And, the winners were ...

The winner of this year's Caldecott has one twice before.
By BOB THOMPSON
WASHINGTON POST
The two most prestigious awards for American children's books were awarded last week to Susan Patron, a relatively unknown author who received this year's Newbery Medal, and to David Wiesner, an illustrator who won the Caldecott Medal for the third time.
Patron won for "The Higher Power of Lucky," the story of a motherless 10-year-old in a tiny town in the California desert. Her win "was a big surprise to everyone, including me," she said, because it "wasn't a very splashy book" and "wasn't talked about in the field."
Wiesner won for "Flotsam," his wordless tale of a boy who finds an underwater camera at the beach and of the wonders that unfold when he develops the film it contains. The illustrator's earlier Caldecott winners were "Tuesday" (1992) and "The Three Pigs" (2002). He joked that his fellow children's book authors and illustrators -- "a really terrific community of people" -- may not be talking to him anymore.
Other winners
Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel "American Born Chinese" won the Printz Award, a newer but increasingly significant prize for books in the young adult category. A surprised and gratified Yang, whose book was a National Book Awards finalist last year, said that while he'd heard of the Caldecott and the Newbery, he hadn't known about this one. After he won, he said, he looked it up online.
The Coretta Scott King Award for African-American authors went to "Copper Sun," by Sharon Draper. The King award for illustrators went to "Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom," illustrated by Kadir Nelson. "Moses" was also named a Caldecott Honor Book.
The awards were announced Jan. 22 in Seattle at the midwinter meeting of the American Library Association.
More than any other children's book awards -- or any adult book prizes -- the Newbery and the Caldecott are guaranteed life-changing experiences for the authors and illustrators involved. For one thing, winning titles almost always stay in print indefinitely.
The association announced numerous other youth media awards. Among these, Lois Lowry ("The Giver," "Number the Stars") and the late James Marshall (author and illustrator of many works including the "George and Martha" books) were recognized for their lasting contributions to young adult and children's literature, respectively.
Folk singer Pete Seeger, along with two collaborators, was honored for embodying "the artistic expression of the disability experience" in a book called "The Deaf Musicians."