Voice

Are you Lively?
Or Lyrical?
Melissa Stewart discusses writing styles on her blog, Celebrate Science.
She talks about writing tips from Newbery Medal Winner, Linda Sue Park.

Looking at why Newbery Award books are great

Editor Patricia Lee Gauch has penned an interesting Horn Book article examining those book who have won Newbery Awards and Honors trying to discover why these books were considered the most distinguished children's books of the year.  (actually the award is given the year after publication, so you can bet if a book won the 2016 Newbery award, it was published in 2015.
And no, I never want to be on that committee - they have to read and re-read and discuss and re-read and discuss and sometimes are still discussing and voting on them into the wee hours of the day that they have to call the winners. And they have to make these calls before the 8 am announcement session at the Winter American Library Association.
See, the thing is, I need my sleep.

However, she concludes that it's the Character. The character that sticks in your mind and makes us think about the book even after we have closed the covers.
"Not just a character who carries the weight of story, but a character original in voice, in spirit, in ideas, perhaps even in looks! Certainly original in imagination."
Then she continues to enumerate other aspects of these tales that make them the best of the best.

Thoughts about Fantasy from Lloyd Alexander

I'm working on a fantasy story and happened upon this article by Lloyd Alexander written for the Horn Book Magazine in 1965 when he was halfway through his five book tale of Taran, the assistant Pig-keeper who becomes King in the final book, The High King.  (Newbery Medal winner, 1969)

Alexander declares that his goddess of Fantasy is a Flat Heeled Muse.  
(I'm linking it here because it's true, and because I want to go back and read it again and again.

Interview with the Newbery Medal Winner

Click on over to School library Journal and read Betsy Bird's interview of

Katherine Applegate!!!

Author of the 2013 Newbery Medal winner -- The One and Only Ivan. 

Writing a Newbery Winner

If you were an Annimorphs fan some years ago, you already know who Katherine Applegate is.  Therefore it should be no surprise to you that her latest book, The One and Only Ivan, won the top award in children's literature -- the Newbery Award -- this week.   Here's a link the the Publisher's Weekly magazine article about it.

It's another example of a writer who didn't give up, but kept writing and rewriting until the story was the best it could be.

And here's an interview of the double Caldecott winner, Jon Klassen. (one of Jon Klassen's books won the major award and another book he illustrated won a Caldecott honor.)