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Caldecott Discussion and the audience
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From: Marc Aronson <75664.3110>
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 08:47:52 -0500
Wait a second here. Deciding that an artwork is the "most distinguished" representative of a genre in a given year is always -- as it must and should be -- to some extent an elite judgment. We don't ask if adult readers like or enjoy the NBA, Pulitzer, or Noble winners. Liking is not the issue. We often give awards to books that take risks or that extend boundaries. I'm not saying all prize winning art should be experimental or difficult. But the fact that we, or even that children, may be puzzled by a book, or may not at first get it, is not how you judge whether that book is prize-worthy. That puts utility or popularity ahead of taste, judgment, standard-setting achievement. The question is not would children pick the same book as adults -- would they pick the same food, the same use of their time, the same clothes? all cases where we assume adults know more and may suggest choices children would not make on their own -- but, once adults have made a choice, is it one that they can explain to children. A prize winning book may offer a child a chance to discover something he or she didn't know, rather than a confirmation of what is easy to like.
Marc Aronson
Received on Thu 05 Feb 1998 07:47:52 AM CST
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 08:47:52 -0500
Wait a second here. Deciding that an artwork is the "most distinguished" representative of a genre in a given year is always -- as it must and should be -- to some extent an elite judgment. We don't ask if adult readers like or enjoy the NBA, Pulitzer, or Noble winners. Liking is not the issue. We often give awards to books that take risks or that extend boundaries. I'm not saying all prize winning art should be experimental or difficult. But the fact that we, or even that children, may be puzzled by a book, or may not at first get it, is not how you judge whether that book is prize-worthy. That puts utility or popularity ahead of taste, judgment, standard-setting achievement. The question is not would children pick the same book as adults -- would they pick the same food, the same use of their time, the same clothes? all cases where we assume adults know more and may suggest choices children would not make on their own -- but, once adults have made a choice, is it one that they can explain to children. A prize winning book may offer a child a chance to discover something he or she didn't know, rather than a confirmation of what is easy to like.
Marc Aronson
Received on Thu 05 Feb 1998 07:47:52 AM CST
