Back to work (sort of)

by Lolly Robinson
Oct 10, 2011 | Filed in Articles & Opinion
Last Monday we messed up our web & blog interface with the BGHB slideshow software, so Robin's Orani post was a testament to her dedication. She had a choice of typing blind (no text showing on the screen as she typed) and then checking for mistakes in the Preview, or creating the whole post in HTML.

Just after I went on vacation Thursday, the tech guys in NY figured out the problem and it was my turn to post. But it's been hard to tear myself away from family, terrific weather, and this view.

Give me another day and I'll get back to blog work, though I'll still be on vacation until Friday.

In the meantime, I brought some of the books we're looking at down to the beach and showed them to my reading teacher friend Meg Gaines who is smart, dedicated, and always has an opinion. The big winner was All the Water In the World by George Ella Lyon with art by Katherine Tillotson. The language is mostly easy with an appropriate ratio of Tier Two words, the message is clear, the art supports the text, and it's useful across several subjects.

However, these are not the same as the Caldecott criteria. I think that's fine -- there are plenty of guidelines for the Committee to consider -- but Meg brought up another question that I think falls into a gray area. To what extent do you think should the committee consider child appeal?

Lolly Robinson

Lolly Robinson is a freelance designer and consultant with degrees in studio art and children’s literature. She is the former creative director for The Horn Book, Inc., and has taught children’s literature at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. She has served on the Caldecott and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award committees and blogged for Calling Caldecott and Lolly's Classroom on this site.

 

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Adam

I am thrilled someone else was a big fan of All the Water In the World. I've been anxiously awaiting discussing this one as it's one of my favorites this year. I read this book to my class at the end of last year and my students (who had previously conducted their own mock-Caldecott) were captivated by the artwork and wanted to nominate it on the spot. The child appeal question is a tough one. On the one hand, I think it's important that children will enjoy reading the book that wins this award. Yet, I agree with the previous comments that determining and defining child appeal is beyond difficult.

Posted : Oct 12, 2011 01:35

Lolly Robinson

I want to point out that the child appeal question is still being discussed in the Where's Walrus? post comments, too. Not sure if I should try to wrangle everyone into the same thread, but so far it's just in these two.

Posted : Oct 11, 2011 02:41

Roger Sutton

When I'm reviewing a book I will of course sometimes think "no kid is gonna read this," but I move on. As GraceAnne notes, there are plenty of children we do not know or can even imagine. As librarians, we need to remember that the library should be one place where a reader can be free of other people's preconceptions.

Posted : Oct 11, 2011 02:25

GraceAnne_LadyHawk

What child? What appeal? I have so much difficulty with this question. I have often explained how I review children's books by saying I review them as the adult that I am and as the child that I was. I cannot even say I was an odd child - although I was - because so many of the readers, writers, teachers, editors, and librarians that make up my colleagues also knew they were odd children. You can argue that each child is unique, as indeed they are; then you can argue that there are great and elegant generalizations that work for the vast majority of fourth graders, say. Is child appeal popularity with young people? Is it the response of one classroom or one storyhour? Is it one child who falls desperately in love, as I did with "The Cat Who Went to Heaven," which I took out of my local branch of NYPL many times? It is hard for me to imagine the consideration of the Caldecott committee for "child appeal" because I always return to my original questions.

Posted : Oct 11, 2011 12:06

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