Caldecott and Newbery Medals 2018

This Sunday, I was invited to a local library event about the 2018 Caldecott and Newbery Medal Honor Books for 2018. 

In a very well-put together event by the Children's Literature Connection, each book was presented by a thoughtful and engaged presenter, typically an author or illustrator themselves, who went over what they loved about the story and why they think it was nominated for the award. 

I also won Hello Universe, by Erin Entrada Kelly as a door prize raffle, so that was exciting. I'm so excited to read it!

This year's nominees and winners were quite an impressive bunch, and the overall effect of the event was it made me want to read all of them. 

There was an engaging discussion regarding the overall age of the Newbery books, with Long Way Down and Piecing Me Together written for arguably older audiences than the typical Newbery book (although the Newbery reader range goes up to age 14, and kids like to "read up".)

Overall, it was a great event. What do you think about this year's honorees?  Are you more likely to read a book that has been nominated for one of these prestigious awards?