A new year...A new semester...A new Caldecott Award book!

Today, Vanderbilt starts the "spring" semester....with 3 inches of snow covering the ground. That snow just makes it an even more exciting day! It is wonderful to have students back on campus. And our 3 posts per week will begin again.

The week started with the annual announcement of the ALA awards for the best books for children of 2010. Our favorite award, the Caldecott, went to the fabulous A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (and written by her husband, Philip C. Stead).

Amos is a gentle and compassionate zookeeper. He spends each day caring for the animals, meeting each one's needs in the most appropriate way possible. But Amos becomes too sick to make it to the zoo one day. His friends, the animals, become the caregivers for Amos....and, following his example, take care of him in the most appropriate ways possible!

Now you should head straight to http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2062#more-2062! Jules' post about the awards is brilliant. Be sure to see her photos of Erin Stead's work. To make sure you don't miss my favorite images, I borrowed them for Neely's News.....

So, please spend time looking closely at A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE. Enjoy the story told in words and art. Happy Reading of both!  Ann