Johnny's Pheasant Is Winner of 2020 Charlotte Zolotow Award

Full Press Release

Johnny’s Pheasant, written by Cheryl Minnema, illustrated by Julie Flett, and published by University of Minnesota Press in 2019, is the winner of the 2020 Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book.

This gorgeous, graceful story about a Native family, written by an Ojibwe author and illustrated by a Cree-Métis artist, is both satisfying and surprising. The drama and wonder unfold in a spare, beautifully crafted text when Johnny and his grandma find “a small feathery hump” near the ditch. It’s a pheasant. Grandma guesses it was hit by a car, but Johnny is certain it’s only sleeping. The perfectly paced narrative is full of humor, warmth, and a deeply child-affirming sensibility. “Hoot! Hoot!”

The 2020 Charlotte Zolotow committee named five honor books: 

• Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story written by Kevin Noble Maillard and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (Roaring Brook Press / Macmillan)
• A Map into the World written by Kao Kalia Yang and illustrated by Seo Kim (Carolrhoda / Lerner) 
• Pokko and the Drum written and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe (A Paula Wiseman Book / Simon & Schuster)
• Saturday written and illustrated by Oge Mora (Little, Brown)
• Truman written by Jean Reidy and illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins (Atheneum / Simon & Schuster)

 The committee also named 7 highly commended titles: 

• Beware of the Crocodile written by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura (U.S. edition: Candlewick Press)
• Daniel’s Good Day written and illustrated by Micha Archer (Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin Random House)
• Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend! written and illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld (Dial Books / Penguin Random House)
• My Papi Has a Motorcycle written by Isabel Quintero and illustrated by Zeke Peña (Kokila / Penguin Random House)
• One Fox: A Counting Thriller Book written and illustrated by Kate Read (Peachtree)
• Small in the City written and illustrated by Sydney Smith (Neal Porter Books / Holiday House) 
• The Thing about Bees: A Love Letter written and illustrated by Shabazz Larkin (Readers to Eaters)

The award is named for the late Charlotte Zolotow, author of more than 70 books for young children, and a distinguished editor of books for children and teens at Harper.

Book of the Week: Why?

by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Neal Porter Books / Holiday House, 2019

32 pages

ISBN: 978-0-8234-4173-0

Ages 2-5

A small rabbit has question after question for a large bear, always simply stated as “Why?” Children must infer the specific question from both the accompanying illustration and the bear’s answer in this story that moves across the seasons. Rabbit asks “Why?” as bear waters flowers (“Because flowers need water to grow.”). “Why?” are geese flying in a V? “Why?” isn’t bear joining rabbit in his hole? Rabbit’s questions are full of wonder and curiosity, but also poignancy, tension (as when rabbit is buffeted by the wind and begins to fall), and sadness (“Why?” when rabbit finds a dead bird. “Sometimes I just don’t’ know why!” Bear replies). Seeger’s story validates so many feelings with so few words. Gorgeous watercolor paintings capture the beauty of the natural world through changing seasons, and the tenderness of rabbit and bear’s relationship. ©2020 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Book of the Week: The Run-Aways

The Run-aways

by Ulf Stark

Illustrated by Kitty Crowther

Translated by Julia Marshall from the Swedish

Gecko Press, 2019

129 pages

ISBN: 9781776572335

Ages 7-11

Grandpa is stuck in the hospital after a bad fall, and he’s not happy about it. He swears a lot, makes unreasonable demands of his nurses, and complains about the food. When Gottfried Junior suggests they run away together, Grandpa likes the idea. He wants to make a final trip to the house on the Stockholm archipelago where he and his late wife lived. Gottfried plans the escape down to the last detail: He concocts a story about an overnight football team trip (dirtying his uniform convincingly), convinces his mother to make him some meatballs (Grandpa’s favorite), and arranges for the butcher’s assistant to drive them. At his old home, Grandpa collects the final jar of homemade lingonberry jam from the cellar and takes a moment to reflect on the life he had with his beloved wife. Gottfried Junior is sensitive, patient, and accepting of his grandfather for who and how he is. The two come to terms with the fact that Grandpa is nearing the end of his life in this tender yet humorous story. (MCT) ©2020 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Book of the Week: Birdsong

by Julie Flett

Published by Greystone Kids, 2019

48 pages

ISBN: 9781771644730

Ages 4-8

Katherena, a young Cree girl, and her mother move from their home by the sea to the country. Over the course of a year, Katherena adapts to her new home and grows close to Agnes, an older woman who lives nearby. Both are creative: Katherena draws; Agnes works with clay. They also share an appreciation for nature. Agnes shows Katherena how to work in the garden and teaches her about the stages of the moon. Katherena tells Agnes about Cree seasons. When winter comes, Katherena and her mother make salmon stew for Agnes, who needs a bit of extra help in the cold season. Agnes gives her a handful of snowdrop bulbs in return. By the time spring returns, Agnes is too weak to leave her bed, so Katherena hangs all of her bird drawings on the walls of her friend’s bedroom, assembling what Agnes calls “a poem for her heart.” A deep, earth-tone palette accompanies this gentle story of change, love, and loss conveyed through the rhythm of seasons and the undisrupted pattern of life. (MCT)  ©2020 Cooperative Children’s Book Center