This year’s Newberry Award goes to Kate DiCamillo, and it is not the first time that she has received the award. The Newberry Award is given to the most prestigious work that has been released in children’s literature in the past year.

The Newberry Award was announced on Monday by the American Library Association. The Randolph Caldecott Medal was also awarded today.

Brian Floca received the award, which is awarded to illustrations in children’s literature. He won for his book Locomotive, which he also wrote, and it is a story on the early years of train travel.

Kate DiCamillo won the Newberry Award this year for her book Flora And Ulysses, a comic superhero tale featuring a deadly vacuum cleaner and a mighty squirrel.

This is DiCamillo’s second time winning the award, and she has previously won for her work on The Tales of Despereaux – which she won for a decade ago. The book became a huge hit, and was even made into a popular film with Matthew Broderick starring as the voice of Despereaux.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RPAPJTdnhw

In addition to her two Newberry Award wins, Kate DiCamillo has become one of the most popular and acclaimed authors of children’s literature. She was also recently named by the Library of Congress as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for the 2014-2015 term.

Upon hearing that she was the recipient of this year’s Newberry Award, Kate DiCamillo was shocked, and did not seem to think that she was going to win. She was emotional at the time, saying that “When they called this morning about the Newbery, I don’t think I said anything that made any sense.”

Newberry award winner: Kate DiCamillo, for Flora & Uylsses. #alayma #alamw14.

— Mark Letcher (@m_letcher) January 27, 2014

DiCamillo is 49 and a native of Philadelphia. She currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She said the plot of her latest book dates back more than a few years to when her mom was dying.

She had worried about what would happen to her vacuum cleaner, and DiCamillo ended up inheriting it. Around the same time, she noticed an ailing squirrel on her property and was appalled when a friend suggested she whack the squirrel with a shovel and kill it.

Congrats to Kate DiCamillo our ambassador for Flora and Ulysses for Newberry Award #alamw14

— Joann Hill (@JoannHillnyc) January 27, 2014

For the second time in her career, Kate DiCamillo has won the Newberry Award for children’s literature, and as a beloved author in the genre, it is a much deserved award.

Image via Youtube