Five on Friday

Happy Friday! Here is what’s new and newsworthy in children’s literature and public libraries.

1. The American Library Association announced the winners of their 2023 Youth Media Awards. Check out the list of all the winners here. Congrats to all the winners!
2. Meg Medina, the Newbery Medal-winning author of Merci Suarez Changes Gears, has been named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2023-2024. She is the first Latina author to serve in the role and her platform will be “Cuéntame!: Let’s talk books.”
3. Little Free Library is launching the Indigenous Library Program, which will distribute book-sharing boxes to Native American and First Nations communities in the US and Canada.
4. Shape Island, a stop-motion animated series based on Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s Shapes trilogy, premiered on Apple TV+ on Jan. 20.
5. American Girl’s 2023 Girl of the Year is Kavi, a theater-loving Indian American girl from New Jersey. Her story is written by New York Times bestselling author Varsha Bajaj.

And that’s all for this month’s Five on Friday! I hope you all enjoyed checking out what’s new in the kidlit world. Be sure to check back in March for the next Five on Friday, and have a wonderful weekend!