Clementine author Sara Pennypacker began her acceptance speech by admitting that the antics of her own children (“I just stole everything my kids ever did or said and put them in order”) provided the inspiration for her zany protagonist Clementine, a precocious third grader whose well-intentioned desire to problem-solve lands her in a heap of good-natured trouble. Two books garnered the 2007 Josette Frank award, given “to honor books of outstanding literary merit in which children or young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties in their world and grow emotionally and morally”: Clementine and The Manny Files. Bank Street College of Education President Augusta Kappner kicked off the Children’s Book Committee’s annual awards presentation last month, noting that “everyone in this room is committed to bringing good literature and writing to the lives of children.” In announcing this year’s book award winners – Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine, Christian Burch’s The Manny Files, and Russell Freedman’s Freedom Walkers – she noted that they were in rarefied company, with over 4000 books in contention for three prestigious awards.

The Bank Street College of Education has long recognized such literary alchemy, ever since its nonprofit Children’s Book Committee was founded 75 years ago to recognize the enchantment that colorful prose infuses in the lives of young people and to guide librarians, educators and parents to the best books for children published each year. “Books may well be the only true magic,” author Alice Hoffman is quoted as saying. Alice Belgray, Chair, Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College Announces 2007 Awards

The Manny Files by Christian Burch