The following links will provide information on the award,

the requirements for nomination, and much more!

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/sibertmedal/index.cfm

http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=21608

http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/is/enroom/awards/sibert.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibert_Medal Things We Found Interesting about the Sibert AwardWhile reading our books for this award, we noticed a few common factors to their classification as Sibert Honor Books and Medal Winners. Essentially, all of these books can be categorized as informational books. Yet one thing that caught us off guard, was that each book had a story to tell. Each work had a plot and obstacles to overcome. While some of the books on the Sibert list seemed daunting and a bit boring at first, each book was enthralling, and we found ourselves becoming engrossed in reading each of them. Some of us read more of the books just for fun! Many of the books can be placed in their own genres, such as autobiography, history, science, and art. The common link between these genres, however, was the historicism behind each piece. Each piece had a true back story, one that helped develop the main characters of each work, and each of the back stories were based on historical fact. Also, one key link between the science based books was that in each one, there were diagrams, detailed photos, and charts, making it easier for young readers to understand the material. As they were informational, each book was filled with definitions unlike typical textbooks. The writers would say a concept, or a technical term, and then define it within the context of the work. This technique made each book exceptionally easy to read.

Award Winning and Nominated Books My Season with Penguins by Sophie Webb
2001 Honor Book
My season with Penguins is a compilation of an artists journey. Sophie Webb travels to the cold climate plain of Antartica. Throughout her two-month stay she observes, records and draws her new found animal friends.




The Brooklyn Bridgeby Lynn Curlee
2002 Honor Book

Brooklyn Bridge provides detailed information on the process of how the Brooklyn Bridge was built. A fourteen-year project now stands as on of the most popular world landmarks.


Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos
2003 Honor Book
This book is a documented look into the past of a man destined for failure. After being imprisoned at a young age, Jack Gantos re-tells his story and how he turned his life around and become a well known author.


To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel written by Siena Cherson Siegel, artwork by Mark Siege
2007 Honor Book
This is a story of Siena Siegel, her dream of becoming a prima ballerina, and how she overcame her obstacles to make her dream a reality.


What to Do About Alice by Barbra Kerley
2009 Medal Winner
This is an entertaining bibliography about Alice, President Theodore Rooesevelts daughter and their chaotic life in the WHite House.


Team Moon:How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh
2007 Medal Winner
This is an in depth behind the scenes look into the first Apollo moon landing, from the first ideas to the final landing.


Sequoyah by James Rumford
2005 Honor Book
This is the telling of the tale of Sequoyah in 1958, and the struggles he dealt with in creating the Cherokee writing. Though crippled he was able to be strong and stand tall resulting in the beautiful Sequoia trees taking his namesake.


The Tararantula Scientist by Sy Montogomery
2005 Honor Book
This is a documentary of Sam Marshall's research and findings, dealing with the tarantula.


An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy
2004 Medal Winner
An account of the Yellow Fever epidemic in 1793. A deadly outbreak of influenza in Philadelphia kills thousands of people, and threatens the newborn United States of America, forcing President Washington to flee the city.


Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929 by Karen Blumenthal
2003 Honor Book
A compilation of stories from people who lived the Crash of '29, and the "hows" and "whys" about Black Tuesday, and how a series of bad economic moves brought the United States to its knees, causing millions of people to lose everything they had.


Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
2002 Medal Winner
An historical account of mid-19th century Ireland, English despotism, and the mysterious blight that rendered the staple diet of the Irish inedible, killing one million, and sending two million refugees abroad.


Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
2006 Honor Book
The recounting of growing up in Nazi-Germany, and the excitement and fury surrounding the notorious Hitler Youth. It explores the memories of those who lived during the Third Reich's rise to power and its ultimate demise.


Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren
2002 Honor Book
A biography of Jack Mendelbaum, a young Polish Jew in the years preceding World War II. Jack recounts his childhood, Hitler's rise to power, and the horrible atrocities of the death camps, and how, against all odds, he survived.


Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunleyby Sally M. Walker
2008 Medal Winner
A scientific and historic exploration of the Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley, the first sub to destroy an enemy ship, and also the search and reclamation of the Hunley after its discovery in Charleston Bay in 1995.


I Face The Windwritten by Vicki Cobb, illustrated by Julia Gorton
2004 Honor Book
This book introduces the wind, how it works and functions, through a series of hands-on activities it teaches how to understand something you cannot see.


The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
2008 Medal Winner
The tale of a young boy growing up in Czechoslavakia during the time of the Cold War struggling with what his government is telling him is right and what he feels. He knows he is destined to be an artist but is constantly being censored.

2010 Medal Winner

Almost Astronauts 13 Women Who Dare To Dream

By Tanya Lee Stone

When Marian Sang

By Pam Muñoz

Action Jackson

By Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan 2003 Honor Book

Pedro and Me

By Judd Winick2001 Honor Book

Moonshot

By Brian Floca2010 Honor Book

Lightship

By Brian Floca2008 Honor Book

Spiders

By Nic Bishop2008 Honor Book

A Voice That Challenged A Nation

By Russell Freedman2005 Medal Winner

The Day-Glo Brothers

By Chris Barton2010 Honor Book

We are Ship

By Kadir Nelson2009 Medal Winner

Bodies From The Ice

By James M. Deem2009 Honor Book

By Joan Dash

The Longitude Prize

By Sy Montgomery 2007 Honor Book

The Storm That Changed America

By Jim Murphy2001 Honor Book

By Phillip Hoose2010 Honor Book

Vincent Van Gogh

By Jan Grenberg and Sandra Jordan2002 Honor Book

Life and Death of Adolf Hitler

By James Cross Giblin2003 Medal Winner

Words for America

By Barbara Kerley2005 Honor Book

Freedom Riders

By Ann Bausum2007 Honor Book

Sir Walter Ralegh

By Marc Aronson2001 Medal Winner