It's almost time! 2022 Youth Media Awards are Monday January 24th

It's almost time. Whether you're rooting for any titles in particular, or looking forward to surprises to add to your "to read" pile this coming Monday is when the diligent work of the many committees will be complete and the announcements made of the 2022 Youth Media Awards. 

Again this year I can't help but reflect on how the experience of being on a committee has changed since my Geisel committee year. My sincerest appreciation to this year's committee for their work and dedication. I'll be thinking of you this weekend as you go through the process of selecting your winner and honors, and I'll be wishing you a fulfilling committee experience. We can't wait to see what you'll choose!

Thank you as well to all the folks who do the work every year of making the awards announcements (and those delightful calls possible). It's a major production and takes the talents and efforts of many people to run smoothly even without the complication of it being a livestream. There are plenty of people who work very hard to make these awards shine who will never be the face on camera or the name in the slideshow, and yet it simply couldn't happen without them. 

Without any further ado, here it is, the inside scoop on how you too can get up in your PJs and watch the announcements on a livestream:

The 2022 Youth Media Award announcements will take place virtually on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, at 8 a.m. CT  during LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, a completely new conference experience based on years of research, exploration, and feedback from industry partners, event planning experts, and most importantly, ALA members. A live video stream will be available at https://ala.unikron.com/. 

To all the authors, editors, and publishing teams - best of luck! And know too that even if you don't get that call your work is appreciated by children, families, educators, librarians, and so many more. 

See Bip Grow! by David Milgrim

Alec Chunn is a Children's Librarian at Tualatin Public Library. He was a member of the 2021 Caldecott committee and co-founded the mock Stonewall Book Award blog, Medal on My Mind.

Milgrim is no stranger to the Geisel award, having earned two honors for Go, Otto, Go! in 2017 and See Pip Flap in 2019. Both of these books are from Milgrim’s The Adventures of Otto series. But there is another series—The Adventures of Zip—that has yet to attract so much attention. No more, I say! As far as I’m concerned, See Bip Grow! is Milgrim’s magnum opus. (Yes, all of his books more or less have the same title. I promise this one is special.)

The basic plot concerns two green aliens, Zip and Bip. Zip magically zaps Bip so that Bip—who appears to be a baby—will be tall enough to play ball. But Bip just keeps growing and growing and growing. Bip grows to big they end up in space. But, at just the right time, Bip’s magical powers activate and Bip shrinks back to usual size and lands safely back on their planet. I love that the sentence structures and repetition harken back to Dick and Jane books, but the plot is absolutely out of this world. It’s pretty standard Milgrim fare, but it’s so successful—and fun! When I look at the Geisel criteria, this is exactly the kind of book that comes to mind: repeated words (fewer than 60!), simple and straightforward sentences, illustrations that demonstrate the story, and a “page-turning” dynamic. All the boxes are checked. But it’s the tone and illustrations that send this book into superstar territory. This book seems to have as much fun being read as readers would have while reading it. I don’t mean that it is too self-aware or too clever for its own good. Rather, both the characters and the layout offer a sense of playfulness with every page turn. Bip definitely gives me Jack-Jack from The Incredibles energy (just look at that infectious smile). The layout creates a sense of familiarity—a sentence or two above an image of characters on every page—then quickly breaks it. Let’s dive more deeply into the illustrations. As soon as Bip grows too big for the page, the text moves to accommodate the change in scale. But Zip doesn’t move! At least not at first. So, it feels more and more disorienting until the static frame is broken completely. Each page turn starts to change the scale (and detail) of the whole setting as Bip grows even bigger. Then, when Bip shrinks, it flips and goes back to the familiar format and scale. It’s almost visually symmetrical. But the text is not symmetrical. The text takes readers on a journey that breaks the repetitive mold because the reader has gained confidence—and had a laugh or two—while reading. That’s a win in my book!

Good Fun with Barkus & Friends

Taylor Worley (she/her) is a Youth Services Librarian for Springfield Public Library in Oregon. When not reading, she’s typically gaming, creating something, or collecting bits of nature. You can find her in various online communities at @magpiebricolage, @magpiemakesstuff, or @magpiereadsstuff.

Patricia MacLaclan (author) and Marc Boutavant (Illustrator) return to their endearing early-reader series with this third installment, “Barkus: The Most Fun.” In fifty-five nostalgically illustrated pages, readers follow Barkus, Baby, and their humans through four chapters, each of which can be read as a stand-alone narrative. Chapter one, set in (suggested) summer, is a camping adventure in which Baby (the cat) sneaks along with Barkus and the humans. Chapter two is a Spring story on the farm, in which Barkus gets to flex his herding skills. Chapter three is a celebration of pets with an autumnal parade. Finally, chapter four is a vacation to a cozy cabin for a closing, winter tale.

Because the word count on Barkus’ books is fairly high, dividing these stories into the approachable chapters is very helpful for emerging readers. Notably, each of the four seasons is explicitly stated - either in chapter titles or during the story - except for Summer, which isn’t specifically labeled. Summer is also out of seasonal order, which might cause confusion for more particular readers. That being said, this title is still solidly in the “emerging reader” or “learn to read” category, simply on the upper edge of the spectrum. “The Most Fun” qualifies for Geisel Award consideration, however I’m not confident it quite has what it takes to be a viable contender, this year. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have all three volumes of Barkus’ adventures on your library shelves - you should! - but rather there are a few minor flaws that are likely to knock it out of the running. The heart of Geisel Award criteria is the need to generate the necessary “page turning” experience to “stimulate a successful reading experience” for emerging readers. “The Most Fun” lulls in Autumn, lacking a clear plot to move the story forward. Because this chapter occurs between 50% and 75% of the way through the book, there’s a risk of losing the interest of those emerging readers. This, combined with the curious ordering of seasonal stories, is enough to knock it out of the top contenders for the 2021 publishing year. That being said, the Barkus series is still an exceptionally strong choice for early-reader shelves. Boutavant’s vivid illustrations are sweet and have a distinctly nostalgic feel (at least, for folks old enough to feel nostalgic). The book design is in sync with readers’ needs, utilizing a large and clean serif font, generous white space, and illustrations on almost every page. Barkus is bright, happy, and endearing; exactly what we want to engage new readers. So is “Barkus: The Most Fun” going to take home a Geisel Award this year? Probably not. Is it a lovely book and part of an excellent early-reader series? Definitely! Don’t hesitate to add these delightful books to your shelves. They are great fun.