Listen to the 2012 American Library Association Award Winners

This post was originally published in Nick Glass’ monthly column for Curriculum Connections, an e-newsletter published by School Library Journal in partnership with TeachingBooks.net. Subscribe to this free newsletter here.

The American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards, announced each January, are a high point on the book community’s calendar. For this month’s post, TeachingBooks.net contacted and recorded conversations with the award winners, asking them to share their inspirations and influences.

Use these recordings to introduce the distinguished work of the 2012 John Newbery, Randolph Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Michael L. Printz, Robert F. Sibert, and Pura Belpré award recipients. You’ll also find below some exceptional, ready-to-use instructional materials on these award-winning books and authors.

Jack Gantos, 2012 Newbery Medalist, offers background on and reads from Dead End in Norvelt (Farrar, 2011), a book filled with “history and humor.”

Explore all of the 2012 Newbery resources and author interviews at TeachingBooks.net.

Chris Raschka, 2012 Caldecott Medalist, describes his watercolor-and-ink technique and the materials used to create A Ball for Daisy (Random, 2011).

Explore all of the 2012 Caldecott resources and author interviews at TeachingBooks.net.

Kadir Nelson, 2012 Coretta Scott King Book (Author) Award Winner and Illustrator Honoree, shares his reasons for writing Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans (HarperCollins, 2011), and reads an excerpt from the book.

Shane W. Evans, 2012 Coretta Scott King Book (Illustrator) Award Winner, reflects on an image he created for Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom (Roaring Brook, 2011) and details his artistic process.

Explore all of the 2012 Coretta Scott King Book Award resources and author interviews at TeachingBooks.net.

John Corey Whaley, 2012 Michael L. Printz Award Winner and William C. Morris Award Winner, explains how hearing a radio story on a thought-to-be-extinct woodpecker inspired him to write Where Things Come Back (S & S, 2011).

Explore all of the 2012 Printz resources and author interviews at TeachingBooks.net.

Melissa Sweet, 2012 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Winner, talks about Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade (Houghton Harcourt, 2011).

Explore all the 2012 Sibert resources and author interviews at TeachingBooks.net.

Guadalupe Garcia McCall, 2012 Pura Belpré Author Award Winner, reveals why she used poetic verse to write Under the Mesquite (Lee & Low, 2011).

Duncan Tonatiuh, 2012 Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Winner, discusses how textbooks, Mexican history, and today’s digital world inspired Diego Rivera: His World and Ours (Abrams, 2011).

Explore all the 2012 Pura Belpré resources and author interviews at TeachingBooks.net.

Josh Schneider, 2012 (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award Winner, shares how he came to write the early reader, Tales for Very Picky Eaters (Clarion, 2011).