award – Diane Zahler

Tag: award

Thank you, Nebraska!

Posted on May 3, 2018May 3, 2018 by Diane Zahler

I’ve just learned that Baker’s Magic has been named a Golden Sower Award Honor book! nebraska2 This is the children’s book award given by the state of Nebraska. The books are nominated by librarians, and kids from all over the state — 71,939 of them! — read them and then vote for their favorites.

In my category, chapter books, the Golden Sower Award winner was Louis Sachar for his book Fuzzy Mud. It’s a thrill even to be mentioned in the same universe as the author of Holes, so I’m doubly honored.

So many thanks, readers of Nebraska! One of these days I will visit you — and I really hope I get to see that amazing-looking museum built over Interstate 80.

Hooray for the Ocean State!

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Diane Zahler

I’ve just found out that The Marvelwood Magicians has been nominated for the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award! This is such exciting news. Students in the state will be reading the book, and then they’ll be voting on it, and maybe it will win. But even if it doesn’t, the nomination means that lots of kids will get a chance to read it.

shelter-harbor-inn — where I spent Day 1 of my honeymoon, long long ago

Rhode Island is a beautiful state with a glorious coastline. I spent part of my honeymoon there. I have friends who live there. And now the librarians and readers of Rhode Island are honoring the Marvelwoods. Thank you all so much!

Just FYI: here are some strange and/or interesting facts I’ve learned about the state:

Its official name is The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Newport, RI, was the first town in the country (before it was even a country) to host a circus.
Its official state bird is a…chicken.
It’s the home of the country’s oldest Baptist church and oldest synagogue — and oldest still-functioning lending library.

(And as the nomination is the result of librarian love, I must add: HAPPY NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK! There is no better place than a library, and no better people than librarians. They are our bookish superheros.)

Go Cornhuskers!

Posted on November 9, 2017 by Diane Zahler

I’m feeling the Nebraska love this month. Baker’s Magic is nominated for a Golden Sower award, a statewide children’s-choice award. As a result, I’ve been in touch with lots of readers from the state.

I did a Skype visit with a couple of fifth grade classes from Falls City, NE — the first Skype where I tried to use PowerPoint. I also had to use a borrowed webcam, since my built-in one is, oddly, in the lower left-hand side of my screen. When I Skype with it, it makes me look very strange to people on the other side — I’m looking away from them as I talk to them. Anyway, it all worked; the students were great and asked good questions, the PowerPoint and webcam behaved. And then I did another Skype with kids from Doniphan, NE — again, it went perfectly, and the questions they asked were excellent.

The Golden Sower winner isn’t decided until spring, so I’ll be waiting anxiously. In the meantime, Nebraska students, keep reading! (And I’m happy to Skype with your classes: just send me a request.)