On Monday, May 2nd, I had the good fortune to attend the 4th annual Children’s Choice Book Awards at the Chelsea Piers Lighthouse in New York City. The evening is designed to give children the opportunity to vote to select a winner from lists of finalists in many categories of children’s literature. Authors mingle during the festive cocktail hour, the awards are announced during a lively presentation, and a sumptuous dessert reception follows. According to the Children’s Choice Book Awards press release, which announced the winners of each category, the event “was created to provide young readers with an opportunity to voice their opinions about the books being written for them and to help develop a reading list that will motivate children to read more and cultivate a love of reading.” This year was especially exciting because Hewitt played a big part in the awards ceremony with the premier of the Hewitt video celebrating literacy.
I was very excited for the Children’s Choice Book Awards because I am an avid reader, and I could not wait to meet many of my favorite authors. I tirelessly scoured the area for these popular authors and illustrators so they could sign the special autograph books that were handed out at the beginning of the event. Overall, I received 15 autographs, all of which I proudly display in my room.
I asked four authors at the event for their opinions on the Children’s Choice Book Awards – Suzanne Collins, Rick Riordan, Rebecca Stead, and Jon Scieszka. I was particularly thrilled to once again meet and speak with my favorite author, Suzanne Collins, about whom I have written two other Hewitt Times articles, one about her book, The Hunger Games, and the other about the upcoming movie version of The Hunger Games. All the authors were kind enough to spend time talking with me about this unique evening.
Collins noted, “I love how kids are so involved in this event. Usually, only adults are involved in book events, and it’s nice to have an event that is so interactive for kids.”
Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, commented, “I am really having a good time, and I am seeing a lot of authors that I know and meeting lots of kids. Everyone said this was a great party, and they were right!”
Rebecca Stead, author of When You Reach Me, said, “Everyone at this event is very friendly. This is one of the few places where you can meet both fellow writers and kids.” She jokingly added, “And the food is great too!”
Jon Scieszka, author of many books, such as The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Frog Prince Story Continued, and The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Fairy Tales, exclaimed jubilantly, “This is the best children’s book event in the world!!!”
Opening the awards portion of the evening was the Hewitt music video celebrating reading. The Hewitt video features the Hewitt Middle School, as well as several Upper School students, including Zoe Himmel, Pauline Cronin, Janae Barrett, Sophie Heinberg and Chinelo Okpala. The video displayed the love of literacy that Hewitt fosters, and it showcased the talents of many Hewitt students.
I spoke with Ms. Hoffman about the music video, and she shared, “This year has been an exciting year for The Hewitt School. We were honored when the Children’s Book Council asked Hewitt to create a `Read for Your Life’ video. Robin Adelson, Executive Director of the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader, as well as Hewitt parent of Kyla Shinder, invited The Hewitt School to be a part of the 2011 Children’s Book Choice Awards. Over the course of the 2010-2011 year, students, faculty and parents (Zelma Davis, Marcus Vazzano, Nikki Taylor and Don King) worked together to create a video celebrating the power of reading. Songs were written, `Reading in the USA’ (Miley Cyrus) and `Read for your Life’; dances were choreographed and skits were rehearsed as part of this collaborative process. Hewitt is the first school to produce a video to kick off this exciting event. It was a true labor of love!”
I also spoke with Chinelo Okpala, who commented, “I really enjoyed making the video because I expressed my love of reading through the arts, which is something that means a lot to me. I don’t know where I would be without the arts because it is such a strong form of self expression, but I am also glad that we were promoting something positive. Reading is very important and I hope [the music video] will help kids enjoy reading more.”
The video was an excellent representation of Hewitt’s love for reading and learning, and I am very proud to be a student at a school that values these pursuits as much as I do.
I also spoke with the Executive Director Robin Adelson about the event. She commented, “The 4th annual Children’s Choice Book Awards gala was a celebration of all that is magical, whimsical and brilliant in children’s books. Highlights include the Hewitt music video that opened the awards portion of the program and set the celebratory tone, fabulous host Jarrett Krosoczka, a reading rainbow sing-along with LeVar Burton, and former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and award-winning author Jon Scieszka dressing up as Snooki. We can’t wait for Year 5!”
Overall, I had a fantastic time at the Children’s Choice Book Awards, and I can’t wait to return next year!