2005 Children's Book Award Winners

Best Children's Books

Clear space on your kids' bookshelves for these Newbery Medal (for best children's book) and Caldecott Medal (for best picture book) award winners. Check these out!

Kira-Kira

By Cynthia Kadohata 2005 Newbery Medal winner

Two sisters lie on their backs, watching the stars and repeating the Japanese word for glittering: "kira-kira." Like this quiet opening scene, Kadohata's tenderly nuanced novel glitters with plain and poignant words that describe the strong love within a Japanese-American family from the point of view of younger sister Katie. Personal challenges and family tragedy are set against the oppressive social climate of the South during the 1950s and early 1960s. (Atheneum)

Al Capone Does My Shirts

By Gennifer Choldenko 2005 Newbery Honor Book

Alcatraz is the evocative backdrop for Al Capone Does My Shirts -- a highly original novel set in 1935. Twelve-year-old Moose Flanagan tells about his travails on "the Rock," where his father has taken a job. Hilarious antics are deftly interwoven with themes of isolation and imprisonment, compassion and connection. (Putnam Publishing Group)

The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights

By Russell Freedman 2005 Newbery Honor Book

The Voice that Challenged a Nation meticulously explores resonant themes with the masterful structure of a musical composition. Eloquent, economic prose sheds a personal light on one woman's sometimes reluctant role as a symbol in the struggle against racism and her calling to share an illustrious gift. (Clarion Books)

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

By Gary D. Schmidt 2005 Newbery Honor Book

Set in Maine in 1912 and propelled by a tragic historical event, Schmidt's powerfully haunting novel probes a forbidden friendship between a preacher's son and a dark-skinned girl from a nearby island. Steeped in imagery and laced with surprising humor, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy explores powerlessness, possibility, and the profound impact individuals can make. (Clarion Books)