! “How They Croaked” will be helpful for students who are doing biography reports. It’s very interesting for upper grades. I want to add these to our collection as soon as possible!

  10. I’m in full agreement with those who think Wonderstruck should be the winner of the Newbery medal. The story and illustrations are outstanding. For the Caldecott, I loved the illustrations in Grandpa Green and Me…Jane. I would choose either one for the winner or the honor medal. Also a book I loved and the students all loved too was Press Here. It probably would never win, but it sure was a fun, fun book to share!

  11. Winners!

    I’m going to be lenient. If you predicted a book that got an honor in a category you get a prize. So, we have a couple of winners:

    -Terrie Bishop for mentioning Grandpa Green as a possible Caldecott (it got honor)
    -Kathy Loewy, again for predicting Grandpa Green
    -Renee Larsen, for predicting TWO(!) Caldecott Honors Grandpa Green and Me…Jane
    -Josh Whiting for correctly predicting Heart and Soul for the Coretta Scott King Award and Me…Jane as a Caldecott Honor (I guess I better give myself a prize, too).

    I will be in contact with winners to find out what book you would like. Thanks everyone for your comments!

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