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1999 Caldecott Award Winner: Snowflake Bentley
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From: WMMayes at aol.com <WMMayes>
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 22:59:24 EST
From a post I made on another listserv, here is my reaction to the award for SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY, my opinions being solely my own:
<<Taking into consideration those titles that have won the award in the past 20 years, it is interesting to notice the book's similarities and differences to past winners:
It is not whimsical, like OFFICER BUCKLE, or controversial, like SMOKY NIGHT. It is not awe-inducing, like OWL MOON, or aww-inducing, like THE POLAR EXPRESS. (sorry--I couldn't resist.) It *is* historical, like GLORIOUS FLIGHT and GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY, but it is not a museum piece, art-wise, like RAPUNZEL and SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON. Its award represents the "arrival" of a major illustrator, like GOLEM and TUESDAY, but is not a long overdue recognition, as the awards for RAPUNZEL and FABLES were. Its award is not incomprehensible, as were those to BLACK AND WHITE and HEY, AL!, but it is also not one that was expected, as were those to GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY and THE POLAR EXPRESS. Though it isn't even what I would call a pleasant surprise, as the were the awards to OFFICER BUCKLE, SONG & DANCE MAN, and OXCART MAN, ones that made many of the librarians and booksellers exclaim "Of course!" upon hearing that it had received the award, this book winning did catch some off guard. It is a book that some will be less than thrilled to hear has received the award, those who always think the award should go to the "most beautiful" book each year, whatever that means.
But it is certainly one of the best written Caldecott recipients in recent memory. Yes, I was put off by the element of the repeated snowflake design from page to page in a book that is about how each snowflake is unique, but that is just anal old me, and I have been proven wrong before....
What SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY has going for it, more than many of the last 20 years' worth of winners, is its school-friendliness; this is a book teachers will be using a lot in years to come. A picture book biography that has great text, tons of information, and award-winning art is sure to be used in classrooms all over, regardless of climate. In the past 20 years, there has been only one nonfiction winner in this category, and that was A GLORIOUS FLIGHT. With the changes that have come about in the world of nonfiction in the past decade, what a perfect time to acknowledge its importance in the world of children's books, and I can think of no better book to do it with.
Walter the Giant Storyteller WMMayes at aol.com
"Love, Food, Shelter, Clothing...Books!"
Received on Wed 03 Feb 1999 09:59:24 PM CST
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 22:59:24 EST
From a post I made on another listserv, here is my reaction to the award for SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY, my opinions being solely my own:
<<Taking into consideration those titles that have won the award in the past 20 years, it is interesting to notice the book's similarities and differences to past winners:
It is not whimsical, like OFFICER BUCKLE, or controversial, like SMOKY NIGHT. It is not awe-inducing, like OWL MOON, or aww-inducing, like THE POLAR EXPRESS. (sorry--I couldn't resist.) It *is* historical, like GLORIOUS FLIGHT and GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY, but it is not a museum piece, art-wise, like RAPUNZEL and SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON. Its award represents the "arrival" of a major illustrator, like GOLEM and TUESDAY, but is not a long overdue recognition, as the awards for RAPUNZEL and FABLES were. Its award is not incomprehensible, as were those to BLACK AND WHITE and HEY, AL!, but it is also not one that was expected, as were those to GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY and THE POLAR EXPRESS. Though it isn't even what I would call a pleasant surprise, as the were the awards to OFFICER BUCKLE, SONG & DANCE MAN, and OXCART MAN, ones that made many of the librarians and booksellers exclaim "Of course!" upon hearing that it had received the award, this book winning did catch some off guard. It is a book that some will be less than thrilled to hear has received the award, those who always think the award should go to the "most beautiful" book each year, whatever that means.
But it is certainly one of the best written Caldecott recipients in recent memory. Yes, I was put off by the element of the repeated snowflake design from page to page in a book that is about how each snowflake is unique, but that is just anal old me, and I have been proven wrong before....
What SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY has going for it, more than many of the last 20 years' worth of winners, is its school-friendliness; this is a book teachers will be using a lot in years to come. A picture book biography that has great text, tons of information, and award-winning art is sure to be used in classrooms all over, regardless of climate. In the past 20 years, there has been only one nonfiction winner in this category, and that was A GLORIOUS FLIGHT. With the changes that have come about in the world of nonfiction in the past decade, what a perfect time to acknowledge its importance in the world of children's books, and I can think of no better book to do it with.
Walter the Giant Storyteller WMMayes at aol.com
"Love, Food, Shelter, Clothing...Books!"
Received on Wed 03 Feb 1999 09:59:24 PM CST
