And then THIS happened

Yeah, we have been there since
the beginning!

As I have mentioned via Twitter and our Facebook page over the last couple of weeks, today was the big day, the American Library Association Youth Media Awards...aka the party where we find out who won all of the awards for children's literature!  This year I was especially excited because there was a lot of buzz about two of my favorites from 2012.

So, this morning, thanks to the world of technology, I set up live streaming of the awards.  As my students entered the classroom at 8 am, they were greeted with the faces of librarians, a sheet to keep track of the winners of each award, and my giddy, overly-smiley face.  One little guy said, "Meg, this is like the Oscars for you." Yup.  That's how I roll.

Getting ready to watch live!

Our favorites this year were Wonder by R.J. Palacio and anything by Jon Klassen.  (Remember, we stormed his book release of This is Not My Hat back in the fall. And we are slightly obsessed with him in Room 39.)  We watched, hands clutching our papers, as we got closer and closer to the final awards.

Sadly, Wonder did not win...even more sad it wasn't even an honor book.  (Think Silver Medal.)  However, the Newbery winner was The One and Only Ivan, which my after school book club, GAB (Girls and Books) just happens to be reading!  Lots of shrieks for that one!

The real excitement came when they announced the Caldecott Medal for illustrations.  We all sorta groaned when Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen was awarded a Caldecott Honor (Again, think silver medal) because we thought that meant no love, again, for Jon Klassen.  Boy were we in for a treat!  Jon Klassen won!  For This is Not My Hat!  The very book that we got signed...on the release date...in a small bookstore in our neighborhood!

Jon Klassen FOR THE WIN!!

Many of you know I have a goal of making authors the new celebrities.  Today, it felt like it was real.  Kids were walking around saying things like, "Oh, yeah, I met Jon.  He drew a picture on my book."  When we read This is Not My Hat...for the 3rd time today...one kid asked if the big fish really did eat the little fish in the end.  I was about to explain my thoughts when one little guy raised his hand and said, "OOOh!  I remember what Jon Klassen said at the thing!"  "Oh yeah?  What did he say?" I responded.  "He said, 'I guess.'"  We have decided tomorrow will be Jon Klassen Day and we are all wearing hats. 

It was a magical day in my classroom.  My class felt a strong connection to real life authors.  Life is pretty good for us, how are you doing Mr. Klassen?

Oh, and for a complete list of all today's winners and honor books, check out this link.