Caldecott and Newbery Awards Predictions

Forty-eight hours and counting!  I love the Caldecott and Newbery announcements.  Last year I didn’t see the medal winners on any of the watch lists. I was alerted to A Sick Day for Amos McGee by a professor on campus whose family loved it and wanted several copies to share, that was the only pre-award buzz I was aware of.

I have had the experience of predicting the winner; sometimes I am disappointed, more often than not I am surprised.  This year I could name two titles that I think might, but hope won’t, win.  But why be negative.  I would love for Sea of Dreams by Dennis Nolan get some attention.  Naamah and the Ark by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and illustrated by Holly Meade is a favorite of mine.  Leo and Diane Dillon’s illustrations for The Secret River by Marjorie K Rawlings are stunning.

Basically the thing I most look forward to is the awareness of fine books that would have slipped by me were it not for the awards attention.  I can’t wait!

Any last minute predictions?

-Anita