The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year. The award is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois. ALSC administers the award.
2012 Medal Winner
Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
The story of Tony Sarg, the artistic inventor who conceived the huge balloons that float through New York City each Thanksgiving. Beginning at a very young age, his never-ending zeal for play and discovery delighted millions, and likewise, Sweet's festive words, mixed media illustrations and thorough research, bring their own contagious joy to this celebration of his life's creative process.
"Sweet's book rose above all others this year by brilliantly showing and telling the story of one person's ideas with passion and panache, demonstrating the very best of what an informational book can be," said Sibert Medal Committee Chair Andrew Medlar.
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/sibertmedal
