Misty's comments (member since Aug 26, 2008)

Misty's comments from the Children's Literature Awards, LLED Fall 08 group.

October 30, 2008



Cressida Cowell
c/o Hyperion Editorial Department
77 West 66th Street
11th Floor
New York, NY 10023



Cressida Cowell:

Congratulations! I am pleased to announce that you and your book, That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown, as been chosen as the Honorable Mention recipient of the Pampers Award.

This award was created in my children’s literature education class at Pennsylvania State University’s Altoona campus where I am currently an Elementary Education major in my junior year. Each member of my class had to create an award, then read books for each other, nominate a book for each award, and then chose the winning book in their category. Please note that this is not a valid award but was created as a part of my class project.

I chose to create an award called the Pampers Award to honor books that show a strong attachment between a child and a stuffed animal or doll. As a child, I carried around a panda stuffed animal, and it looked like it had a pamper/diaper on it (thus resulting in me naming it Pampers). I named the award after that stuffed animal because I truly loved it, played with it, and took it everywhere. The love and friendship that I had with the stuffed animal was enormous, and I feel that everyone should be ok with having a loved childhood toy like I did.

The criteria for the award were that the book be a picture book that shows a child or animal finding a best friend in a stuffed animal or doll. The book had to show that the two characters were inseparable and could possibly show the chaos resulting from a separation. Your book demonstrated these characteristics beautifully. Your book also used many literary elements such as repetition and onomatopoeia, which added to the overall storyline in a fantastic way. I love the way the book shows that even if the stuffed animal changes, the love is unconditional and is always present.

As part of the project, my class held a Children’s Literature Ceremony at the Altoona Public Library where we each spoke about the award we created. We announced the winning book and author. The nominator of the book came up to accept the award and speak about why he/she nominated the book for the award.

I, along with my classmates, would love to hear back from you. We all love your book and feel that it is books like yours that allow children to love books as well as develop a love between themselves and reading. Your award is enclosed and once again I would like to thank you so much for the wonderful stories and books that you have contributed to children’s literature today. Congratulations!

Sincerely



Misty A. Cessna

October 30, 2008



Mo Willems
c/o Christian Trimmer
Hyperion Books for Children
114 5th Ave, 14th fl.
New York, NY 10011



Mo Willems:

Congratulations! I am pleased to announce that you and your book, Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, as been chosen as the recipient of the Pampers Award.

This award was created in my children’s literature education class at Pennsylvania State University’s Altoona campus where I am currently an Elementary Education major in my junior year. Each member of my class had to create an award, then read books for each other, nominate a book for each award, and then chose the winning book in their category. Please note that this is not a valid award but was created as a part of my class project.

I chose to create an award called the Pampers Award to honor books that show a strong attachment between a child and a stuffed animal or doll. As a child, I carried around a panda stuffed animal, and it looked like it had a pamper/diaper on it (thus resulting in me naming it Pampers). I named the award after that stuffed animal because I truly loved it, played with it, and took it everywhere. The love and friendship that I had with the stuffed animal was enormous, and I feel that everyone should be ok with having a loved childhood toy like I did.

The criteria for the award were that the book be a picture book that shows a child or animal finding a best friend in a stuffed animal or doll. The book had to show that the two characters were inseparable and could possibly show the chaos resulting from a separation. Your book demonstrated these characteristics perfectly and did not only have one strong attachment between a child and stuffed animal but two. The book not only used my characteristics but also went above and beyond by having a variety of literary and social elements. I loved the way the book used characters of different race to show how friendship can blossom from anywhere and with anyone. The book also had a conflict that was resolved in a humorous way.

As part of the project, my class held a Children’s Literature Ceremony at the Altoona Public Library where we each spoke about the award we created. We announced the winning book and author. The nominator of the book came up to accept the award and speak about why he/she nominated the book for the award.

I, along with my classmates, would love to hear back from you. We all love your books and feel that it is books like yours that allow children to love books as well as develop a love between themselves and reading. Your award is enclosed and once again I would like to thank you so much for the wonderful stories and books that you have contributed to children’s literature today. Congratulations!

Sincerely



Misty A. Cessna

There were so many great books nominated for this category and I had a really hard time choosing so I gave two awards: an winner and an honorable mention. When choosing a winner I used something that I learned from my education classes this semester. Ralph Fletcher says,"In certain cases, the ending is absolutely crucial to understanding the work as a whole. Such endings work as the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle, without which the whole would feel incomplete." So as I was looking at my choices, I took great care in looking at the end of the books to see what the outcome was.

In the end, I chose...

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems as the winner

and

That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell as the honorable mention.


Thank you to all who nominated for me and especially to Jenna and Megan who gave me those winning books!

Me Too!

This book is all about the rivalry as well as friendship between two sisters. The only time that Grace can get away from Lucy, her little sister, when she goes to swimming class. Everything that Grace does, Lucy is two steps behind. The book shows how Grace gets very irritated, but in the end, Grace and Lucy show how sisters can be the best of friends.

I see "Me, Too!" as a great book and a fantastic book to be the winner of the "Sister Award." It is a picture book that not only shows rivalry and how annoying sisters can be but how the sisters can be friends.

When Pappy Goes Hunting

"When Pappy Goes Hunting" is a children's picture book written and illustrated by a local Bedford County couple. The author and illustrator are husband and wife and live in the small town of Clearville.

