It seems like you can’t be a children’s lit blogger and not spend today blogging about yesterday’s awards so here goes…

I am thrilled with the surprises that yesterday’s announcements brought. I thought I would have read all the winners leaving me with no need to add to my toppling ‘to be read’ pile. But boy, was I wrong! While I quickly pulled A Sick Day for Amos McGee and Interrupting Chicken from our shelf for bedtime reading last night, I was unable to find many more of the award winners in my own personal library. I do love adding to my reading wish list…

The girls and I had fun reading these two already favorites with newly discerning eyes. Caroline decided that Interrupting Chicken should actually have won the Newbery instead of the Caldecott as she really loved the story more than the pictures. Katherine enjoyed examining the dear pictures of Amos and his friends. And I loved that my girls were almost as excited to hear about the winners as I was. I do love that Newbery and Caldecott are comfortably part of the girl’s lexicon. I love that after a good read, Caroline will ask if the book has won an  award and Katherine will often say, “Is it an honor?” She is always quick to find the shiny golden circle on books so we often look to tell if it was a winner or an honor book.

While I know that awards are hardly the be all and end all of good literature, I find the girls ability to talk about these awards as a sign that they are the readers I have raised them to be.