The results are in for the 2015 Newbery and Caldecott Award Winners!

NEWBERY:
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Honor Books:
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

CALDECOTT:
The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend illustrated by Dan Santat

Honor Books:
Nana in the City illustrated by Lauren Castillo
The Noisy Paint Box illustrated by Mary GrandPre
Sam & Dave Dig A Hole illustrated by Jon Klassen
Viva Frida illustrated by Yuyi Morales
The Right Word, Roget and His Thesaurus illustrated by Melissa Sweet
This One Summer illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

It's almost time for the announcement of this year's Newbery and Caldecott winners! Here are my predictions:
Newbery: BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson
Caldecott: DRAW! by Raul Colon
We'll see if I am right!

Time to ring in the new year! Here are some of my favorite children's books of 2014!

YOUNGER READERS:

ALPHABLOCK by Christopher Franceschelli
DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT by Drew Daywalt
FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO by Molly Idle
MR. WUFFLES by David Wiesner
TORTOISE AND THE HARE by Jerry Pinkney

MIDDLE READERS:

BATTLE BUNNY by Jon Scieszka
DOLL BONES by Holly Black
FLORA & ULYSSES: THE ILLUMINATED ADVENTURE by Kate DiCamillo
HOW TO CATCH A BOGLE by Catherine Jinks
P.S. BE ELEVEN by Rita Williams-Garcia

Happy Reading!

And here are some newer titles for Christmas:
BEAR STAYS UP FOR CHRISTMAS by Karma Wilson
LLAMA LLAMA JINGLE BELLS by Anna Dewdney
CHRISTMAS WISH by Lori Evert
CHRISTMAS OWL by Angela Muse

If you are looking for some "oldies but goodies" to read during the Christmas holidays, try:
THE ELF'S HAT by Brigitte Wininger
THE THREE BEARS' CHRISTMAS by Kathy Duval
OLIVE THE OTHER REINDEER by Vivian Walsh
MORRIS'S DISAPPEARING BAG by Rosemary Wells

Just read a charming book entitled FRANNY LOVES FLEABRAIN by Joanne Rocklin. The book takes place in 1952, the year that a polio vaccine was discovered and the year that CHARLOTTE'S WEB was first published. In this story, a young girl named Franny contracts polio and is paralyzed from the waist down. While she is in the hospital, one of the nurses reads CHARLOTTE'S WEB to her and Franny is enchanted with Charlotte - so much so that she wants a Charlotte of her own. Enter Fleabrain, a well-read and very tiny flea who lives on the tail of Franny's dog. Fleabrain takes Franny on many imaginary journeys and helps her to convalesce. He also turns out to be "some flea" . This is a lovely book about disabilities and friendship, not to be missed!

Happy Day! EGGS OVER EVIE just hit the 12,000 mark (meaning it has sold 12,000 copies). This is good news because it means there is a much better chance that Henry Holt will publish my sequel, NEW YEAR'S EVIE. I am currently writing the manuscript, with only one more chapter to go!