Charlotte Zolotow Award Books

Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

2005 Award Winner

Henkes, K. (2004). Kitten’s First Full Moon. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

This story would work well to teach character building traits and would work well in a pre-kindergarten or kindergarten class. Kitten mistakes the moon for a bowl of milk one evening. She earnestly tries to capture that bountiful bowl in the sky. On an adventure that carries her to a pond, kitten believes she finally has the bowl of milk within her grasp. Mistaking the moon’s reflection in the pond, she jumps in to quench her thirst. “Tired, wet and hungry” she turned home; her persistence unrewarded. However, much to her surprise, a loving bowl of milk waited on the porch for her. Imagination, adventure and determination soar up to the heavens and across the pages in the illustrations. Whether the text spilled across the open pages, mimicking the distance to the moon, or a page spread was divided into four sections to compliment kittens multiple efforts to “drink” the moon, Henkes locks the readers with his verbiage and visual images.

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems

2005 Honor Book

Willems, M. (2004). Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

What immediately transfixes the readers is that Willems uses realistic photographs with cartoon inserts. It's the best of both worlds because readers are able to insert imagination in an everyday background setting that they're familiar with and can recognize instantly, while on an errand with their parents. Additionally, the end papers are visual hints of what will happen to the beloved Knuffle Bunny. As a child and more like "Linus" from "Charlie Brown," I lost my "wubbie" (a purple blanket with silk ribbons on the end) on a daily basis, staging World War III for my mother every night when I couldn't find it. Security blankets and stuff animals are crucial to a child because it belongs to them, especially when most of the time they hear multitudinous variations of "No!" There's something about ownership and losing it that truly rocks a child's world, and sends parents on a panicky, maniacal search. Use this to visualize how innovation and imagination can interject itself into everyday life. Willems side-cracking humor is evidence in the expressions of the cartoon illustrations, as well as before the story begins.

When Sofie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry... by Molly Bang

2000 Award Winner

Bang, M. (1999). When Sofie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry... . New York, NY: Blue Sky Press.

Every child has to learn to effectively deal with anger and Molly Bang has eloquently designed and verbalized the this emotion to a "tee." A natural and one of the first emotions to encounter, children must learn to control and demonstrate anger in a socially acceptable manner. I adore the way Bang used figurative language to express Sofie's "red, red roar." The illustrative colors of red and purple provided a cool (purple) and hot (red) background, offering a subliminal balance in handling the emotions of anger. When Sofie calms herself down, watching the movement of water, the calming colors of green and blue tempers the tempest inside reducing the raging, feverish typhoon that consumed her before. The illustrations emphasizes the importance of removing yourself from the volatile situation and finding a quiet place to soothe oneself. As I child, my mother knew she'd "pushed my button" when I retreated to my bedroom to bellow out my frustrations on my cello. The words I couldn't or wouldn't formulate screamed from my bow strokes and released the physical damage that holding my anger within probably caused. Bang teaches that it's okay to become angry, but that you also must deal with it in a non-destructive manner, preferably alone which is self-sufficient and healthy!