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Courtney Sherkel 113 North 14th Avenue                       Altoona, PA 16601 <!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CREATEDATE<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span>\@ "MMMM d, yyyy"<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span>\* MERGEFORMAT <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]-->March 6, 2008<!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]-->           Mary Hoffman c/o Pat White  Rogers, Coleridge and White
20 Powis Mews
London
W11 1JN     Dear Ms. Mary Hoffman: Congratulations! I am pleased to announce that your book, Amazing Grace, has been chosen as the recipient of The Break-A-Leg Award for Excellence in Children's Literature about Theater, Acting, Singing, and/or Dancing. This award was created in my children's literature education class at <st1:PlaceName w:st=

This book is about a girl named Susan. Susan is being described as doing activities such as laughing, swimming, running, etc...Then the last page of the book has Susan sitting in a wheelchair. This book describes the messge that special needs children can do the same activities as the normal children.   Ashley Cribbs 124 Indiana Avenue Vandergrift, Pa 15690 aac5024@psu.edu March 4, 2008 Attention: Mrs. Jeanne Willis Books for Young Readers
Henry Holt and Company
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010   Dear Mrs. Willis: My name is Ashley Cribbs and I am a student at Penn State Altoona majoring in elementary education.  I am writing to inform you that your book, "Susan Laughs," has won the Special Kids Award for Children Literature. It is a book about children who have special needs or exceptionalities. This award was created in my Language and Literacy Education block. I was to create an award for any topic in children literature. Then, the class had to nominate books for each of the awards that each student created. Once completed, the nominee of the award had to choose only one book that the student felt met the requirements of the award. That is how I chose your book for my Special Kids Award.  I have dedicated my award to you because I felt that "Susan Laughs" is an excellent way to portray the message that even though children may have special

This story is about a boy and his family who immigrated from Holland to America. Once he is in America, it doesn't feel like home to him and it's crowded and busy. Not until his furniture from Holland shows up that he feel like there is still room for Holland in his life. This book is perfect for students who are moving or are getting ready to move. Or it's perfect to learn about what it's like for a child to move to another country.

Barbara M. Joosse c/o Scott Treimel, STNY 434 Lafayette St. New York, NY 10003 March 6, 2008 Dear Ms. Joosse: My name is Heidi Held and I am currently an elementary education major at Penn State University. I am pleased to announce that your book, The Morning Chair, has been chosen as the winner of The Sonny Award for Excellence in Children's Literature on the Immigration of Children to the United States! This award was created in one of my language and literacy classes at Penn State. Each member of my class was to create a fictional award and then nominate books for everyone else's awards. You can read more about our class and the nominations at http://kirstinlled.blogspot.com/. My award, The Sonny Award for Excellence in Children's Literature on the Immigration of Children to the United States, was created to find books that deal with the topic of a child's immigration and the struggles and joys of their journey. With the ever-increasing number of immigrants to the United States, I think that there needs to be attention given to books about this very topic. I received many nominations for my award; however, when I read The Morning Chair, I knew this was the perfect book for my award! I really like how The Morning Chair gives the perspective of a child before, during, and after his immigration. It also shows that just because someone moves to a new country, it does not mean that they will forget their old life and traditions. Congratulations on winning this award and thank you very much for writing this wonderful book! Sincerely, Heidi Held 315 Jackson Avenue Vandergrift, PA 15690 hmh5012@psu.edu Enc: Award Certificate

Annushka's Voyage is a marvelous story of two girls trip from Russia to the United States.  There father had left for the United States to look for work and find a place to live while the girls stayed with their grandparents in Russia. Then their father finally sent for them.  They had to travel by boat for many weeks, jammed packed with other immigrants and unsanitary conditions.  When they finally arrive in America they go through a health check and get  reunited with their  father for a very happy ending. This book is an acurate portrayal of what a jounrney to America would have been like in the early 1900's. It is uplifting and high spirited.

