The American Library Association recently gave its seals of approval --including the Newbery and Caldecott medals -- to the best in children's literature.

COMBINED DISPATCHES
NEW YORK -- Lynne Rae Perkins' "Criss Cross," a humorous series of vignettes, illustrations and poems about a group of small town teenagers, has won the Newbery Medal for "the most outstanding contribution to children's literature."
And, the Caldecott Medal for best children's picture book was given to "The Hello, Goodbye Window," illustrated by Chris Raschka and written by Norton Juster.
The awards were announced Monday by the American Library Association.
"Writing in a wry, omniscient third-person narrative voice, Perkins deftly captures the tentativeness and incompleteness of adolescence," award committee chair Barbara Barstow said in a statement.
The Newbery Medal was first awarded in 1922. Perkins joins previous honorees, including Madeleine L'Engle for "A Wrinkle in Time" and Louis Sachar for "Holes."
Perkins told The Associated Press that she was left "thrilled and wobbly and everything" by her award.
"I had planned on spending the day walking around my little town with my mouth hung open," said Perkins, who lives in Suttons Bay, Mich. "But I have to be in New York to be on the 'Today' show."
2006 honorees
The association also announced other award winners Monday.
Julius Lester, an author, musician and civil rights activist, won the Coretta Scott King Award for the best young people's book by an African American. He was cited for "Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue."
The King award for best illustration went to Bryan Collier for "Rosa," a book written by Nikki Giovanni.
John Green's "Looking for Alaska" won the Printz Award for "excellence in literature written for young adults," while the new Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for "the most distinguished beginning reader book" went to "Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas," written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Sucie Stevenson.
The Andrew Carnegie Medal for best children's video was given to the producers of Mordicai Gerstein's "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers," winner of the Caldecott in 2004. The video is narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal, who stars in "Brokeback Mountain."
Jacqueline Woodson, author of "Hush," "I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This," "If You Come Softly" and other books, received the Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sally Walker's "Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley" earned her the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, and the Belpre prizes for best Latino author and illustrator went to Viola Canales for "The Tequila Worm" and Raul Colon for his work in Pat Mora's "Dona Flor," respectively.
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