Happy International Book Giving Day

February 14 is many things, all of which I love. Among them is International Book Giving Day, celebrated around the world since 2012. It's easy to celebrate: just give a book, leave a book, or donate a book. Better yet, do all three! This year, we chose a handful of books for each of the kids' teachers, for them to keep in their classrooms or give away to kids who might not have many books at home--but we'll have to wait til Tuesday to deliver them, thanks to the snowstorm ("Snochi") that closed school today.

This year's IBGD crocodile poster was designed by Hungarian illustrator Mariann Maray, and in the spirit of this worldwide book lovers' holiday it's available in lots of different languages. ¡Celebre el día internacional de la donación de libros!

A Nine-Year-Old's Guide to the ALA Awards Ceremony

I'm still collecting my thoughts on the 2014 ALA awards (weren't the Batchelder books the best?), but in the meantime, here are my nine-year-old daughter's. She joined me in Philadelphia after my committee work was over and got to share in the excitement of the awards ceremony--and the early wake-up call.

On the train ride home that afternoon (we took the Northeast Regional, which is not quite the same thing as the Transcontinental Railroad), I "interviewed" her about the whole experience, and she had some advice for future awards ceremony attendees and webcast watchers alike. Her recommendations are as follows (I just added the links):

Before the awards ceremony

• I recommend trying to figure out what will win one of the awards. Just one, though--trying to guess the Newbery and the Caldecott would be too much.
• I was on a Mock Caldecott Committee at my school this year and had read the winner and honor books, which made it exciting when they were announced. Also Knock Knock, which won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and Nino Wrestles the World, which won the Pura Belpre Illustrator Award. They could have won the Caldecott, too.

• Pick another award that you don't know a lot about and find out more about it. I didn't know about the Schneider and Stonewall Awards, but now I want to read some of those books, like Handbook for Dragon Slayers.
• Think a lot about the awards and what it would mean to you if you won one.

The day of the awards (if you're lucky enough to go):

• Look around you and just enjoy it.
• There was a man on the Odyssey Award committee sitting across the aisle from me and he was enthusiastic about everything. That was great!
• Booing is not right. There should be lots of applause for every book that wins, even if it was not your favorite.
• The audio of Scowler was just creepy.

[Me again.] Out of the mouths of babes. I pretty much agree entirely, and especially with her point about the CSK and Belpre winners. Do you have anything to add?

2014 Cybils Reading Challenge

One of my favorite things about New Year's Day is the announcement of the Cybils shortlists. In the past, after being on a first round panel in the fall, I've set myself a Cybils Reading Challenge of one new-to-me book in each of the other categories before the winners are announced on February 14. It hasn't caught on anywhere else, though, and this year I am abandoning it in favor of reading all of the shortlisted books in one category (my favorite): Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction.

I definitely missed being on the first round panel (I had other book award commitments and couldn't apply), but I like the list this year's panelists came up with--especially Jinx by Sage Blackwood (HarperCollins, 2013), which exemplifies the qualities of literary merit and kid appeal that the Cybils recognize. I read Jinx early last year (maybe even late the year before), so I might reread it now and then treat myself to the sequel, Jinx's Magic (Katherine Tegen Books, 2014), which comes out on Tuesday.

Anyone else want to try this year's version of the Cybils Reading Challenge? Here's the complete Elementary and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction shortlist:

• Jinx by Sage Blackwood (HarperCollins)
• Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud (Disney Hyperion)
• Rose by Holly Webb (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky)
• Sidekicked by John David Anderson (Walden Pond Press)
• The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson (Tor Teen)
• The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt (Atheneum)
• The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore (Walker Books for Young Readers)

Where would you start?

Lobel's Lucia

Today is Santa Lucia Day, which may or may not mean anything to you depending on whether you're Swedish. I'm not, but my husband's grandfather was, and we celebrate the day with Santa Lucia buns and books (I've written about Lucia and the Light by Phyllis Root and Hugo and Josephine by Maria Gripe here in other years, but somehow haven't gotten around to Kirsten's Surprise by Janet Shaw, from the American Girls Collection. Maybe next year). My son outgrew his starboy hat a couple of years ago, but my daughter still wears her (battery-operated) crown.

This lovely image of a "Lucia bride," wearing the traditional white gown and crown of candles, is by Anita Lobel, from Christmas Crafts: Things to make the 24 days before Christmas by Carolyn Meyer (Harper & Row, 1974). It's one of my favorite Christmas books, with international Christmas traditions and projects for every day. Some of them are a little dated (there's macrame), but many others have become our family's Christmas traditions, too: from making homemade advent calendars (December 1) to decorating a tree for the birds (December 23) and baking a chocolate yule log (December 24).

Lobel's black-and-white illustrations (and there are lots of them) are a big part of the charm of Christmas Crafts. I love Lobel's work any time of year, but at Christmas, don't miss her illustrations for The Night Before Christmas: A Victorian Vision of the Christmas Classic by Clement C. Moore (2000) and The Stable Rat and Other Christmas Poems by Julia Cunningham (2001). Come to think of it, A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Zeifert, with pictures by Anita Lobel (Knopf, 1986) is a Christmas story, too--and it's still in print. Happy Santa Lucia Day!