And the winners are ...

The 2005 Caldecott and Newbery awards were presented on January 23. Even the old pros among us were surprised by some of the winners.

Winning the Caldecott Award, Chris Raschka illustrations in “The Hello, Goodbye Window” are warm, vibrant and cheerful. The book, written by Norton Juster (also the author of “The Phantom Tollbooth”), celebrates a child’s very special relationship with her grandmother and grandfather and is a wonderful read-aloud for grades PreK-3.

Caldecott honors include “Rosa,” illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Nikki Giovanni, a moving tribute to Rosa Parks; “Zen Shorts,” written and illustrated by Jon J. Muth, a fanciful exploration of Japanese folktales and philosophy; “Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride,” written and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, fun and lighthearted; “Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems,” illustrated by Beckie Prange, written by Joyce Sidman, beautiful, serene poetry.

The 2005 Newbery award winner is “Criss Cross,” by Lynne Rae Perkins. Newbery honors were awarded to “Whittington” by Alan Armstrong, illustrated by S.D. Schindler; “Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow” by Susan Campbell; “Princess Academy” by Shannon Hale, published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books; and “Show Way” by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbott. Because of the themes of several of the books, only “Princess Academy” and “Show Way” will be placed in the Jamestown library collection.

For more information about the winning books, go to www.ala.org/releases/caldecott.html.