On Monday, two of the most prestigious awards in children's literature were announced. Clare Vanderpool won the Newbery for Moon Over Manifest and Erin E. Stead won the Caldecott for A Sick Day for Amos McGee. For years the winners of these two awards showed up the next day on the Today Show. How wonderful, I always thought, that children's books got that important national exposure. Sadly, that tradition seems no more. Yesterday, instead of Clare and Erin we got... Snooki.
ETA From an ALA (the organization that gives the two awards) blog: "Unfortunately, this year, Today turned ALA's pitch down, citing a lack of interest and scheduling problems."
