Happy, happy Tuesday! I’m honored to kick off the thirteenth annual Nerdy Book Club Awards. First up is fiction picture books! A HUGE thank-you to everyone who nominated titles. Congratulations to this year’s winners! A Walk in the Woods...
Happy, happy Tuesday! I’m honored to kick off the thirteenth annual Nerdy Book Club Awards. First up is fiction picture books! A HUGE thank-you to everyone who nominated titles. Congratulations to this year’s winners!
A Walk in the Woods by Nikki Grimes; illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney
“This is my way of showing my love to my dad. By honoring him. By finishing his book.” —Brian Pinkney
Ancient Night / Noche Antigua by David Bowles; illustrated by David Alvarez
“It gives me hope that all the good things about being human beings can endure,” Bowles says. “And that goodness has endured and that we’ll be OK.”
Big by Vashti Harrison
“For me, this story was really about the words we give and share with children, and I wanted to make a story that followed a child on a journey towards self-love.” —Vashti Harrison
Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
“With every reading something new will present itself to you in either the text or the artwork. And as you read it, you will wonder how he selected the names for his characters and the points on his map of Buckthorn Forest. Trust me when I say, people will be reading this title for generations to come. Be sure to have at least one or more copies in your professional and personal collections.” —Margie Myers-Culver
Harold the Iceberg Melts Down by Lisa Wyzlic; illustrated by Rebecca Syracuse
“I love that people of any age can relate to Harold, and more specifically that they can talk about the ways in which they relate to Harold through discussing the book. I know I personally don’t always know how to express or describe what I’m feeling when it comes to my mental health until I see someone else say it, and then I’m like ‘Yes, that! That’s my brain!'” —Lisa Wyzlic
Just One Flake by Travis Jonker
“Just One Flake tells the story of a boy named Liam who has one goal: to catch a snowflake on his tongue. His attempts get increasingly ridiculous, with no success. In the end, Liam doesn’t get exactly what he wants – he gets something even better.” —Travis Jonker
Like Lava in My Veins by Derrick Barnes; illustrated by Shawn Martinbrough
Author Derrick Barnes is at the top of his game! Like Lava In My Veins is on fire!” —Newbery Medaist Jerry Craft
Mr. S?by Monica Arnaldo
“Mysteries for young readers are few and far between and this one is fun and entertaining; it will elicit laughter and–plenty of discussion.”—School Library Journal (starred review)
My Powerful Hair by Carole Lindstrom; illustrated by Steph Littlebird
“The story connects to my own personal history as an Indigenous person, and I was flooded with memories of my grandmother and Native family. The book touches on some painful history related to the Indian Boarding School era, so it was important that my artwork honored the gravity of Carole’s story.” —Steph Littlebird
Oh No, the Aunts Are Here by Adam Rex; illustrated by Lian Cho
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I get an idea and sometimes it’s just obviously a picture book idea. And sometimes it’s not, and I love that. I’ve been given the rope to follow my ideas wherever they happen to go, even when they lead to middle grade or something that just feels more obviously YA.” —Adam Rex
Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner
“Alice is actually very much based on my own daughter. But you can see from all of my work, I almost always feature Asian or Asian American characters. And that’s really because that’s what I really wished when I was younger to see.” —Grace Lin
Real to Me by Minh Lé; illustrated by Raissa Figueroa
“For me, the twist was where the story began. The idea of how can I make this a little different. You don’t want the whole book to hinge on that twist, but hopefully it lands.” —Minh Lé
Remembering by Xelena González; illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia
“Xelena and Adriana have created another gorgeous picture book that shows us how loss and life are part of the same circle. This is a beautiful reminder that the ones we love are forever in our hearts.”—Christina Soontornvat, three-time Newbery Honor author
Salat in Secret by by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow; illustrated by Hatem Aly
“I was inspired to write this book a few weeks after my father passed away. While I was processing my emotions of grief, I also found myself feeling a profound sense of gratitude that I had had a father like him to grieve.” —Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
That Flag by Tameka Fryer Brown; illustrated by Nikkolas Smith
“From the start, I knew the story needed to be more open-ended. Throughout the revision process, I worked hard to find the right combination of words that would achieve the impact I was going for, but I always knew that this wasn’t the kind of book that could or should be tied up in a neat, happily-ever-after bow.” —Tameka Fryer Brown
The Big Cheese by Jory John; illustrated by Pete Oswald
“From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers.” —Kirkus Reviews
The Together Tree by Aisha Saeed; illustrated by LeUyen Pham
“One of the most important things I’ve learned as a writer along the way in this journey, is that writing is a process. And that writing is always a process, no matter how many books one writes. There is a wonderful Studio Ghibli movie Whisper of the Heart that captures my sentiments on writing so well: just because you love something, doesn’t mean that it won’t take work.” —Aisha Saeed
There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds; illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey
“The way he uses words—it’s just incredible, and it conjures all sorts of images. This is Jason Reynolds’s first picture book we’re talking about, and it’s about Langston Hughes! We so badly wanted to do right by him and Langston.” —Jarrett Pumphrey
This Is a Story by John Schu; illustrated by Lauren Castillo
“Each book ends up being a little different, but I like it best when I’m able to wait to draw the cover until after all the interior art is complete. That way I have a clearer vision of how best to capture the story in one image. I sketched a few different ideas for the cover, but the one we all ended up loving best was the book hug.” —Lauren Castillo
Vamos! Let’s Go Read by Raul the Third | Colors by Elaine Bay
“By the time I became enthralled with comic book art and cartooning I was a teenager and life was not going very well for me. I was a terrible student, a ball of nervous anxiety, and the only escape I had from my surroundings I found in comic books and the process of trying to figure out how to draw them.” —Raul the Third
