Newbery Winner: The Graveyard Book by Neal Gaiman

<This review contains spoilers>

I read this book (on my new Nook Color) thinking it was a fresh, upbeat novel and it just astounded me.  For some reason, not until I read the acknowledgement at the end of the author giving credit to Rudyard Kipling did I make the connection that this was The Jungle Book reset in a graveyard.  The 2010 Newbery winner, The Graveyard Book is another bildungsroman of young Mowgli--err Nobody Owens; a young child orphaned by a murdering Sheer Khan/Jack Frost.  He escapes to the jungle/graveyard where he is raised by a family of wolves/ghosts along with the help of a bear/vampire and a black panther/werewolf.  The young boy learns tricks that make him different from other humans, interacts with a young girl who he loses to civilization, is kidnapped by a group of monkeys/ghouls and fights the member of the group that killed his family--tiger/Jack of All Trades.  I feel like a moron for not noticing this as I was reading, the titles are even the same!  I don't think it would have distracted me from enjoying it.  It is definitely a macabre book. 

Despite the obvious similarities, the book was an excellent read and one that I would highly recommend to any age group above about 8 years old.  There is some gruesomeness, murder, violence and paranormal activity. 

Neil Gaiman reads from The Graveyard Book: 

Blogger's Note:  Just picked up a Nook Color to read this with.  This thing is going to cost me money!   I've rooted the Nook to run as an Android tablet, and prefer it's 7" width because I can palm it with one hand and read it versus the iPad.  I read the whole book and did some internet browsing for a couple of days before having to recharge it, it doesn't power down too quickly if you lay it down for a moment, it holds your place, is easy on the eyes to read and my 5 year old is reading his own books (and playing Angry Birds) on it now. 

My local library didn't have this book and it took like 20 seconds to find the book, buy it and start reading!

Newbery vs Caldecott Medals

The Newbery Medal is an honor awarded by the ALA for the most distinguished children's novel written the preceding year, Caldecott involves children's picture books.  Simplistically put, Caldecott awards are given to early readers, with few words and mostly pictures.  For example, previous winners are:

According to the ALA

"The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children."

Read more at the ALA's Caldecott Website

Video on Caldecott Award;

The Newbery medal is geared more toward pre-teens and are almost always short novels. 

From the ALA: "
The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Read more at the ALA's Newbery website. 

Previous winners: 

Video on Newbery winners:

Coretta Scott King Award winner: Dave the Potter

Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier is the story of an enslaved potter who lived most of his life between 1800-1860 in rural South Carolina.  His story is interesting in that he was both a very skilled potter who worked under slavery, and he could also write poetry that was included on several pots.  Many of his pots are still around and in museums and collections--a testament of his hard work and skill. 

Half of the book is the actual storybook, telling in prose how Dave the Potter worked under enslavement and yet was a testament to the human spirit.  The 2nd half of the book is background history on who Dave the potter was and what it is we know about him. 

I checked this book out from the elementary library I work at as a computer tech.  It was on the storybook table, the librarian reports that she just started reading this one and the kids love it. 

I found the artwork exceptional and should be perfect for young audiences.

More info on Dave the Potter.