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Home | 2016 Best Books for Kids from the American Library Association

2016 Best Books for Kids from the American Library Association

Last Stop on Market StreetIt's awards season, with the Golden Globes taking place last Sunday and the Oscars coming up next month. But did you know it was awards season for kids' books, too? This week the American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners of its annual youth media awards for 2016, including the prestigious Newbery and Caldecott medals for children's books.

Since 1922, the John Newbery Medal has been awarded to the author of the most distinguished American children's book by the Association for Library Service for Children (ALSC), a division of the ALA. This year, the medal goes to Last Stop on Market Street, written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2015). In this book, a young boy name CJ rides the bus with his Nana, where he discovers music, nature, and the people around him. Find it at a local Marin library here.

The 2016 runner-up Newbery Honor Books include The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson (one of our recent favorites!), and Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Finding Winnie The ALSC began awarding the Caldecott Medial, named after 19th-century British illustrator Randolph Caldecott, to the artist of the most distinguished children's picture book in 1938. This year's medal winner is Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear, illustrated by Sophie Blackall and written by Lindsay Mattick (Little, Brown, 2015). Finding Winnie tells the incredible true story of the friendship and love between a soldier and the real-life bear who was the inspiration behind Winne-the-Pooh. Find it at the library here.

The runner-up Caledecott Honor Books for this year are Trombone Shorty, illustrated by Bryan Collier; Waiting, illustrated and written by Kevin Henkes; Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, illustrated by Ekua Holmes; and Last Stop on Market Street the Newbery Medal winner mentioned earlier.

Find our more about the ALSC 2016 youth media awards, and see a complete list of winners at www.ala.org/alsc.