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Caldecott Terms
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From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Sat, 02 Dec 1995 13:06:00 -600
Perry Nodelman asked: A question about the Caldecott: while it's for the best illustrated 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.
KT Horning responds:
***Yes, the award for Caldecott goes exclusively to ILLUSTRATOR, since it's an award for distinguished art. I agree with Perry that the overall design of this book is important but, while I can't speak for the book's designer (Molly Leach), I would seriously doubt that she would feel bad if a book she worked on got the Caldecott Medal. It seems to me that a designer's job is to help an illustrator translate his or her vision into a finished book -- not to create the vision from scratch herself. Any designer who would resent an award going to an illustrator should probably consider another line of work.
Perry wrote:
They look an awful lot like his illustrations for other Sciezska texts... KT Horning responds:
***Not something the Caldecott committee would be discussing. Since they are looking only at books published in 1995, they could only compare "Math Curse" (for example) to other books published this year, not previous books by this duo. They are looking for the most distinguished art of THIS YEAR, not the most distinguished art of a particular artist's career.
Perry comments that Smith's art 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 Caldecott winners are books with texts we like, without much reference to the narrative or aesthetic value of the whole.
KT Horning responds:
***The Caldecott awards most distinguished art IN A PICTURE BOOK, so of course the committee considers the book as an aesthetic whole. They are not awarding pretty pictures that could stand alone nicely in a gallery. The Caldecott terms specifically spell out that "Each book is to be considered as a picture book" and that the committee is to "...make its decision primarily on the illustrations, but other components of a book are to be considered especially when they make a book less effective as a children's picture book." The committee is asked to look for:
Excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed.
Excellence of pictoral interpretation of story, theme or concept.
Appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or
concept.
Excellence of delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting,
mood or information through the pictures.
The above points are directly quoted from the official Caldecott manual, as adopted by the American Library Association's Association of Library Services to Children's Board. These terms are set by the ALSC Board, not rewritten and reinvented by each year's Caldecott Committee. The same goes for the Newbery Award terms. Each committee follows (and takes quite seriously) these specific guidelines as they consider and discuss eligible books throughout the year. It is not the loose, free-for-all, carelessly made, off-hand decision people sometimes seem to imagine it to be. Perhaps there is a CCBC-Net subscriber who has served previously on a Caldecott Committee who can comment further on the process. In the meantime, I hope I have answered some of Perry's questions.
KT Horning, CCBC
UW-Madison
Received on Sat 02 Dec 1995 01:06:00 PM CST
Date: Sat, 02 Dec 1995 13:06:00 -600
Perry Nodelman asked: A question about the Caldecott: while it's for the best illustrated 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.
KT Horning responds:
***Yes, the award for Caldecott goes exclusively to ILLUSTRATOR, since it's an award for distinguished art. I agree with Perry that the overall design of this book is important but, while I can't speak for the book's designer (Molly Leach), I would seriously doubt that she would feel bad if a book she worked on got the Caldecott Medal. It seems to me that a designer's job is to help an illustrator translate his or her vision into a finished book -- not to create the vision from scratch herself. Any designer who would resent an award going to an illustrator should probably consider another line of work.
Perry wrote:
They look an awful lot like his illustrations for other Sciezska texts... KT Horning responds:
***Not something the Caldecott committee would be discussing. Since they are looking only at books published in 1995, they could only compare "Math Curse" (for example) to other books published this year, not previous books by this duo. They are looking for the most distinguished art of THIS YEAR, not the most distinguished art of a particular artist's career.
Perry comments that Smith's art 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 Caldecott winners are books with texts we like, without much reference to the narrative or aesthetic value of the whole.
KT Horning responds:
***The Caldecott awards most distinguished art IN A PICTURE BOOK, so of course the committee considers the book as an aesthetic whole. They are not awarding pretty pictures that could stand alone nicely in a gallery. The Caldecott terms specifically spell out that "Each book is to be considered as a picture book" and that the committee is to "...make its decision primarily on the illustrations, but other components of a book are to be considered especially when they make a book less effective as a children's picture book." The committee is asked to look for:
Excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed.
Excellence of pictoral interpretation of story, theme or concept.
Appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or
concept.
Excellence of delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting,
mood or information through the pictures.
The above points are directly quoted from the official Caldecott manual, as adopted by the American Library Association's Association of Library Services to Children's Board. These terms are set by the ALSC Board, not rewritten and reinvented by each year's Caldecott Committee. The same goes for the Newbery Award terms. Each committee follows (and takes quite seriously) these specific guidelines as they consider and discuss eligible books throughout the year. It is not the loose, free-for-all, carelessly made, off-hand decision people sometimes seem to imagine it to be. Perhaps there is a CCBC-Net subscriber who has served previously on a Caldecott Committee who can comment further on the process. In the meantime, I hope I have answered some of Perry's questions.
KT Horning, CCBC
UW-Madison
Received on Sat 02 Dec 1995 01:06:00 PM CST
