Kids book awards: Top honors for steampunks, old winners go free, medieval life


John Mark sez, "A 500-page steampunk graphic novel wins the American Library Association's 2008 Caldecott award, and the 2008 Newbery award goes to a collection of dramatic monologues and dialogues from over 20 characters in an imaginary 13th century English village. Meanwhile, a bunch of the *older* Newbery awardees, including some that are long out of print, have recently been made freely available online, and we've discovered more that are eligible to go online because their copyrights weren't renewed."

The steampunk graphic novel is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik, which tells the story of "an orphan in early-20th-century Paris living inside the walls of a train station, trying to finish an invention left by his father. The ALA Caldecott site says 'the suspenseful text and wordless double-page spreads narrate the tale… which is filled with cinematic intrigue.'" I've just ordered my copy.

Link, Invention of Hugo Cabret on Amazon, Link to "Invention of Hugo Cabret" site

(Thanks, John Mark!)