The NMRT Exhibitor Contact and Relations Committee is pleased to sponsor the 2005 Marshall Cavendish Essay Contest


Thanks to the generous support of Marshall Cavendish, ECRC is able to offer three tickets to the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet at the ALA Annual Conference. This year’s banquet will be held Sunday, June 26, 2005, from 6:30-11:00 p.m. in the Sheraton Ballroom V-X. Tickets are $85 each, which would be out of the financial reach of most NMRT members if it weren’t for Marshall Cavendish.

Who can enter?: Any NMRT member!

How do I enter?: Just write a short essay (around 250 words) telling us why you want to attend the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder banquet and how you feel you would benefit. Email your entry to Shannon Tennant at stennant@elon.edu by JUNE 8, 2005. Winners will be notified shortly thereafter. The deadline for Entries has been extended to June 13! Get your entries in now!

This year’s honorees are:

Newbery Medal Winner: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
"With compelling quietude that makes room for both pathos and humor, this luminous novel takes us on Katie Takeshima's journey through a childhood punctuated by prejudice, poverty and family tragedy," said Award Committee Chair Susan Faust. "Young readers will be drawn into a narrative that radiates hope from the inside out."

Caldecott Medal Winner: Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
"Thoughtful design, from the front jacket with reflective silver letters to the final image, sustains a completely satisfying read-aloud experience," said Caldecott Award Chair Betsy Hearne. "Kitten's frustration and eventual triumph--emotions familiar to young children--find artistic expression in a meticulously crafted book with classic appeal."

Wilder Medal Winner: Laurence Yep
Administered by the Association for Library Service to Children ( ALSC), the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award was first given to its namesake in 1954. The award, a bronze medal, honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.

If you’re interested in great children’s literature, enter the contest today!