Yesterday morning was the big announcement of this year’s Newbery and Caldecott children’s book award winners. Drum roll please…
“The Newbery Medal 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.”
2010 WINNER - When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead
2010 HONORS -
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
by Phillip M. Hoose
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
by Grace Lin (YIPPEE!! Bought this for my 9 year-old for Christmas!)
Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
by Rodman Philbrick
“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.”
2010 WINNER - The Lion & the Mouse
by Jerry Pinkney
2010 HONORS -
All the World
illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Liz Garton Scanlon
Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors
illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Joyce Sidman
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!
PS: How well do you know your children’s book awards? If you can’t tell your Theodor Seuss Geisel Award from your Pura Belpré Award, then you can read up on them all here.
award winner, Book Recommendations, chapter book, children's books, exceptional illustrations, older children, picture books, young children
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award winner, award-winning book, Caldecott, Newbery
My children’s elementary class is organizing an emergency “Book and Bake Bonanza” to take place next week. They are frantically trying to collect books and baked goods to sell in order to raise money for Haiti. Obviously money is needed NOW, so they must act quickly and there is no time for an elaborate fundraiser.
Will used books sell? We don’t know, but we need to try something and one of the kids came up with the idea. Anything we can earn will help, no matter how small.
(UPDATE: The result of our little fundraiser? A whopping $1,350.03!! Read here for more details about how we did it.)
Why not organize a speedy fundraiser for your children’s school? If you homeschool, then combine a quick study of Haiti with a smaller scale family-style fundraiser.
Here are some quick and easy fundraising ideas:
- Bake sale
- Lemonade or hot chocolate or cookie stand in your driveway
- Garage Sale (if you can put it together fast, yard sales can be very time consuming)
- Used book sale
- Raffle something off
- Car wash (or an interior car detailing day if it is too cold for a car wash, or you don’t want to use water)
- A simple donation box in your school or workplace
- A penny drive in your children’s school (Thanks very much to Jen for this simple yet effective idea!)
And here are a few less obvious ones that could possibly be put together fairly rapidly:
- Board Game Competition: Charge an entry fee for each team or individual. If you want, give a small portion of this as a prize, or give a donated prize.
- Dog Wash (if you can do it indoors or you live somewhere warm).
- How Many in the Jar?: Fill a jar with M&Ms, marbles, rocks, anything small! Have people guess how many objects are in the jar. Sell guess forms for $1 or $2 a piece and split the earnings with the person who gets the closest.
- Show Up in Your Jammies Day: (For schools) Sell tickets entitling the purchaser to wear your pajamas to school for a day. Encourage teachers and administrators to join in also. Sell donuts and bagels before school for breakfast.
- Traveling Hobo Band: I can’t really explain this one, but it is pretty funny and spontaneous. Read more here.
- Windshield Washing
Who to give to?
The NPR website published a list of aid organizations that are helping Haiti during this disaster.
Remember, even a small amount of money can make a big difference!
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Don’t underestimate the power of even a simple bake sale. In December, my children’s Montessori School class raised over $870 for Heifer International with a one day bake sale!
I am annoyed. My 7 year-old son has begun frequently yelling at his sisters, my 4-going-on-44-year-old is becoming bossier than me, and horror of horrors, I swear I caught my 9 year-old ruffling her feathers and giving me an eye roll! It is clearly time to reinstate our point system which has fallen by the wayside of late.
Here’s how it works: Everyone starts with 5 points. Each child can earn points for “good” behavior and lose points for “bad” behavior. The goal is to reach 30 points at which time that child chooses from a list of non-material rewards, for example a “date” with Mom or Dad, ice cream in the middle of the afternoon, Kids Cook Night, make cookies, etc. (no money or purchases).
If someone gets to 0 points then they must miss the next bi-weekly class ski/swim trip (during the school year), or they must choose a random chore from the chore basket (summertime).
We keep a list of sample point-gaining behaviors and point-losing behaviors posted on the wall next to the point chart. The children and I came up with the list together so they have ownership of the consequences of certain actions. The list is not definitive and I am the final decision-maker as to when a point is earned or deducted.
The system is flexible. For example when I got tired of all three children having “bad dreams” and ending up in my bed every single night, I started the policy that they would lose a point for every night they came into bed with me and earn a point for every night they stayed in their own bed. That didn’t work, so I changed it to losing 2 points for coming into bed with me but earning 1 point for staying in their own beds. Like magic, the “bad dreams” disappeared! (Note: Of course if they REALLY have a bad dream, they can still come to bed with me - for free. Like most mothers, I can tell when the need is real.)
Advantages:
- Flexible to suit changing behavioral goals.
- Not entirely negative/punishment based. The system rewards positive behavior.
- Easy to keep track: I track all points on a dry erase board hung on the pantry wall.
- Does not rely on money, allowances or material goods as an incentive or punishment.
- I can spontaneously say “Go give yourself a point” when I observe (or am told of) a random really kind or helpful behavior.
- Sorry, but in my house this is NOT a democratic process. I am the final judge, jury and arbitrator of points, rewards and sentences, (although the children can make recommendations or defend themselves).
What do you do to maintain order?
No I have not fallen off the planet. It seems I have taken a bit of a blog break though.
I’ve been doing lots of winter nesting at home as well as attending plays, concerts and events at my children’s school.
The annual class Heifer International bake sale brought in $870!! Bravo class!
All that baking, clapping and driving kids around has left me with little time or energy to blog. But since I Blog Without Obligation and believe in living life first and blogging about it all last, I guess my priorities are in the right place.
We are having a lovely Christmassy snowy day here today in the Arizona mountains, a perfect day to lock myself in the bedroom and wrap presents.
Our tree came yet again from our empty lot next door, and like last year, is a bit of a Charlie Brown tree. A tree “only a mother could love, lol!” But it is actually quite beautiful in a delicate, spindly sort of way.
Today we’ll make some cookies. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, is our Bird Christmas Day where we make edible ornaments to hang in our yard for the wild birds. They’ll be especially grateful this year since food must be hard to come by with all this snow.
Best wishes for a happy, relaxing, and meaningful holiday for you and your family!
Goodness! I have been bad about getting to these Unplugged Projects lately. Never did get to last week’s thanks (other than to cook and eat Thanksgiving dinner!) and for this week’s writing theme, we are too busy traveling and visiting family.
But if you did a writing Unplugged Project this week, then please link to your project post in the linky below. If you didn’t join in with a writing project, then please do not link, but read more about how to join us here.
Due to seemingly waning interest and the holidays, I think we’ll have a bit of an Unplugged Project vacation. Enjoy and stay creative!
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