And the award goes to...

I'm not the sort of person who has favorites. If you ask my favorite children's book or author -- or color, for that matter -- my honest answer is, for what? My favorite book to read at bedtime, or my favorite from my childhood, or my favorite to read to a group of kids, or the one most likely to make me laugh, or the one most likely to make me cry, or the one I wish I had written or ...

For me, there's never a single favorite. Not even when you narrow the categories. I love so many books and authors for so many different reasons that it's like being asked which is your favorite child (or what I imagine that would be like if I had more than one child).

So with the big award announcements at ALA Midwinter today, I had my usual reaction. Which is to feel sort of let down. Not because I don't like the winning books, but because the awards always leave out so many other fabulous books. I realize the whole point is to single out the very few best books but how can you pick? And how is it okay that so many other books don't get to enjoy the benefits of the limelight?

I guess it's a good thing I'll never be in the position to decide on awards because I'd cause a hung panel. Anyway, my congratulations to the 2010 winners. The only major award winner I have blogged about is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, which just won the Newbery medal. If you haven't seen them yet, Kids Lit has a list posted in real time during the announcements. They're not up on the ALA site as of yet.