Dear Mem Fox, March 6 , 2008

Hello! My name is Kimberly Cramer. I am a college student at Penn State Altoona. It is located in the United States, in Pennsylvania. I am studying to become an Elementary Education teacher. We had a project to do in my Language and Literature class. In this project we were able to make an award for children's literature. Then, the rest of the students in the class nominated books for my award. I was given 9 books to chose a winner of my award from. This book allowed us to explore many different children's book. Your book "Whoever you are" was nominated to win my award, and sure enough it has.
I would like to show the criteria for my award, that way you know exactly why I chose your book. The follow excerpt is what my fellow students were given in order to nominate books for my award.
"The Kimberly Cramer Award for Celebrating Multiculturalism and Common Humanity is to be given to a book that not only celebrates the differences across cultures, but also portrays the likeness of the human species as a whole. This idea is pulled from Judith Heide Gilliland's article, 'Living in Sami's and Ahmed's Worlds: Picture books explore Children's Lives in other countries'. This article can be found in Susan Lehr's book "Battling Dragons", on pages 105-112. Gilliand says that 'today's best books celebrate not only those wonderful differences, but also our sameness, our common humanity' (105). The book that you will nominate must be a picture book and be written for children ages 5-9. The book should not have stereotypes of any one group; rather, it should celebrate the differences and the similarities of the many groups. The book should promote tolerance, as well as give the child insight to his/her own life."
I decided to choose your book because I felt that it embraced all of my ideas. I wanted my book to show the differences and similarities of cultures. You did this in your book by show their differences visually and showing their similarities through emotion. I believe that any child from any culture could pick this book and be able to understand the meaning you are trying to convey. In this sense, I strongly believe that your book would appeal to the aesthetic reader. I like this idea because it shows children that no matter what they believe, no matter what they look like, and no matter how they speak; they all have something in common.
I hope that you are delighted to receive this award. I enjoyed reading your book and will be sure to buy this book to have in my collection for my own classroom someday. Have a wonderful day, and CONGRATULATIONS!

Sincerely,
Kimberly Cramer

This is a story about an 11 year old boy John Jacob Mickley. He and his father were in visiting Philadelphia during the Revolution. While they were there the Redcoats were invading. John and his father were lucky enough to be able to embark on a journey to hide the most precious symbol of freedom, the Liberty bell. This is a story of the journey hiding the Liberty Bell from the Redcoats. It is being told from Johns point of view to his brothers and sisters after he arrived home.

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.

This is a story about a little girl who likes to be unique. She wears a pony tail in her hair even though the rest of the girls at school wear their hair different. The girls in her class make fun of her, but she does not care. The next day they will come into school wearing their hair the exact same way that Stephanie does. She feels very angry that the girls are copying her, so she changes her hair style. No matter what silly way she does it , they always copy. In the end it doesn't end up so good for the "copy cats".

This story is about two best friends, Marilyn and Traci, and their fifth grade teacher, Miss Wichelman. The girls loved spending time with their teacher, in and out of school. The teacher always encouraged them to never give up. Her famous line is "If life hands you a lemons, make lemonade". Marilyn, Traci, and Miss Wichelman create a club called "The Lemonade Club", they become very close. In the story, one of the best friends becomes very ill. Patricia Polacco shows the reader the ups and downs of the process of healing and dealing with this illness. The Lemonade Club works through this hard time together. This book will teach the reader how to deal with life-threatening illness.

This is a story about a Swan who loves to dance, especially ballet. She struggles with the feeling of nervousness throughout the story. The big ballet is coming up and she is afraid to get on stage. Luckily she has a wonderful teacher that encourages her to push on. She keeps practicing, but she is still nervous. This book will teach a child that it is ok to feel nervous, but to never give up.

The Kimberly Cramer Award for Celebrating Multiculturalism and Common Humanity is to be given to a book that not only celebrates the differences across cultures, but also portrays the likeness of the human species as a whole. This idea is pulled from Judith Heide Gilliland's article, "Living in Sami's and Ahmed's Worlds: Picture books explore Children's Lives in other countries". This article can be found in Susan Lehr's book "Battling Dragons", on pages 105-112. Giilliand says that "today's best books celebrate not only those wonderful differences, but also our sameness, our common humanity" (105). The book that you will nominate must be a picture book and be written for children ages 5-9. The book should not have stereotypes of any one group; rather, it should celebrate the differences and the similarities of the many groups. The book should promote tolerance, as well as give the child insight to his/her own life. The nominations are due by February 19th, 2008.