From: Ginny Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Sat, 02 Dec 1995 13:55:00 -600

I agree in general with you, Perry, about Math Curse. But perhaps I'm reacting more to the promotional hype accompanying it than to the book itself. Or maybe I'm remembering one of the comments at a CCBC monthly discussion of Math Curse last fall, something to the effect that a marvelous creative opportunity had been overlooked because of the book's emphasis on the dislike of math. (Can one of the CCBC-NET subscribers who also heard that comment please recall it more specifically for all of us?) Or perhaps I'm thinking about Nina's observation to me recently that a recent New Yorker columnist mistakenly referred to the child in Math Curse as a boy, rather than a girl. Yikes! And I am aware I'm affected by hearing UW-Madison mathematician Richard Askey's observations in the CCBC one day, one of which is that the binary price on the book jacket was computed inaccurately. Hmmm... Regardless, Math Curse is on the best-seller list already, according to Publishers' Weekly. The bookstore "superstores" of the U.S.A. placed early super-big orders, and other bookstores stocked it heavily, too, so Math Curse is already one of the retail successes of the year. The original question still stands: is this a distinguished picture book? What do others think?
     In response to your question about the recipient of the Caldecott Award, Perry, the recipient is the artist, not the designer or author or editor. One hopes that there will be room in the artist's acceptance speech for her/him to acknowledge by name the specific contributions of others deeply involved in the evolution of the medal-winning book. Many will benefit through the earning of royalties from future sales, for example, the author, if the illustrator and author are different individuals. Presumably the literary editor, art editor, promotion people, the agent, and others in the publishing community who contributed substantially to the project, either from the beginning and/or throughout the effort, will benefit indirectly if not directly, in terms of their careers. Perhaps a couple of the CCBC-NET subscribers who are now in - or were once part of - the publishing arena will comment on some of the ways people's careers in publishing can be affected by being associated with a Caldecott winner and/or honor book. How about it, publishers? What would you say if, while you were part of a panel discussion, someone asked you this question? ...Ginny
******************************************************************** Ginny Moore Kruse (gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education

A question about the Caldecott: while it's for the best ilustrated book, it goes to the illustrator, no? So let's say Math Curse won--does the award go exclusively to Smith? Or would it also go to the book designer, who clearly, in this case, had a tremendous amount to do with its visual appearance, and who even actually gets a credit within the book? If I were this designer, I'd feel very ripped off if Smith alone won the award; and peronally I have to say, Smith's illustrations here aren't particuarly disitnguished. They look an awful lot like his illustrations for other Sciezska texts--not particularly innovative or startling wonderful--and they have a somewhat forbidding gloominess that creates interesting tensions with the vibrant graphic design and lighthearted text, but that on their own are rather uninteresting and perfunctory. I wonder how often Caledcott winners are books with texts we like, without much reference to the narrative or aesthetic vlaue of the whole.
    At 08:49 PM 01/12/95 00, Penny Peck wrote: candidates and course, my opinions. Perry Nodelman University of Winnipeg nodelman at io.UWinnipeg.ca
Received on Sat 02 Dec 1995 01:55:00 PM CST