Awards
Newbery Honor (American Library Association)
Indie Books Bestseller
China Times Best Book
Booksense Pick
Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery
Tattered Cover’s Book of the Year
Andersen Prize Finalist (Italy)
Golden Kite Award Winner (SCBWI)
Sid Fleischman Award for Humor Finalist (SCBWI)
Western Writers of America Spur Award Finalist
Southeast Booksellers Association Book Award Finalist
Heartland Booksellers Award Finalist
Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award Honor
Society of Midland Authors Winner & Honoree
First Prize — The Marion Vannett Ridgway Award
Sterling North Legacy Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature
Hedgebrook Residency Fellowship
Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Fellowship
Awards & Recognition by Book
Egg Marks the spot
An Indie Bookstore Bestseller!
A Book of the Year: • A Bank Street Best Book of 2022 (starred for “Outstanding Merit”) •The Daily Mail (UK) •The Age (Australia) • Indigo Books and Music (Canada) •An Amazon Top 20 Children’s Book of 2021 & A Best Children’s Book Ages 6-8 •A Shelf Awareness “2021 Best Children's & YA Books of the Year” •Chicago Public Library “Best Fiction for Younger Readers of 2021” • Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, TX) “Best Books of 2021” •2021 Nerdie! •Readings (Australia) “Best Junior Fiction of 2021”
Recommended as a gift for the 2021 Holidays: • The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) Michael Earp, “Fantasy Football and Fun for Young Eyes” • The Daily Mail (UK) “Let Santa cast a spell on YOUR little ones: Cheeky monkeys, moles and Arthurian legends, SALLY MORRIS picks this years best children’s books” • Iowa Public Radio, “The 2021 Talk of Iowa holiday book guide for kids” • Canada.com and Postmedia News, “Books for Kids: Think about giving a kid a book this year” • WBUR/NPR “Want to gift books this holiday season? Here are 30 ideas for kids and adults” • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “45 new books for holiday gifts in 2021, from a Giannis biography to murder mysteries” (picked up by The Green Bay Press-Gazette, The Post-Cresent, Oshkosk Northwestern) • The Canton Repository, “Kicking Off the Holiday Gift Suggestions for Kids” •
A Pick of the Month: • An American Booksellers Association Kids Indie Next Pick (Sept & Oct 2021) • Libro.fm (audiobook) Educator Audio Listening Copy Program Pick (Sept 21)• Amazon Pick of the Month (Sept 21)
On a Cool List: A 2022 Berkeley United Mock Newbery Pick • “New and Noteworthy Kids’ and YA Book Sequels: September 2021,” Publishers Weekly
Shelf Awareness ⭐️, Kirkus⭐️ and Booklist ⭐️ for Egg Marks the Spot
Skunk and badger
An Indie Bookstore Bestseller
Tattered Cover’s Book of the Year
Awards: Heartland Booksellers Award Finalist; Sid Fleischman Award for Humor Finalist (SCBWI); Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award Honor Book; Society of Midland Authors Honoree
Best Book of the Year: People Magazine (1/4/21), NPR, The Sydney Morning Herald, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Cooperation), Irish Independent,The Daily Mail, Philadelphia Tribune, School Library Journal, Shelf Awareness, Kirkus Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly, Indigo Books and Music (Canada), Amazon.com, A Capitol Choices Best Book, Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, Evanston Public Library, Chicago Public Library, New York Public Library, 100 Scope Notes/School Library Journal’s “Top 20 Books of 2020,” Betsy Bird’s “Great Middle Grade Novels of 2020,” a 2020 Nerdie, and a Kids Choice Book Award Finalist for “Best Book” in the 3rd and 4th grade category.
Reviewed in: The Daily Mail “Children’s Books that are Festive Crackers” (12/3/20);The New York Times Book Review (10/4/20); The Sunday Times (London), “Children’s Book of the Week” (9/27/20); The Spectator “Animal magic: children’s books for Christmas” (11/28/20); Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (September 2020); Christian Science Monitor (November 2020); The Buffalo News; and Postmedia Newspapers in Canada (September 2020). Starred Reviews in Kirkus, Booklist, Publishers Weekly and Shelf Awareness! Book of the Week in The Sunday Times and at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (1/4/21).
