Both winning books are published by independent publishers. Look Both Ways delivers the first win for Knights Of, in its first year to have a longlisted title; Small in the City is the 16 th win for Walker Books (4 Carnegie Medals and 12 Kate Greenaway Medals), which had nine books featured in this year’s longlist. Independent publishers had a strong showing on this year’s longlist, with 29 of the 40 books coming from independent presses.

Small in the City | Centre for Literacy in Primary Education

Fortunately, the streetwise kid telling Sydney Smith’s atmospheric story has some advice for fellow kids negotiating a city: which alleys to use as shortcuts, and which to avoid; which trees to hide in and which houses to stand outside to hear music, be warmed by a hot air vent or even be given free fish. Not all picture book illustrators write the story, nor do they need to. However, here is a book that essentially has a shared narrative in text and in illustration. At first it is unclear why the child, who I took to be a little boy, is travelling alone on public transport. It is a cold, dark, frightening city that he emerges into, rain lashes down, becomes sleet, becomes snow, but still the child marches on alone across traffic-heavy roads. He takes no notice of passers-by, and they ignore him. At first he appears to be about 4 years old, but is perhaps 8 or 9. Whatever, he’s a child alone.

Footpath Flowers

This is the first Carnegie Medal win for US poet and author Jason Reynolds – who is the US National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature – following a shortlisting in 2019 for Long Way Down. Look Both Ways (Knights Of) is a collection of 10 standalone but intertwined, interconnecting stories chronicling the 15 minutes of unsupervised independence of the walk home from school. The judges called it a “breathtakingly gripping”, “innocent tale which covers hard hitting issues including bullying, homophobia and bereavement” that “challenges the reader to see differently in an engaging and fresh way.” Maryland state’s capital city of Annapolis is a beautiful, leafy small city. It is sprinkled around a number of creeks on the Severn River’s estuary as it pours into Chesapeake Bay. Annapolis played an integral role in the final phases of the American War of Independence: Congress sat in Maryland State House, the oldest Capitol in the US, while the city was the US capital, briefly, from 1783 to 1784. Today you can explore the colonial architecture and rich history, or take a sailing trip in the bay. Boutique shopping in Annapolis Downtown is another popular pastime here.

Small Cities In The UK | Cities Journal Top 15 Small Cities In The UK | Cities Journal

Look Both Ways features 10 intertwining, interconnecting stories from the international bestselling author Jason Reynolds about those 15 minutes of unsupervised independence; the walk home from school. Set in an urban setting with street cars and a maze of lights, streets and sounds, this picture book skillfully captures the confusion of the city. As the child moves through the space with confidence, readers will learn more about both the kid and their city along the way. Readers at first may think that the child is homeless or running away. It takes a little while for their lost pet to be revealed to the reader. This child knows his way round the city, but through his perspective the reader has the feeling of being dwarfed by huge buildings and nearly deafened by the clamour of traffic and people. Smith has a fine draughtsmanship in his drawings of skyscrapers and towering buidlings. There is little comfort in this sometimes surreal landscape, the sweeping rain, the bitter snow. As he moves through it, the boy tells his lost cat how to survive it. The atmosphere will draw listeners in immediately . . . “ — The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred Review Manjeet Mann is an acclaimed writer and producer of several one-woman shows and episodic plays of personal monologues based in Kent. She was an associate artist with The Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Soho Writers Lab, wrote a short comedy film for BBC writers’ room and her play, Starting Out, was adapted into a podcast in 2019.As this is taking place, a winter storm arrives and steadily intensifies. At the conclusion of the child’s journey, a mother waits outside and greets the child with an affectionate hug. By this time, there is a healthy accumulation of snow. Smith’s art has been award winning, but here he becomes author as well as illustrator. He does both titles proud in this stirring piece.”— Booklist, Starred Review

Small in the City’ by Sydney Smith – Greenaway winner 2021 ‘Small in the City’ by Sydney Smith – Greenaway winner 2021

When Amber runs, it’s the only time she feels completely free-far away from her claustrophobic home life. Her father wants her to be a dutiful daughter, waiting for an arranged marriage like her sister Ruby. Bloomington is a lively Indiana city that is dominated by the sprawling Indiana University (IU) campus. The campus is home to the Eskenazi Museum of Art, along with an array of institutions dedicated to music and the arts. Wander around Downtown and the campus and you’re bound to pass one of the city’s dozens of historical buildings listed of the National Register of Historic Places, such as Bloomington City Hall. IU has produced a stellar list of alumni, including Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, author Suzanne Collins, DNA pioneer James Watson, and many more eminent individuals. Sports fans might want to look up an IU Hoosiers game while in the city.

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Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments If this picture book and his 2017 Kate Greenaway Medal winning collaboration ‘Town Is by the Sea’ written by Joanne Schwartz is anything to go by Sydney Smith is on his way to great significance. When you are small in the city you can still have the biggest heart of all. The weather steadily worsens. The child almost disappears in the blizzard. Our hearts are in our mouths. Nine year old Iona amd her eleven year old brother thought at first it was about a homeless or refugee girl, or perhaps a lost child. Iona said the illustrations made her feel really sad and they were just right for the story. When she was told what the story was really about she was intrigued and really interested to find the ‘clues’. She was so happy when the ‘girl and her mother’ were re-united, as she thought. Children love a happy ending! Jason Reynolds first found inspiration in rap and began writing poetry when he was nine, He focused on poetry for the next two decades, publishing several collections before he published his first novel When I Was The Greatest in 2014. The first in his New York Times bestselling ‘Run’ series, Ghost, has sold 33,000 copies in the UK to date. He is also the author of the Marvel Comics novel Miles Morales: Spider-man (2017) and is the US National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. This is the first win for Reynolds following a shortlisting in 2019 for Long Way Down.