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Best of the Bests -Reply
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From: Ginny Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 15:13:00 -600
Rob, you've observed something I've noticed, too, about the books published during 1995: an almost universal appreciation for The Great Fire by Jim Murphy (Scholastic, 1995) going beyond the formal Newbery Honor citation previously announced on CCBC-NET and elsewhere. Murphy's account of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 approaches that disaster using parallel perspectives of actual and fictional survivors along with excellent supplementary information including maps and archival visual material. Murphy suggests important insights concerning the neighborhood and general demography of the area where the fire began - and he does not shy away from pointing out the long-term impact of the Great Chicago Fire on Chicago's economically impoverished citizens. A terrific book!
And others have noticed that, too. The CCBC copy of the Great Fire cites four other distinctions, as well. They are ALA/YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, ALA/YALSA Quick Picks for Young Adults, Book Links "Best," and 1995 Honor Book for Nonfiction: Boston Globe - Horn Book Awards. And the annual Notable Social Studies Trade Books list won't even be published for a month or two! Certainly we can expect to see The Great Fire on that list, too.
We always conclude the annual CCBC workshop "Children's and YA Books Too Good To Miss" (to be held on four Thursday evenings here next September) by determining which books appeared on most or all of the "best" lists of the preceding year. This is easy for us to do, because we insert this type of information into the inside front cover of books held in CCBC collections. Actually, anyone using the CCBC at any time of the year can see at a glance the variety of ways a single book has been appreciated - and they can look up the reviews here, too. Most certainly, the books you've named, Rob, will be at the core of what we examine closely from several perspectives next fall in that workshop.
All of which leads me to mention that some absolutely excellent books never make it to any of the national lists of "bests" selected by professionals and/or book reviewers. These books might be outstanding for any number of reasons or even for only one significant reason. Of the 197 books in CCBC Choices 1995, one-hundred and twenty-five of the books we recommend did not appear on any of the other nationally distributed lists of the year's best books (as of 2/2/96).
Thanks for including CCBC Choices in your roster of seven
"bests" lists, Rob! Guess which list did not include Math Curse? Right! Early on last year, UW-Madison mathematics professor Richard Askey pointed out that the binary price printed on Math Curse (as a lark, I'm sure) had been figured inaccurately. As the year progressed, the publisher of Math Curse received at least one piece of correspondence from children indicating the error(s) they'd discovered in it. Does that make it a "bad" book? No. Does that make the reviewers and professionals who selected it as a "best," lack overall credibility? No. Does that make any teacher, librarian, parent, aunt or uncle who bought it a poor judge of children's books? Of course not. For me, it does point out the value of hands-on book examination and evaluation and of the importance of group book discussions - of all opportunities to find out about books from a variety of perspectives. Which is one reason why you and others are part of the CCBC-NET community, I would guess.
I'm delighted that you keep track of these things, Rob! Thanks for sharing your tabulation... and, by the way, we do know that you have a life - most recently - as an author, yourself! Go ahead, tell the others about your books! Sincerely, Ginny
******************************************************************* Ginny Moore Kruse (gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison Every year I cross reference several "Best" lists to determine which children's and young adult titles appear over and over (I know, I know, I have no social life). I'm always amazed how differently each list is and how few titles carry over from list to list. This year, only 16 books
appeared on at least four of the seven lists that I checked. Thoses seven were ALA Notables, Booklinks, Book List, the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, CCBC Choices, Publisher's Weekly, and School Library Journal.
Please note that only one book, The Great Fire, by Jim Murphy, appeared on all seven lists.
Here are the 16 "Best of the Bests" for 1995.
Easy Picture Book/ Easy Readers
Griffith, Helen. Grandaddy's Stars. (Appeared on 4 lists) McBratney, Sam. Guess How Much I Love You. (5) Rathmann, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria. (5)
Juvenile Fiction/ Young Adult
Coman, Carolyn. What Jamie Saw. (4) Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham63. (4) Cushman, Karen. The Midwife's Apprentice. (6) Fox, Paula. Eagle Kite. (4) Lynch, Chris. SLot Machine. (4) McKay, Hilary. Dog Friday. (4) Williams-Garcia, Rita. Like Sisters on the Homefront. (6)
Nonfiction
Bober, Natalie. Abigail Adams: WItness to a Revolution. (4) Giblin, James Cross. When Plague Strikes. (4) Hamilton, Virginia. Her Stories. (6) McMillan, Bruce. Nights of the Pufflings. (4) Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. (7)
And in a category by itself, because it appeared as an easy, a fiction AND a nonfiction work on various lists:
The Math Curse by Jon Scieszka (6)
There were several other titles that appeared on two or three lists, but I arbitrarily chose 4 as the cutoff point to give a good picture of the cream of the crop.
