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From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 1996 12:02:00 -600
Laura Manthey raised the same question I did earlier about whether or not "Officer Buckle and Gloria" fits the definition of distinguished.
It's always hard to define exactly what "distinguished" is. I think we all think we know it when we see it. For example, the artwork in last year's choice, "Smoky Night" seemed unquestionably distinguished to me from the moment I first saw it. (The infamous uproar that followed the announcement last year was, I recall, focused on the story itself, not David Diaz's superb illustrations.)
But "Officer Buckle" did not announce itself the way many picture books do, so its distinguished qualities are a bit more difficult to pin down. The question has inspired me to review the actual criteria the Caldecott Committee uses to identify distinguished picture books.
Here they are, word for word, from the Caldecott Committee Manual:
In identifying a distinguished picture book for children:
a. Committee members need to consider:
1- Excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed;
2- Excellence of pictoral interpretation of story, theme or
concept;
3- Approriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme
or concept;
4- Delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or
information through the pictures.
b. Committee members must consider excellence of presentaion in recognition of a child audience.
Given these criteria, I would say "Officer Buckle" more than qualifies under points (a) 2-4 and point (b). I have some reservations about point (a) 1 "excellence of execution of artistic technique employed" simply because a few of the pictures use exactly the same composition, giving it the feel of animated cartoons. The pages to which I am referring in particular are p. [5] picture of snoozing boy with untied red tennis shoe with text beginning:
"Officer Buckle shared..." and p. [28] picture of snoozing boy with tied red tennis shoe with text beginning: "Someone else from..." This device is also used on p. [10] "Officer Buckle checked..." and p. [12] "Officer Buckle checked..."
Perhaps this came up in the real Caldecott Committee Discussions
(there is no way we can ever know since all the discussion is confidential) and some committee members were able to present a convincing argument to show the excellence of this particular technique. Or perhaps someone on CCBC-Net will be able to do so. Anyone want to try?
KT Horning, CCBC
UW-Madison
Received on Tue 06 Feb 1996 12:02:00 PM CST
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 1996 12:02:00 -600
Laura Manthey raised the same question I did earlier about whether or not "Officer Buckle and Gloria" fits the definition of distinguished.
It's always hard to define exactly what "distinguished" is. I think we all think we know it when we see it. For example, the artwork in last year's choice, "Smoky Night" seemed unquestionably distinguished to me from the moment I first saw it. (The infamous uproar that followed the announcement last year was, I recall, focused on the story itself, not David Diaz's superb illustrations.)
But "Officer Buckle" did not announce itself the way many picture books do, so its distinguished qualities are a bit more difficult to pin down. The question has inspired me to review the actual criteria the Caldecott Committee uses to identify distinguished picture books.
Here they are, word for word, from the Caldecott Committee Manual:
In identifying a distinguished picture book for children:
a. Committee members need to consider:
1- Excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed;
2- Excellence of pictoral interpretation of story, theme or
concept;
3- Approriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme
or concept;
4- Delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or
information through the pictures.
b. Committee members must consider excellence of presentaion in recognition of a child audience.
Given these criteria, I would say "Officer Buckle" more than qualifies under points (a) 2-4 and point (b). I have some reservations about point (a) 1 "excellence of execution of artistic technique employed" simply because a few of the pictures use exactly the same composition, giving it the feel of animated cartoons. The pages to which I am referring in particular are p. [5] picture of snoozing boy with untied red tennis shoe with text beginning:
"Officer Buckle shared..." and p. [28] picture of snoozing boy with tied red tennis shoe with text beginning: "Someone else from..." This device is also used on p. [10] "Officer Buckle checked..." and p. [12] "Officer Buckle checked..."
Perhaps this came up in the real Caldecott Committee Discussions
(there is no way we can ever know since all the discussion is confidential) and some committee members were able to present a convincing argument to show the excellence of this particular technique. Or perhaps someone on CCBC-Net will be able to do so. Anyone want to try?
KT Horning, CCBC
UW-Madison
Received on Tue 06 Feb 1996 12:02:00 PM CST
