ALA News Release For Immediate Release January 2000
Christopher Paul Curtis, author of Bud, Not Buddy, and Simms Taback, illustrator and author of Joseph Had a Little Overcoat are the 2000 winners of the John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott Medals, the most prestigious awards in children's literature.
Curtis also was named the winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award, honoring African-American writers of children's books. He is the first author to be a dual winner of these top honors in the same year. The last African-American author to win the Newbery Medal was Mildred Taylor in 1976 for her novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Curtis and Taback were among the award winners announced January 17 by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio. Considered the "Academy Awards" of children's book publishing, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals honor outstanding writing and illustration of works published in the U.S. during the previous year.
Curtis, of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, won the Newbery Medal for Bud, Not Buddy, published by Delacorte Press and edited by Wendy Lamb. The novel tells the story of 10-year- old Bud Caldwell who runs away from a foster home and begins an unforgettable journey in search of his father. His only clues are old flyers left by his dead mother that point to a legendary jazz bandleader.
"This heartfelt novel resonates with both zest and tenderness as it entertains questions about racism, belonging, love and hope," said Carolyn S. Brodie, chair of the Newbery Award Selection Committee. "Bud's fast-paced, first-person account moves with the rhythms of jazz and celebrates life, family and a child's indomitable spirit."
Curtis grew up in Flint, Mich., where he worked on a factory assembly line while attending a branch of the
