[In case you don't want to read the whole press release, the winner is Ain't Nothing But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Reynolds Nelson, with Marc Aronson (National Geographic, 2008). I'm intrigued by the book's subtitle; you can also read more about how Nelson and Aronson approach the topic of historical research for kids below.]

I recently requested a press release about the 2008 Aesop Awards from the folks at the American Folklore Society. Tim Lloyd, the executive director of AFS, responded with one; thank you. I'm reproducing it in full because I think it does a good job of explaining both the criteria for the award and how this year's award-winning choices meet or exceed those criteria. I'm also hoping to track down a copy of Anne Shelby's Adventures of Molly Whuppie (UNC Press, 2007), about which I had previously heard nothing. I think I would love it!