From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Sat, 03 Feb 1996 14:26:00 -600

How many people have had an opportunity to see any of the books cited by the 1996 Caldecott Committee? As is usually the case, all of the winning titles are in short supply in the few weeks after the announcement of the award. I found "Officer Buckle and Gloria," this year's Caldecott winner, unexpectedly in a local toy store where the employees were completely oblivious to all Caldecott news and didn't realize what a rare item they had in stock! "We don't usually carry books," the woman at the cash register told, "but we got this one because one of my friends told me it was a cute story."

I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the announcement that
"Officer Buckle and Gloria" had won the Caldecott Medal, mostly because it strikes me as a true old?shioned picture book (where illustrations and text are artfully linked so they work together as a whole) with an enormous amount of child appeal. So many picture books these days seem to be over-produced mini art galleries, thin on story, designed to pay the fare on some artist's ego trip. I was happy to see the Caldecott Committee recognize a solid picture book which was obviously created with a young audience in mind. But is it
"distinguished" art?

What do those of you who've read it think? Is "Officer Buckle and Gloria" merely a "cute" story? Distinguished? Can a book be both?
 
  KT Horning, CCBC
  UW-Madison
Received on Sat 03 Feb 1996 02:26:00 PM CST