21,000 local children help pick winners…
THIS YEAR’S MSUM READ ALOUD BOOK AWARDS
A picture book about a despondent cow named Marjorie, unable to do handstands or ride bikes like her more talented Holstein barn mates, who amazingly lays an egg under a cunning plan hatched by a group of well-meaning chickens, and a tale about a young Abe Lincoln saved from drowning by a boy who became his life-long friend, were named winners of this year’s fifth annual Read Aloud Book Awards.

The awards program is administered by the staff of the Minnesota State University Moorhead library’s Curriculum Materials Center, which holds a large collection of children’s books and resource materials for teachers.
 
“At the beginning of the year, we asked publishers to send us copies of picture books published in 2008 that they’d like to nominate for the awards,” says Carol Sibley, MSUM’s curriculum librarian. “We received about 415 titles, which our committee first screened, then selected 265 to be field tested.”

Seventeen regional teachers and librarians, along with about 150 MSUM elementary and early childhood education majors, read these books  aloud to nearly 21,000 children.

To determine the winners and honor books, the Read Aloud committee examined feedback from each reader and the responses of the children.

The winner of the Wanda Gag Award for books aimed at younger children:
“The Cow That Laid an Egg,” written by Andy Cutbill and illustrated by Russell Ayto (HarperCollins Publishers), received the Wanda Gág Book Award for the best read aloud picture book for younger children (toddlers to age 8). It’s named in honor of Wanda Gág, a children’s book author, illustrator and artist who grew up in New Ulm, Minn. She’s best known for “Millions of Cats” (published in 1928), considered the first American picture book.

Plot summary: When Marjorie discovers that she’d laid the Holstein-spotted egg, all the farm creatures are astonished and the farmer’s wife even calls the newspaper. People arrive by car, bus, helicopter and balloon to view the extraordinary cow and her egg. The jealous cows, however, get suspicious and tell Marjorie that the chickens laid her egg. Time passes while Marjorie sits on her egg, until finally a “small, brown, feathery bundle” hatches. It might look like a chicken, but Marjorie is vindicated when the creature opens its mouth wide and “moos” like a cow.

The book, Sibley said, appealed to two-year-olds through third graders who made many comments about the funny story and pictures and “clucked” with the chickens and “mooed” with Marjorie and her offspring. Students sat very still, as if not to miss a word. One second-grader, she said, offered a reality check: “Cows are mammals and mammals don’t lay eggs!”

Both author and illustrator live in England, Andy Cutbill in London and Russell Ayto in Cornwall.

Wanda Gág Honor Books:
* “A Visitor for Bear,” written by Bonny Becker and illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (Candlewick Press)
* “The Sandman,” written by Ralph Fletcher and illustrated by Richard Cowdrey (Henry Holt and Company)

The winner of the Comstock Award for books aimed at older children:
“Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale (Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend) by Deborah Hopkinson and pictures by John Hendrix (Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books) received the Comstock Book Award for the best read aloud picture book for older children (ages 8-12). The award is named in recognition of the pioneering Moorhead family headed by Solomon G. Comstock, a Moorhead State Senator and U.S. Congressman who’s considered the father of the Moorhead Normal School (now MSUM.)

Plot summary: The year is 1816 and the setting is the Kentucky valley near Knob Creek. Abraham Lincoln and his first best friend, Benjamin Austin Gollaher, are about to get into a heap of trouble. Abe dares Austin to cross the high, raging waters of the creek to find some partridges. Austin makes it across, while Abe falls in, only to be saved by his steadfast friend. Lincoln never forgets his friend and years later as president during the Civil War, “Abe will be heard to say he’d rather see Austin Gollaher again than any other living man.”

Fourth through sixth graders, Sibley said, liked how the author talked and interacted with them and enjoyed how the illustrator drew the pictures as the story unfolded. Some of the students commented that Abe and his friend were just normal kids, and others were surprised that Abe disobeyed his mother (who had told him not to go near the creek). One fifth grader stated the author’s moral in his own words: “What we do matters; someday it may be history.”

Author Deborah Hopkinson lives with her family near Portland, Ore., while illustrator John Hendrix lives in St. Louis, Mo., with his wife and son.

Honor books in Comstock Award category:
* “Willow,” written by Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan, illustrated by Cyd Moore (Sleeping Bear Press, an imprint of Gale)
* “A Taste of Colored Water,” written and illustrated by Matt Faulkner (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
* “Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote,” written by Tanya Lee Stone and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon (Henry Holt and Company)

(Current issue: Winter 2009)

Comment: tornell@mnstate.edu
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