There's so much to celebrate this week! May I have the envelopes, please?

This year's winners of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award, presented by the Association of Booksellers for Children: Judy Sierra and Marc Brown.

Wild About Books (Knopf) by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown, famous for his Arthur the aardvark series, is the second recipient of the award, which honors books that reflect the "universal read-aloud standards" created by White, the author of Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan.

In Wild About Books, Molly the librarian introduces animals at the zoo to reading—and then finds the perfect book for each animal. For example, giraffes get tall books and hyenas get joke books.

Equally impressive is Una Huang of Maine for her silver medal in the national essay contest Letters About Literature, beating out more than 700 other students:

Una Huang from Readfield received second place for grades 4 through 6 for her letter to E.B. White about The Trumpet of the Swan. A timeless classic, The Trumpet of the Swan portrays the eventful life of Louis, a voiceless trumpeter swan, with humor, beauty and the strength of the human spirit. In her letter, Una expresses her connection with the main character and the inspiration that Louis has provided to faces life’s challenges and develop self-confidence.

If only White were around to answer it! I once knew someone who had a framed letter from him hanging in her bathroom; it was the house's treasure, quite rightly.

Oh yes, and The New Yorker, for kicking ass at the National Magazine Awards. From the Times:

But the big victor of the day was The New Yorker, which won the most awards—five—including the prize for general excellence among magazines with circulations of one million to two million. It also won in reporting, for an article by Samantha Power, Dying in Darfur; in profile writing, for an article by Ian Parker about a man determined to donate his kidney; in reviews and criticism, for three articles by Adam Gopnik [Times Regained, March 22; The Big One, August 23; Will Power, September 13] on subjects including Times Square; and in public interest, for three articles by Seymour M. Hersh, including "Torture at Abu Ghraib."

David Remnick, editor at The New Yorker, noted that investigative journalism like that practiced by Mr. Hersh is lonely work. "Sy is the loneliest of the wolves," he added.

The New Yorker has won 44 National Magazine Awards in the competition's 40 years, the most of any magazine.

Well, of course it has. Hersh has been getting some heat lately (to be covered in due time), but there's little question that a side effect of his noble task is a state that out-lonely-guys Steve Martin in The Lonely Guy. Back in February when the New York Post reported on Jeff Goldberg's appointment as Washington correspondent, there was this offhand note: "Seymour Hersh will keep his dusty old office by himself in a separate location." I called then for an Aeron chair and some Pledge, but in light of Remnick's triumph I respectfully suggest, for all the winners, a Swiffer.

One last winner: Print, which won for General Excellence in the Under 100,000 Circulation category, and which keeps new New Yorker writer Todd Pruzan in dollar signs. May you all have offices free of dust. That goes for Una, too. Let's hope she keeps on reading White and friends till she's old enough to win an Ellie for herself.

Book answers Passover questions [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
Local Students Receive Maine Humanities Council Letters About Literature Awards [Keep ME Current]
Winners and Finalists [ASME]
New Yorker Wins Awards, and Martha Stewart Wins Applause [NYT]
‘New Yorker’ Staff Gobbles Up National Magazine Awards [Gawker]