'Oscars' for children's authors

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2008 | by Deirdre Donahue

A passion for the past was very present in Philadelphia on Monday when the American Library Association handed out its top awards in children's literature.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, set in 1932 Paris, won the 2008 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children.

The John Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature was awarded to Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices From a Medieval Village written by Laura Amy Schlitz (illustrated by Robert Byrd, for ages 10 and up).

After learning she had won, Schlitz still went to work at Baltimore's Park School, where she has been a librarian for 17 years. "But I am wearing a plastic tiara," Schlitz, 52, said Monday.

Set in an...