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Mini Fact: The Newbery Medal, first awarded in 1922, was the world’s first children’s book award. Next Week: Recycling Matt de la Peña Matt de la Peña has won the 2016 John Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. His award-winning book is “Last Stop on Market Street.” The illustrator, Christian Robinson, won a Caldecott Honor Book award. Matt grew up in San Diego, near the border with Mexico, but now he lives in Brooklyn, New York. In Brooklyn, he said, he is “surrounded by talented writers and musicians and artists.” He lives with his wife and their 2-year-old daughter. “I spent a lot of time in high school secretly composing spoken-word poems,” Matt explained. “My 11th-grade English teacher was the first to tell me I had talent.” Matt began to love reading in college with the help of an enthusiastic professor. “I loved that books could make me feel things,” he said. About writing, Matt said: “I steal all my ideas from the world. I like real people. Working-class people. I like to reveal moments of grace and dignity that I find on the ‘wrong side of the tracks.’” Matt’s advice for kids: “Read everything. Read outside your favorite genre. And write with heart. There’s a great quote by Goethe that I love to apply to writing: ‘Do not hurry; do not rest.’ It’s perfect, I think.” Sophie Blackall Sophie Blackall is the winner of the 2016 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children. She illustrated “Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear” by Lindsay Mattick. Sophie grew up in South Australia. “I spent most of my childhood up a tree reading and occasionally pelting the neighborhood boys with pink peppercorns, which are sticky and smell weird,” she said. Today she lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her partner, Ed. She became an artist “when I realized that making art was my favorite thing to do in the world. My mother had a room filled with wool and scraps of fabric and paints and threads. I would go to the beach to collect shells and into the woods to collect pine cones, and I put it all together and made stuff.” Sophie said she likes all types of art. “Secretly I’d love to sew or make theater sets or design wallpaper,” she said. Her advice to kids: “Read lots and lots of picture books. Nobody ever gets too old for (them). Find artists you like and try to figure out how they made their drawings. Look at how sometimes the drawing fills the whole page and bleeds off the edge of the paper, and other times there’s just a tiny drawing and lots of white space. Think about why the artist would do this.” Honor books This year, there are three Newbery Honor Books and four Caldecott Honor Books. Newbery Honor Books • “The War That Saved My Life” by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. • “Roller Girl,” written and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson. • “Echo” by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Caldecott Honor Books • “Trombone Shorty,” illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Troy Andrews. • “Waiting,” illustrated and written by Kevin Henkes. • “Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement,” illustrated by Ekua Holmes and written by Carole Boston Weatherford. • “Last Stop on Market Street,” illustrated by Christian Robinson and written by Matt de la Peña. Words that remind us of books are hidden in this puzzle. Some words are hidden backward. See if you can find: Teachers: For standards-based activities to accompany this feature, visit: bbs.amuniversal.com/teaching_guides.html On the Web: • bit.ly/1TkRutl • gws.ala.org At the library: • “The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth, & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore” by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson For later: Read more about the Newbery and Caldecott medal winners and other winning books. Which ones would you like to read? Mini Jokes Tom: Why was the book so cold? Trevor: It didn’t have its jacket! Tyler: What do you call a book written by a car? Taylor: An autobiography! Try ’n’ Find 7 Little Words for Kids You’ll need: • 1 (0.3-ounce) package sugar-free orange gelatin • 1 (0.3-ounce) package sugar-free lemon gelatin • 1 cup orange juice • 1 cup green grapes, quartered • 1 banana, sliced • 2 cups light whipped topping Cook’s Corner Gelatin Parfait One of the best sources of renewable energy is the sun. The wind is another energy source that will last forever. To learn more about energy sources and what you can do, visit www.eia.gov/kids. Talk about energy with your family, friends, teachers and classmates. Eco Note The Mini Page® © 2016 Universal Uclick The Mini Page® © 2016 Universal Uclick Founded by Betty Debnam Issue 15, 2016 ART, AUTHOR, AWARD, BOOK, CALDECOTT, DISTINGUISHED, DRAWING, FAVORITE, GENRE, HONOR, IDEAS, ILLUSTRATOR, MEDAL, NEWBERY, PICTURE, POEM, READING, WINNER, WRITING. adapted with permission from “The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth” by The Earthworks Group, Andrews McMeel Publishing (andrewsmcmeel.com) * You’ll need an adult’s help with this recipe. 1. one end of a pencil (6) 2. it’s used to cover a bed (5) 3. letters from A to Z (8) 4. old dinosaur bone (6) 5. dried grape (6) 6. yellow vegetable (4) 7. where you find ice cream (7) SER QUI FREE SS BET IN LT RAIS PHA FO ZER CO ERA IL AL RN Use the letters in the boxes to make a word with the same meaning as the clue. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of letters in the solution. Each letter combination can be used only once, but all letter combinations will be necessary to complete the puzzle. Answers: eraser, quilt, alphabet, fossil, raisin, corn, freezer. ©2016 Blue Ox Technologies Ltd. Download the app on Apple and Amazon devices. Resources What to do: 1. Make gelatin according to directions using 1 1/2 cups boiling water and 1/2 cup orange juice for each package. 2. Pour gelatin into two 8-by-8-inch pans, one for each flavor. Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. When gelatin is set, cut into squares in pan. 3. Layer ingredients equally in 4 dessert glasses in this order: lemon gelatin, 1/4 cup whipped topping, grapes, orange gelatin, 1/4 cup whipped topping, sliced bananas. Makes 4 desserts. I D E A S T T O C E D L A C N A U T H O R Z R E A D I N G T D R A W I N G I P O E M A T I A W A R D Z E T I R O V A F Y W T R A R O N O H L A D E M X P F R O T A R T S U L L I Y I B W R I T I N G X W I N N E R O D E H S I U G N I T S I D I O D P I C T U R E Z X R U O Q K C E R N E G B Y R E B W E N photo by Heather Waraksa photo by Barbara Sullivan image courtesy Penguin Young Readers image courtesy Hachette Book Group photo courtesy Abrams Books for Young Readers photo courtesy Dial Books for Young Readers photo courtesy Scholastic Press photo courtesy Dial Books for Young Readers photo courtesy Candlewick Press photo courtesy Greenwillow Books Meet the Winners