The illustrations in the book capture the meaning of the book and add to the overall story and message. The book is about why people go hunting, which is a big event in Bedford County. Many children may not understand why many people go out and kill animals to eat, but the book explains what the hunters do and why. The illustrations are a strong interaction with the text and makes the book a great candidate for the "Won't You Be My Neighbor Award."

Trick-Or-Treat on Milton Street

"Trick-Or-Treat on Milton Street" is a fantastic book on stepparents. Charley is not too happy that he has a stepdad now. However, he goes Trick-or-Treating with Dave (his stepfather) and has a great time. In the end, Charley feels that having a stepdad is going to alright. Charley and Dave are both new the stepparent/stepson idea, but they seem to go from hesitant to excited in the course of the book.

I know from experience that stepfamilies can be a little difficult at times. However, I feel that this book is a great book to win "The Tango Award." This book has been published in the last five years, is a picture book for children, and shows the growing love between a non-traditional family. This book not only shows the love between the stepparent and stepchild, but it shows the bond growing between them.

Franklin Is Bossy

As a child, I have always loved the Franklin books. This one is all about Franklin and Bear. Bear does not like how Franklin always gets to pick the game and the rules so they do not play together for a long time. Then they both decide to apologize and are still the best of friends in the end.

This book not only shows a fight between friends but that friends are precious and that they will work the problem out to still be friends in the end. This book shows the value of friendship and how friends need to work together to maintain that friendship. I believe that "Franklin Is Bossy" is a great book to win the "Bestest Buddies Award" because it shows the trial of friends, the work to maintain the friendship, and shows the meaning of "friends through thick and thin."

Almost to Freedom

This is a story from a doll’s point of view. The doll tells of how a young girl escapes from slavery using the Underground Railroad.

This book shows that there are many inspirational women in the world. I chose a book that shows not a famous woman in history but common women and how their choices are heroic. "Almost to Freedom" shows how women can be heroes. All of the women in the story were heroes in some way or another during the human and civil rights movements and during the time of the Underground Railroad. The young girls were heroes to the rag doll, the women who are helping the African-American people escape from the south were heroes, and the mothers were heroes to the children.

This is a great book and is perfect for the "Rose Award."

Alphabet Adventure

This is the best story about the alphabet I have ever read. It is so colorful and would really introduce the ABCs to children.

The Patchwork Quilt

This book is about a grandmother who lives with part of her family. Her granddaughter becomes interested in helping her make a quilt. The grandmother becomes ill and cannot work on the masterpiece. However, the granddaughter works on it, and in the end, it is a true masterpiece.

"The Patchwork Quilt" is a great book to win the "Maureen Award" because of the way it shows the loving and caring relationship between a granddaughter and grandmother living together. This book definitely "expresses compassion and a positive inspiration" through the text as well as the colorful illustrations.

Good Luck Mrs K

I feel that this book is absolutely perfect for the "Crud Award." It is about a teacher, Mrs. K, who is very active and loves the children in her classroom. The children love her too so when the news comes in that Mrs. K has cancer and will be going through treatments, the children are very sad. The book goes through the story of Mrs. K's cancer.

This is a very inspirational book on how cancer is a trial in life and that anyone CAN make it through. It is a great choice for the "Crud Award."

Princess Pigsty

This book made me laugh out loud. It is about this young princess who clearly does not want to be a princess for one minute longer. It is all about being strong to get what you want, independent to do as you please, and clever to get through to the king (or daddy) that being a princess is not all that great. This is a fantastic book for the "Un-Princess Princess Award."

Dog Goes to Nursery School

This book is all about a young dog who does not want to leave his home and his mother to go to school. He is determined to get his mother to forget about him going to school by telling her that he wants to play this or that. However, he goes to school and thanks her for it in the end. It shows that it is alright to be scared about the first day of school, but it is going to be perfectly fine at the same time.

I feel that "Dog Goes to Nursery School" is a perfect book to win the "Mason Award." The book is a picture book for children starting school for the first time and not only eases the fears about starting school but shows how much fun it is to be in school with others.

The Red Blanket

This is a B-E-A-U-TI-FUL book! It is all about an international adoption from the mother's point of view. It shows her waiting and then excitement when she gets the news. This red blanket is the first item that the child receives from her adoptive mother and carries it through her growing up.

This book is a great book to win the "Teta International Adoption Award" because of the huge amount of love and respect shown to the adopted child. The excitement and love throughout the mother's story is nothing but inspirational and encouraging for anyone thinking about adoption.

What is the one item that many children carry with them to help them face the scary monsters, go to bed at night, go shopping with, and be a friend to and play with? Countless numbers of children carry a stuffed animal with them and will go nowhere without it. I know that as a child I did the same exact thing. According to Shelby A. Wolf in Interpreting Literature with Children, “in the world of children’s literature, characters may be human or not.” With the changing world today, some children may only have one friend, a stuffed animal or doll, to make them strong and safe.

This book award is named after my favorite stuffed animal as a child, Pampers. The award will be given to a children’s picture book that shows a child or even an animal that has found a friend in a stuffed animal or doll. The book must show that the two characters are inseparable. It could also demonstrate that chaos happens because of a separation but does not have to.

Please complete all nominations by Monday, October 13th.