This book is a picture book for children about dealing with the absence of a father whether it's due to a death, not knowing, or absent fathers. The story is about a boy who gets picked on about not having a father and the mother explains the many reasons why a dad might not be present. The book also includes a section for teenage parents that consists of quotes, ideas, and how other single-parents dealt with this situation. This book would be a good book to send home to a single-parent family to help the child understand their family situation.

Dear Ms. Lindsay,             My name is Tania Lewis, and I am an Elementary Education major at Penn State- Altoona in Pennsylvania, and I am writing to you today to inform you that you have won the Aiden Jacob Lewis Award for excellence in Children's Literature about children who grow up in a single parent home for your story, "Do I Have a Daddy?" The criteria for this award is that the book should display excellence in the fact that it helps children understand that growing up in a single parent home isn't always as been as it may sometimes seem, and that they are not alone and are not the only child who lives in homes just like they do.This award was created in my LLED 402 class. This class is solely based on analyzing, reading, and working with all types of children's literature. Every student in the class was asked to create an award about something that means a lot to them and also name it after someone special. This award that I created is named after my three month old son, Aiden, and the reason for the category is because I am a single mother and I worry sometimes about questions my son will ask me when he gets older, so I thought if I had books to help him understand, that it wouldn't be as hard. Each student, after creating an award, had to nominate books for their classmate's awards. Once done, we got to pick the winning book, and had an award ceremony for the nominators of the books. I chose your book for many different reasons. I chose it because when Erik's mother is faced with the question, "Do I have a Daddy?" she is very positive and honest with him, thinking about his feelings and saying that not all children liv

This is a wonderful book to help children cope with their parents divorce. It is written as a child's resource. It explains how a child will feel if their parents get a divorce, and it lets the child know that it is okay to feel this way. It lets the child know that they are not the only one. It is a wonderful resource for a child to use when they do not know what to do or how to feel after their parents divorce.

Dear Emily Menendez-Aponte, On behalf of the Elementary Education Department at the Penn State Altoona Campus, I would like to present you with The Baker Award for Excellence in Children's Literature on Helping Children Deal with Their Parents Divorce! "The Baker Award for Excellence in Children's Literature on Helping Children Deal with Their Parents Divorce will be awarded to the author who has the best guidance on helping children deal with divorce. It seems like every fairy tale we read today has "They lived happily ever after", however, we all know that in today's society this is not true. In the book "Battling Dragons" edited by Susan Lehr there is an article by Deborah Thompson. In Thompson's article it says "Thomas (1972) found that most family relationships in children's books were unrealistic. She argued that the typical children's book, Mother always took Father, who carried a briefcase and wore a suit, to the train station in a station wagon. She also argued that authors treated single-parenthood like "the plague," and therefore, single-parent families were virtually nonexistent in books for children" (pg. 88). It is almost impossible to go into a classroom anymore and find students that all still have their parents together. Therefore, this award will be given to a book that helps portray divorce as something that can work and that children can deal with. The book should be geared toward ages 6-12 and have an accurate portrayal of strength and encouragement clearly stating that the child is not the only one going through something like this." My name is Chelsea Baker. I am a junior at Penn State Altoona and I created The Baker Award. Within my class, we had an assignment in which each student in the class, including myself, made up awards for a book nomination. Then each person in the class had to nominate one book for all the other students' awards. Don't worry there is only ten students in the class. Any

My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss is a great book. The book describes various colors. Then for each color in the book, it tells how the child feels on those days. Towards the end, it states that there days that are all mixed up. During these days, they do not know who they are. And they end, by turning back into themselves. Also, everyone has many emotions that they experience. This book is great for children ages 5-8. This book can be found in the Penn State libraries.

Is a Worry Worrying You? is about worrying. This book gives examples as to what worries are and how you can get rid of them. It tells the readers exactly what a worry is. The book talks about worries as being invisible and unable to find. This book deals with a very serious issue; however, the book is actually presented in a humorous way. Is a Worry Worrying You? would be a great book to read in a classroom because a lot of kids are constantly worried about something or another (especially the things mentioned in the book). Remember, as the book says, just don't worry! This book is available through the Penn State Libraries.

