‘Hot Dog’ wins Caldecott, Newbery is awarded to ‘Freewater’

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

The top children’s book awards were handed out Monday morning, at the American Library Association’s annual Youth Media Awards.

The Newbery Medal, which the American Library Association awards to the most distinguished American children’s book published the previous year, went to Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson. The historical fiction novel revolves around two enslaved siblings’ escape from a plantation to a free swamp community called Freewater.

The setting of Freewater was inspired by the real-life Great Dismal Swamp, where self-emancipated, formerly enslaved people found refuge. But Luqman-Dawson says she wanted to infuse that history with magic.

“I always felt that, especially in touching on African American history, that we have to have a space where we allow our feet to sort of lift off the ground and to fly,” she tells Elizabeth Blair.

She says the magical realism elements of her book help transport her young readers: it “takes them to a new place where they can kind of hear the voices of … these people that have found freedom in the middle of enslavement.”

Luqman-Dawson, a debut author, says the idea for Freewater came to her nearly 20 years ago. “So that’s a message to all those aspiring writers out there,” she says. “Never let go of your dream of a story.”

Freewater also won the Coretta Scott King Author award.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children was awarded to Hot Dog, illustrated and written by Doug Salati. The book is about an overwhelmed pup who finds his calm on a trip to the beach.

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Knopf Books for Young Readers

The Newbery honor books were Iveliz Explains It All, The Last Mapmaker and Maizy Chen’s Last Chance.

And the Caldecott honor books were Ain’t Burned All the Bright, Berry Song, Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement and Knight Owl.

ALA’s Youth Media Awards include many other honors as well, such as the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Book award, which was given to Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual, illustrated by Frank Morrison. Dr. Claudette McLinn, founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature, was honored with the Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.