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Isthmus Article: response
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From: Ginny Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 18:38:00 -600
Maybe some of you responded individually to Therese Ladell concerning her comments about an article "Social Maladies for the Kiddie Set;" it appeared in a supplement to the weekly Madison paper "Isthmus" on August 10. Therese's CCBC-NET comments were posted on August 11.
Perhaps that local free-lance Isthmus reporter was influenced by other articles published earlier this year about the Caldecott Award winning book Smoky Night. Regardless of her inspiration, that local author gave readers the impression that a large number - a great abundance - of today's picture books will alarm preschool children and that these books will be discovered in libraries right next to so?lled safe books such as Peter Rabbit and Goodnight Moon.
The local author might have pointed out that although there are some highly visual books about social issues or "maladies," they are very few compared to the many conventional picture books published for preschoolers. She might also have observed in print that although more highly visual books with mature themes have been published during recent years, these books are typically recommended for older children. She did not provide this context for her comments.
Therese asked about professionals putting more resources into educating people about the full range of literature available to children. Yes, with more than 94,000 children's books in print in the U.S.A., people need all the help they can get. Actually, there is plenty of help for parents from reliable resources that most public librarians and school library media specialists are ready to provide to anyone who asks. Parents and other adults interested in finding a wide range of excellent books for their children want and deserve as much information as they can find about the choices available. Just ask at your public library or ask your child's school library media specialist or teacher; they are there and ready to help. They know the books well, and they will recommend excellent age appropriate books, if asked.
The CCBC offers an annual workshop each September: New Children's Books Too Good To Miss (Tuesday evenings at the CCBC beginning Sept. 5). I realize that our CCBC-NET community stretches from Massachusetts to California to Manitoba, and so this cannot be an option for all, but perhaps it will meet a need for some of you who live nearby. Contact me for details.
Yes, award-winning books get wide exposure. One is not limited to only one award book, however. If you secure the CCBC's retrospective list of Caldecott Award and Honor Books (or get a similar list at your public or school library) and then hunt for these books in your school or public library or here in the CCBC, you will find a wide range of illustrations. You will also find amazingly varied themes and topics - just about everything one might want for a child at one time or another, but not all during the same year, or for the same child. However, one cannot assume that any one book is of interest
"to a small minority," as Therese puts it, regardless of the book or the illustration medium or the theme or the topic. The local author's perspective was her own; to me, her opinions expressed in the article sounded elite and, therefore, alarming in another respect.
There are marvelous children's books out there, wonderful images visual and written.
Look for them. Look at them. And keep on thinking. And discussing - on CCBC-NET, at CCBC discussions and wherever you get the chance. Thanks for expressing your concerns, Therese. Keep it up. They are significant concerns because they involve the most important people of all: the children. (And I hope we are beyond calling them "kiddies" or referring to their literature as "kiddie lit.")
...Ginny
****************************************************************** Ginny Moore Kruse, CCBC-NET Moderator Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison CCBC-NET address: gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu
Received on Mon 28 Aug 1995 07:38:00 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 18:38:00 -600
Maybe some of you responded individually to Therese Ladell concerning her comments about an article "Social Maladies for the Kiddie Set;" it appeared in a supplement to the weekly Madison paper "Isthmus" on August 10. Therese's CCBC-NET comments were posted on August 11.
Perhaps that local free-lance Isthmus reporter was influenced by other articles published earlier this year about the Caldecott Award winning book Smoky Night. Regardless of her inspiration, that local author gave readers the impression that a large number - a great abundance - of today's picture books will alarm preschool children and that these books will be discovered in libraries right next to so?lled safe books such as Peter Rabbit and Goodnight Moon.
The local author might have pointed out that although there are some highly visual books about social issues or "maladies," they are very few compared to the many conventional picture books published for preschoolers. She might also have observed in print that although more highly visual books with mature themes have been published during recent years, these books are typically recommended for older children. She did not provide this context for her comments.
Therese asked about professionals putting more resources into educating people about the full range of literature available to children. Yes, with more than 94,000 children's books in print in the U.S.A., people need all the help they can get. Actually, there is plenty of help for parents from reliable resources that most public librarians and school library media specialists are ready to provide to anyone who asks. Parents and other adults interested in finding a wide range of excellent books for their children want and deserve as much information as they can find about the choices available. Just ask at your public library or ask your child's school library media specialist or teacher; they are there and ready to help. They know the books well, and they will recommend excellent age appropriate books, if asked.
The CCBC offers an annual workshop each September: New Children's Books Too Good To Miss (Tuesday evenings at the CCBC beginning Sept. 5). I realize that our CCBC-NET community stretches from Massachusetts to California to Manitoba, and so this cannot be an option for all, but perhaps it will meet a need for some of you who live nearby. Contact me for details.
Yes, award-winning books get wide exposure. One is not limited to only one award book, however. If you secure the CCBC's retrospective list of Caldecott Award and Honor Books (or get a similar list at your public or school library) and then hunt for these books in your school or public library or here in the CCBC, you will find a wide range of illustrations. You will also find amazingly varied themes and topics - just about everything one might want for a child at one time or another, but not all during the same year, or for the same child. However, one cannot assume that any one book is of interest
"to a small minority," as Therese puts it, regardless of the book or the illustration medium or the theme or the topic. The local author's perspective was her own; to me, her opinions expressed in the article sounded elite and, therefore, alarming in another respect.
There are marvelous children's books out there, wonderful images visual and written.
Look for them. Look at them. And keep on thinking. And discussing - on CCBC-NET, at CCBC discussions and wherever you get the chance. Thanks for expressing your concerns, Therese. Keep it up. They are significant concerns because they involve the most important people of all: the children. (And I hope we are beyond calling them "kiddies" or referring to their literature as "kiddie lit.")
...Ginny
****************************************************************** Ginny Moore Kruse, CCBC-NET Moderator Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison CCBC-NET address: gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu
Received on Mon 28 Aug 1995 07:38:00 PM CDT
