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Caldecott awards
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From: Mary Jane Wiseman <MJWISEMN>
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 96 16:38 CDT
Hi! I've been lurking for a while, but need to be heard now. I was a public library children's librarian in Wisconsin from 1969 to 1986 when I returned to Madison and began work on my PhD. Currently am trying to write my proposal. Now, on to the Caldecott and the Honor Books - I have not yet seen Alphabet City or Faithful Friends, but I was quite intrigued by the imaginative use of the book medium in Tops and Bottoms. Why haven't we thought of this before?
It makes this story. An 8 year old friend who now has my copy is in love with it - refuses to give it back until her parents buy it for her. Now, that's not what the award is about, but I do think that Stevens has given us a distinctive new look at this old story.
Zin! Zin! Zin! hasn't gone over as well at the kid house, but, i find the art work inviting, and the page design sings - all those curves, feel like notes on a page or a melody hanging in the air. I think the text falls down when it tries to make the group into a chamber orchestra, but up to that point I liked it a lot. I can think of lots of wasy to "web" this book, beginning with The Philharmonic gets Dressed, books on sound, on instruments, on numbers, on color, etc.
Now, about Gloria - well, I'd sure like to know - to have been a flea on the walls in the committee discussions - how this got its high commendation. It's a nice story - that doesn't count in the deliberations. It's colorful, there are lots of interesting safety tips in those stars, but there seems to be nothing that makes this rise to the top - to be so distinctive that I can say - oh, of course , that's Peggy Rathman. It could have been done by a number of artist over the years - Don Freeman for example, So can you tell, I'm not impressed. BUT, I will listen, and am eager to be helped to find ways to appreciate this choice.
When I taught children's literature, I spent one lecture just looking at the variety of art styles and media that show up in the Caldecott's. Help me understand what I would say about this one that would add to the way artists illustrate books.
mj wiseman SLIS, PhD dissertator
Received on Thu 08 Feb 1996 03:38:00 PM CST
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 96 16:38 CDT
Hi! I've been lurking for a while, but need to be heard now. I was a public library children's librarian in Wisconsin from 1969 to 1986 when I returned to Madison and began work on my PhD. Currently am trying to write my proposal. Now, on to the Caldecott and the Honor Books - I have not yet seen Alphabet City or Faithful Friends, but I was quite intrigued by the imaginative use of the book medium in Tops and Bottoms. Why haven't we thought of this before?
It makes this story. An 8 year old friend who now has my copy is in love with it - refuses to give it back until her parents buy it for her. Now, that's not what the award is about, but I do think that Stevens has given us a distinctive new look at this old story.
Zin! Zin! Zin! hasn't gone over as well at the kid house, but, i find the art work inviting, and the page design sings - all those curves, feel like notes on a page or a melody hanging in the air. I think the text falls down when it tries to make the group into a chamber orchestra, but up to that point I liked it a lot. I can think of lots of wasy to "web" this book, beginning with The Philharmonic gets Dressed, books on sound, on instruments, on numbers, on color, etc.
Now, about Gloria - well, I'd sure like to know - to have been a flea on the walls in the committee discussions - how this got its high commendation. It's a nice story - that doesn't count in the deliberations. It's colorful, there are lots of interesting safety tips in those stars, but there seems to be nothing that makes this rise to the top - to be so distinctive that I can say - oh, of course , that's Peggy Rathman. It could have been done by a number of artist over the years - Don Freeman for example, So can you tell, I'm not impressed. BUT, I will listen, and am eager to be helped to find ways to appreciate this choice.
When I taught children's literature, I spent one lecture just looking at the variety of art styles and media that show up in the Caldecott's. Help me understand what I would say about this one that would add to the way artists illustrate books.
mj wiseman SLIS, PhD dissertator
Received on Thu 08 Feb 1996 03:38:00 PM CST
