The 2003 John Newbery Medal has been awarded to Avi for his novel Crispin: The Cross of Lead (Hyperion), and the 2003 Randolph Caldecott Medal went to Eric Rohmann, author and illustrator of My Friend Rabbit (Roaring Brook). The Newbery and Caldecott Medals honor outstanding writing and illustration of works published in the U.S. during the previous year. The awards are administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the ALA, and were announced on January 27 at the ALA midwinter conference in Philadelphia.
Both winners were previous Honor recipients in their categories: Avi in 1992 for Nothing but the Truth and in 1991 for The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and Rohmann in 1995 for Time Flies.
Avi's book was edited by Donna Bray, executive editor at Hyperion, and Rohmann's book was edited by Simon Boughton. Boughton is publisher of Roaring Brook Press, a division of Millbrook Press; My Friend Rabbit appeared on Roaring Brook's first-ever list, in spring 2002.
Winning the fourth annual Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults was Postcards from No Man's Land by Aidan Chambers (Dutton). The Robert F. Sibert Award, for the most distinguished informational book for children, was won by The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler by James Cross Giblin (Clarion). Nikki Grimes won the 2002 Coretta Scott King Author Award for Bronx Masquerade (Dial), and E.B. Lewis won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman, also by Nikki Grimes (Scholastic/Orchard).
Other awards included the Mildred L. Batchelder Award for best work of translation, which went to The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke, translated from the German by Oliver Latsch (Scholastic/Chicken House); the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime contribution in writing for young adults, to Nancy Garden; and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, given every two years to an author or illustrator for making "a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." This year's recipient is Eric Carle.
For a full list of winners, click here.
