If you're looking for book recommendations for a special young person in your life, start with these award winners from 1998. They'll never go out of style.
1998 John Newbery Medal (for outstanding children's fiction)
"Out of the Dust," Karen Hesse
Newbery Honor Books
"Lily's Crossing," Patricia Reilly Giff
"Ella Enchanted," Gail Carson Levine
"Wringer," Jerry Spinelli
1998 Randolph Caldecott Medal (for outstanding illustrated books)
"Rapunzel," Paul O. Zelinsky
Caldecott Honor Books
"Harlem," Christopher Myers
"The Gardener," David Small
"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," Simms Taback
Recommended Titles for Children of All Ages
For Beginning Readers
These books were selected by kids as their favorite books and recorded in a booklet called Children's Choices for 1997 published by the Children's Book Council and the International Reading Association. The full booklet can be ordered by writing: International Reading Association, Dept. EG, P0 Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714, or by visiting their web site.
"Animals: Black and White," Phyllis Limbacher Tildes
"Anthony the Perfect Monster," Angelo DeCesare
"Bears at the Beach: Counting 10 to 20," Niki Yektai
"Boo!" Colin McNaughton
"The Crayon Counting Book," Pam Muñoz Ryan and Jerry Pallotta
"Dinosaur Stomp! A Monster Pop-Up," Paul Stickland
"Do Pigs Have Stripes?" Melanie Walsh
"Froggy Goes to School," Jonathan London
"Frogs Jump: A Counting Book," Alan Brooks
"The Letters Are Lost," Lisa Campbell Ernst
"Lost Cat," Tad Hardy
"The Marvelous Toy," Tom Paxton
"Minerva Louise at School," Janet Morgan Stoeke
"Mr. Merlin and the Turtle," Seymour Chwast
"My Crayons Talk," Patricia Hubbard
"My Little Sister Ate One Hare," Bill Grossman
"The Rainbow Fish Board Book," Marcus Pfister
"Time for Bed," Ruth Huddleston
"When I Was Five," Arthur Howard
"The Wide-Mouthed Frog: A Pop-Up Book," Keith Faulkner
For Young Readers
"Art Dog," Thacher Hurd
"Arthur Writes a Story," Marc Brown
"Bright and Early Thursday Evening: A Tangled Tale," Audrey Wood
"The Butterfly Alphabet," Kjell B. Sandved
"Casey in the Bath," Cynthia DeFeice
"Cleo and the Coyote, "Elizabeth Levy
"Cousin Ruth's Tooth," Amy MacDonald
"Danny and the Dinosaur Go to Camp," Syd Hoff
"Dragon Soup," Arlene Williams
"Elmer and Wilbur," David McKee
"The Fabulous Flying Fandinis," Ingrid Slyder
"4 Pups and a Worm," Eric Seltzer
"If I Had a Robot," Dan Yaccanno
"Junie B. Jones and That Meanie Jim's Birthday," Barbara Park
"Just Dessert," Polly Powell
"Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse," Kevin Henkes
"The Marvelous Market on Mermaid," Laura Krauss Melmed
"The Monsters' Test," Brian J. Heinz
"Mother Hubbard's Christmas," John O'Brien
"Mr. Brown Went to Town," Wong Herbert Yee
"Mrs. Jeepers Is Missing (The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids Super Special #1)," Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones
"Mrs. Potter's Pig," Phyllis Root
"Mud," Mary Lyn Ray
"Newt," Matt Novak
"Nine Candles," Maria Testa
"The Old Man Who Loved Cheese," Garrison Keillor
"The Perfect Present," Michael Hague
"Peter's Place," Sally Grindley
"Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink," Diane deGroat
"Sailaway Home," Bruce Degen
"Sam Sunday and the Mystery at the Ocean Beach Hotel," Robyn Supraner
"Silly Times With Two Silly Trolls," Nancy Jewell
"Spider School," Francesca Simon
"Too Many Pumpkins," Linda White
"The Topsy-Turvies," Francesca Simon
"True Blue," Joan Elste
"Wagons West!" Roy Gerrard
For Intermediate Readers
"The Bee and the Dream: A Japanese Tale," Adapted by Jan Freeman Long
"Drag Racing," Jeff Savage
"Drew and the Bub Daddy Showdown," Robb Armstrong
"Falling Up," Shel Silverstein
"Fly Traps! Plants That Bite Back," Martin Jenkins
"Give Me Bach My Schubert," Brian P. Cleary
"God Bless the Gargoyles," Day Pilkey
"The Goof Who Invented Homework: and Other School Poems," Kalli Dakos
"I Spy a Freight Train: Transportation in Art," Devised and selected by Lucy Micklethwait
"James and the Giant Peach," Roald Dahl
"Just One Flick of a Finger," Marybeth Lorbiecki
"Leah's Pony," Elizabeth Friedrich
"The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top: A Book About Volcanoes," Based on the series by Joanna Cole
"Mummies," Ron Knapp
"Opening Days: Sports Poems," Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
"Robert Crowther's Pop-Up Olympics: Amazing Facts and Record Breakers," Robert Crowther
"The Sea of Tranquillity," Mark Haddon
"See You Around, Sam!" Lois Lowry
"A Thousand Cousins: Poems of Family Life," David L. Harrison
"Tornado," Betsy Byars
"Utahraptor: The Deadliest Dinosaur," Don Lessem
"Waking Upside Down," Philip Heckman
"When Someone in the Family Drinks Too Much," Richard C. Langsen
"The Whispering Room: Haunted Poems," Compiled by Gillian Clarke
For Advanced Readers
"Arthur Ashe: Breaking the Color Barrier in Tennis," David K. Wright
"Batboy: An Inside Look at Spring Training," Joan Anderson
"Blue Sky, Butterfly," Jean Van Leeuwen
"Burned Alive: The Elements of Love," Ralph Fletcher
"Crash," Jerry Spinelli
"Dead Letter: A Herculeah Jones Mystery," Betsy Byars
"Earthquake Terror," Peg Kehret
"Hercules the Strong Man (Myth Men Series #1: Guardians of the Legend)," Laura Geringer
"The Humane Societies: A Voice for the Animals," Shelley Swanson Sateren
"In the Footsteps of the Werewolf," Jim Pipe
"Journey of the Red Wolf," Roland Smith
"Monster Trucks," Jeff Savage
"Something Very Sorry," Written and translated by Arno Bohlmeijer
"Supercross Motorcycle Racing," Jeff Savage
"True Fright Trapped Beneath the Ice! And Other True Stories Scarier Than Fiction," Ted Pedersen"
"Ulysses the Soldier King (Myth Men Series #2: Guardians of the Legend)," Laura Geringer
"Werewolves," Daniel Cohen
"Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? A Mystery in Poems," Mel Glenn