On a Cool List: Jeffrey Canton, “Get ready for school with new reads and old favourites on Canadian history, Indigenous issues and more,” Globe and Mail (August 21, 2021); NPR’s “The Kids' Books That Helped 2020 Go By — And A Few To Look Forward To;” A Capitol Choices Best Book, Evanston Public Library’s “101 Great Books for Kids” List for 2020; Simon Smith’s Favorite Longer Reads for Children from 2020; November UK BookTrust’s “Books We Love;” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s “33 Books to Read in Fall 2020; Waterstones Bookshop “September Best Children’s Books” Pick; A top 10 book on the Fall 2020 Indie NEXT list; The Reader Teacher’s “100 Favorite Books of 2020”
Is Recommended by: the BookTrust, and the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education
Adapted for Stage by:
Lifeline Theatre (Chicago, IL); Teatr Soho/Teatr Lalek Guliwer (Warsaw, Poland)
One Came Home
(Additional praise for the book is here.)
John Newbery Honor Book -- American Library Association
Edgar Award Winner for Best Mystery -- Mystery Writer's Association
China Times Best Book Award (Taiwan)
Junior Library Guild Selection
National Public Radio Best Book of the Year
Washington Post Best Book of the Year
Bank Street Best Book of the Year
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
Ingrams' 'Top Ten Novels for Kids in 2013'
One of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's "10 favorite books of 2013" and “21 recommended books by Wisconsin writers from the 21st century” (9/21/21)
Finalist for New York Historical Society’s Children’s Book Prize
Society of Midland Authors Award-Winner
Judy Lopez Memorial Honor Book
Best of the Year Lists: • The Horn Book's Recommended Summer Reading • A Bookpage Best Book of the Year • A 2013 Best-Seller at Boswell Book Company • BirdWatching Magazine's "Best New Bird Books" • American Birding Association recommends as a great gift for birders! • James Patterson's "Read Kiddo Read" Reading as a "Great Pageturner!"
Awards & Honors: ALSC Notable Children's Book • 2013 Bulletin Blue Ribbon from The Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books • Winner of the Society of Midland Authors Award • A New York Public Library's "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing" Title • A Scholastic Book Clubs Selection • A 2014 Notable Social Studies Trade Book (sponsored by The CBC and The National Council for Social Studies)
State Reading Lists and Contests: An Outstanding Book by a Wisconsin Author • 2014 Texas Lone Star Reading List Book • A Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award Nominee • On Vermont's Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award List for 2014-2015 • A South-West Iowa Middle School Battle of the Book Selection for 2014-2015 • A 2014 Illinois Reads Book • A Maine Student Book Award List 2014-2015 • Nominated for 2015-2016 The Volunteer State Book Award (Tennessee!) • Nominated for the 2015-2016 William White Children's Book Awards (Kansas!) • Nominated for the 2016 Grand Canyon Book Award (Arizona!) • On the 2016 Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award List. • A Utah Beehive Book Award Nominee for 2015-2016. • A Minnesota Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award Nominee for 2016!
Starred Reviews in Kirkus, The Horn Book, School Library Journal and The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Seen in The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor,The Atlantic Wire, The Buffalo News, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, BirdWatching Magazine, Hudson Star-Observer and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Heard on Wisconsin Public Radio
Adapted for the Stage by: Lifeline Theatre (Chicago, IL)
That Girl Lucy Moon
(Hyperion Books for Children)
A Book Sense Pick!
A New York Public Library's "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing" Title
Friends of American Writers Literary Award Winner
A Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year
An Amelia Bloomer Book
The Dirty Cowboy
(Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Reviewed in The New York Times Book Review
SCBWI's Golden Kite Award
First Prize in the Marion Vannett Ridgway Awards
International Reading Association Notable Book
A Parents Choice Gold Medal Winner
A Bulletin Blue Ribbon (The Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books)
Finalist for the Spur Award (Western Writers of America)
Finalist for Southeast Booksellers Association Book Award
Nominated for Georgia Picture Book Award
Kirkus Reviews (Starred): …side-splitting double debut…
Publishers Weekly (Starred): …outstanding debut for both author and illustrator. Timberlake’s keen comic timing and abundant western witticisms fit hand in glove with Rex’s farcical golden-and copper-toned illustrations
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (Starred): …a rootin’ tootin’ good read anytime…
School Library Journal: Told in descriptive language that rolls off the tongue …
Child: The tale sparkles with comic colloquialisms and hilarious illustrations…
Miami Herald: G-Rated Riot