Rob Reid Eau Claire, WI
Received on Fri 22 Mar 1996 03:13:00 PM CST
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 15:13:00 -600
Rob, you've observed something I've noticed, too, about the books published during 1995: an almost universal appreciation for The Great Fire by Jim Murphy (Scholastic, 1995) going beyond the formal Newbery Honor citation previously announced on CCBC-NET and elsewhere. Murphy's account of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 approaches that disaster using parallel perspectives of actual and fictional survivors along with excellent supplementary information including maps and archival visual material. Murphy suggests important insights concerning the neighborhood and general demography of the area where the fire began - and he does not shy away from pointing out the long-term impact of the Great Chicago Fire on Chicago's economically impoverished citizens. A terrific book!
And others have noticed that, too. The CCBC copy of the Great Fire cites four other distinctions, as well. They are ALA/YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, ALA/YALSA Quick Picks for Young Adults, Book Links "Best," and 1995 Honor Book for Nonfiction: Boston Globe - Horn Book Awards. And the annual Notable Social Studies Trade Books list won't even be published for a month or two! Certainly we can expect to see The Great Fire on that list, too.
We always conclude the annual CCBC workshop "Children's and YA Books Too Good To Miss" (to be held on four Thursday evenings here next September) by determining which books appeared on most or all of the "best" lists of the preceding year. This is easy for us to do, because we insert this type of information into the inside front cover of books held in CCBC collections. Actually, anyone using the CCBC at any time of the year can see at a glance the variety of ways a single book has been appreciated - and they can look up the reviews here, too. Most certainly, the books you've named, Rob, will be at the core of what we examine closely from several perspectives next fall in that workshop.
All of which leads me to mention that some absolutely excellent books never make it to any of the national lists of "bests" selected by professionals and/or book reviewers. These books might be outstanding for any number of reasons or even for only one significant reason. Of the 197 books in CCBC Choices 1995, one-hundred and twenty-five of the books we recommend did not appear on any of the other nationally distributed lists of the year's best books (as of 2/2/96).
Thanks for including CCBC Choices in your roster of seven
"bests" lists, Rob! Guess which list did not include Math Curse? Right! Early on last year, UW-Madison mathematics professor Richard Askey pointed out that the binary price printed on Math Curse (as a lark, I'm sure) had been figured inaccurately. As the year progressed, the publisher of Math Curse received at least one piece of correspondence from children indicating the error(s) they'd discovered in it. Does that make it a "bad" book? No. Does that make the reviewers and professionals who selected it as a "best," lack overall credibility? No. Does that make any teacher, librarian, parent, aunt or uncle who bought it a poor judge of children's books? Of course not. For me, it does point out the value of hands-on book examination and evaluation and of the importance of group book discussions - of all opportunities to find out about books from a variety of perspectives. Which is one reason why you and others are part of the CCBC-NET community, I would guess.
I'm delighted that you keep track of these things, Rob! Thanks for sharing your tabulation... and, by the way, we do know that you have a life - most recently - as an author, yourself! Go ahead, tell the others about your books! Sincerely, Ginny
******************************************************************* Ginny Moore Kruse (gmkruse at ccbc.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) A Library of the School of Education University of Wisconsin - Madison Every year I cross reference several "Best" lists to determine which children's and young adult titles appear over and over (I know, I know, I have no social life). I'm always amazed how differently each list is and how few titles carry over from list to list. This year, only 16 books
appeared on at least four of the seven lists that I checked. Thoses seven were ALA Notables, Booklinks, Book List, the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, CCBC Choices, Publisher's Weekly, and School Library Journal.
Please note that only one book, The Great Fire, by Jim Murphy, appeared on all seven lists.
Here are the 16 "Best of the Bests" for 1995.
Easy Picture Book/ Easy Readers
Griffith, Helen. Grandaddy's Stars. (Appeared on 4 lists) McBratney, Sam. Guess How Much I Love You. (5) Rathmann, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria. (5)
Juvenile Fiction/ Young Adult
Coman, Carolyn. What Jamie Saw. (4) Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham63. (4) Cushman, Karen. The Midwife's Apprentice. (6) Fox, Paula. Eagle Kite. (4) Lynch, Chris. SLot Machine. (4) McKay, Hilary. Dog Friday. (4) Williams-Garcia, Rita. Like Sisters on the Homefront. (6)
Nonfiction
Bober, Natalie. Abigail Adams: WItness to a Revolution. (4) Giblin, James Cross. When Plague Strikes. (4) Hamilton, Virginia. Her Stories. (6) McMillan, Bruce. Nights of the Pufflings. (4) Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. (7)
And in a category by itself, because it appeared as an easy, a fiction AND a nonfiction work on various lists:
The Math Curse by Jon Scieszka (6)
There were several other titles that appeared on two or three lists, but I arbitrarily chose 4 as the cutoff point to give a good picture of the cream of the crop.
Rob Reid Eau Claire, WI
Received on Fri 22 Mar 1996 03:13:00 PM CST
