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.

2008 Caldecott Medal Winner:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
By Brian Selznick
ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

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.

2008 Newbery Medal Winner:
Good Masters!  Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village
By Laura Amy Schlitz
Step back to an English village in 1255, where life plays out in dramatic vignettes illuminating twenty-two unforgettable characters.  Maidens, monks, and millers' sons -- in these pages, readers will meet them all. There's Hugo, the lord's nephew, forced to prove his manhood by hunting a wild boar; sharp-tongued Nelly, who supports her family by selling live eels; and the peasant's daughter, Mogg, who gets a clever lesson in how to save a cow from a greedy landlord. There's also mud-slinging Barbary (and her noble victim); Jack, the c ompassionate half-wit; Alice, the singing shepherdess; and many more.

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.  The award is named for the world-renowned children’s author, Theodor Geisel.  “A person’s a person no matter how small,” Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, would say.  “Children want the same things we want: to laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted.”

2008 Theodor Seuss Geisel Winner
There is a Bird on Your Head!
By Mo Willems
Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.  Piggies cannot help smiling. Gerald can.  Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.  Gerald and Piggie are best friends.  In There Is a Bird on Your Head! Gerald discovers that there is something worse than a bird on your head -- two birds on your head! Can Piggie help her best friend?