And the 2012 CILIP Carnegie and Greenaway winners are...

Patrick Ness (CILIP Carnegie Medal) and Jim Kay (CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal) for A Monster Calls. This is the first time in the history of the awards that both prizes have been awarded for the same book (there was some speculation that this might happen in 2010 for The Graveyard Book, but in the end, although Neil Gaiman won the Carnegie, the Greenaway award went to Freya Blackwood for Harry and Hopper). A Monster Calls is a particularly poignant win as it is based on an idea conceived by author Siobhan Dowd, who sadly passed away before she could write the book herself. Dowd posthumously won the CILIP Carnegie Medal for Bog Child in 2009.

You can go to the official website to find out more about the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. They are much respected awards in the field of children’s literature and are very close to the hearts of librarians as they are awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). You’ll find previous winners and past nominees on the website as well as a brief history of the awards.

We’ve put an order in for A Monster Calls, so that should be winging its way to our shelves soon! In the meantime, come and visit the Teaching Practice section of Townhill Library to see a display of some of the previous winners. And please borrow any that take your fancy to share with your children or just to enjoy yourself!

RIP Maurice Sendak

We were really sorry to hear of the death of Maurice Sendak, the pioneering illustrator who passed away today at the age of 83. Sendak is probably best known for his picture book Where the Wild Things Are, which uses beautiful language and striking illustrations to tell the tale of Max on his “wild rumpus” through a magical land. The book was groundbreaking in the way it introduced rather sinister imagery into a children’s book. Despite an initially wary reception from the public, it has remained a firm favourite with children and grown-ups alike over the decades since its publication in 1963.

If you’d like to remember or discover Maurice Sendak through his work, you’ll find plenty of copies of Where the Wild Things Are and some of his other picture books at Griffith Library in Dynevor and at Townhill Library. If you’d like to hear what a wild rumpus sounds like in Welsh, try the translation, Yng Ngwlad Y Pethau Gwyllt.