I am pleased to present the Jason Baker Award for children's books portraying children effectively dealing with emotions and feelings to Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz for Is A Worry Worrying You? My Name is Carli Van Scyoc and I am currently a student a Penn State University. As part of the language and literacy curriculum for the elementary education program, we had an assignment to create an award for a category that was important.  Then we were to choose a book from various student nominations that best fits our award description.  I am very happy to say that this book was perfect.  I am interested in  pursuing a career in counceling  so I used this oppurtunity to read many books that taught children how to deal with their unfamiliar emotions and understand that it is completely normal.  I absolutely love this book and would offer it to any child who finds themselves in a similar situation.  Thank you for writting just a great book.

The Castle on Hester Street by LInda Heller is about a grandfather and grandmother immigrating to America. The grandfather begins by telling the story of Moishe to his granddaugher, Julie. The grandfather states that he came from Russia and his story of how he met his wife. The grandfather went through many journeys and obstacles to get his way out of Russia. The grandfather and grandmother were attacked beacuse they were Jews. Then, the grandfather said that once he arrived in America they were given a castle. The grandmother was famous because she sewed for royalty. And the grandfather concludes the story of him immigrating to America. This is a great picture book for grades K-4. This book can be found in the Penn State libraries.

You have to Write by Janet S. Wong is a book about girls and boys struggling to write. The book is composed of short poems on teaching children on how to write. It starts by stating that the students do not like to write. The reason is due to the children not knowing what to write about. They have so many things going on in shcool and in their lives that they miss many opportunities to write. The students can write about anything that is happening in their lives. The book describes the writing process that children can understand. Overall, the book is very good and educational to help the struggling students learn to write. This is a wonderful book for children grades K-4 who are struggling to write. This book is available through Penn State libraries.

This book is about a girl named Maria Isabel, a Hispanic child growing up in the United States. When she starts school, her teacher changes her name to Mary because there are already two other girls with the name Maria in her classroom. Maria Isabel has trouble answering to Mary because it is not her name. Maria Isabel is proud of her name because of the fact that she is named after relatives whom she loves. Because Maria Isabel finds it impossible to answer to Mary, she is excluded from the school's Winter Pageant. This book shows a Hispanic child's pride in her heritage and how difficult it is to fit into a new environment that doesn't understand your culture. With a growing multi-cultural population, this book is great to recommend to older students of all ethnicities to help them understand and accept different cultures.

Poems to Dream Together by Francisco Alarcon is a great poetry book. This book is a collection of poems. The poems are in Spanish and English. The poems have subjects like: childhood, teacher experiences, and ones about the future. They are very short and have lots of meaning that will effect the children positively. This book has a wide range of topics and many can read it due to the number of languages in it. This is a great poetry book for children ages seven to nine. A great picture book to visualize the meaning of the poems. This book can be found in Penn State libraries.

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe is a great book for illustrations. Mufaro has two daughters that are really beautiful. One daughter, Nyasha, is kind, nice, and caring towards others. Manyard is a spoiled brat. The king has to choose one of the daughters to get married to her. Both daughters travel to a city in Africa. However, the king chooses Nyasha to marry him. The illustrations in the book are wonderful. Looks like a painter drew them by hand by the well drawn pictures. This is a great book for children illustrations. Also, this is a picture book with wonderful pictures. This book can be found in Penn State libraries.

Being Friends by Karen Beaumont is a great book about friends. Two girls talk about being friends. There are things that they both disagree on, yet there are many things that they do like. For example, one likes jeans and the other likes gowns. However, they are still friends. Moral is that friends are different individually, and that they can still be friends. The book is great for children having a hard time making friends. This book can be found in Penn State libraries.

Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann is a great book. It was a rainy day and there was nothing to do. The girl's mom suggested to make cupcakes. So they did. The girl ate lots of cupcakes. When she woke up the next morning, she was pink. She loved being pink. Then her mom took her to the doctors and said that she had pinkititis. She was not allowed to eat anything pink. She turned red by eating one more cupcake. She ate something green and turned back to normal. Then her brother ate a pink cupcake and he turned pink. This is a great book for laughter in the classroom. This book can be found in the Penn State libraries.