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Caldecott: Pushing the Envelope?
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From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 1996 12:28:00 -600
Marge, I enjoyed your comments on the potential for popularity
"Officer Buckle and Gloria" has in your community. Have you had a chance to share it with children yourself yet or have you gotten any feedback from children who've read it? So far everyone who's written about "Officer Buckle" on CCBC-Net has mentioned its great child appeal and I wonder if anyone has any hard evidence to back this claim. We all assume it'll be popular but sometimes children's tastes surprise us!
I want to pick up on another thread in Marge's comment, that of
"pushing the envelope" or "cutting?ge" art in picture books. Interestingly, the Caldecott critieria for distinction say nothing about innovation (unless you count "individually distinct") but say much about excellence which is not necessarily the same thing. (But isn't it wonderful when it is?) I'm not sure I would agree that many past Caldecott winners "pushed the art envelope" except perhaps for
"Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak and "Black and White" by David Macaulay. These are examples of picture books that were both innovative in their times AND excellent, in addition to having a lot of child appeal. I am very pleased that the 1964 and 1991 Caldecott Committees were courageous enough to recognize the excellence of both of these books in the years they were published. But it isn't as if there are 100 or even a dozen excellent, innovative, child?ntered books published every year that the Caldecott Committee is ignoring: perhaps we ask too much of art to expect books like this to come along more often than every 25 years or so. In the meantime, we'll settle for excellence!
What do others think? Are there past Caldecott winners besides the ones I've mentioned that you think were on the cutting edge? And how about the 1996 Caldecott Honor books? Does anyone have any responses to them? As a reminder, they are:
"Alphabet City" by Stephen T Johnson
"The Faithful Friend" by Robert D. San Souci, illus. by Brian Pinkney.
"Tops and Bottoms" by Janet Stevens
"Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin" by Lloyd Moss, illus. by Marjorie Priceman.
Did any of them pass the Menasha test?
KT Horning, CCBC
UW-Madison
Received on Wed 07 Feb 1996 12:28:00 PM CST
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 1996 12:28:00 -600
Marge, I enjoyed your comments on the potential for popularity
"Officer Buckle and Gloria" has in your community. Have you had a chance to share it with children yourself yet or have you gotten any feedback from children who've read it? So far everyone who's written about "Officer Buckle" on CCBC-Net has mentioned its great child appeal and I wonder if anyone has any hard evidence to back this claim. We all assume it'll be popular but sometimes children's tastes surprise us!
I want to pick up on another thread in Marge's comment, that of
"pushing the envelope" or "cutting?ge" art in picture books. Interestingly, the Caldecott critieria for distinction say nothing about innovation (unless you count "individually distinct") but say much about excellence which is not necessarily the same thing. (But isn't it wonderful when it is?) I'm not sure I would agree that many past Caldecott winners "pushed the art envelope" except perhaps for
"Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak and "Black and White" by David Macaulay. These are examples of picture books that were both innovative in their times AND excellent, in addition to having a lot of child appeal. I am very pleased that the 1964 and 1991 Caldecott Committees were courageous enough to recognize the excellence of both of these books in the years they were published. But it isn't as if there are 100 or even a dozen excellent, innovative, child?ntered books published every year that the Caldecott Committee is ignoring: perhaps we ask too much of art to expect books like this to come along more often than every 25 years or so. In the meantime, we'll settle for excellence!
What do others think? Are there past Caldecott winners besides the ones I've mentioned that you think were on the cutting edge? And how about the 1996 Caldecott Honor books? Does anyone have any responses to them? As a reminder, they are:
"Alphabet City" by Stephen T Johnson
"The Faithful Friend" by Robert D. San Souci, illus. by Brian Pinkney.
"Tops and Bottoms" by Janet Stevens
"Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin" by Lloyd Moss, illus. by Marjorie Priceman.
Did any of them pass the Menasha test?
KT Horning, CCBC
UW-Madison
Received on Wed 07 Feb 1996 12:28:00 PM CST
