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From: Eliza T. Dresang <edresang>
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 06:52:43 -0500
Just a reminder that Dr. De Soto by William Steig was a Newbery Honor Book
-- one of the few picture books that has been awarded a prize for the text--as opposed to the illustrations and how the text and illustrations interact.
There's a little anecdote behind its selection that relates to the CCBC. I was on the Newbery Committee that year. Members pledge to consider all books for the award, not just those that the publishers send. One is supposed to have access to some other source(s) of books. Of course, with the CCBC next door, I did have such a source. I made a weekly Friday afternoon trip to the CCBC to see if there were books I had not received.
One Friday afternoon late in the fall, I came upon Dr. De Soto. I thought the text was fantastic. I nominated it to the committee. It turns out the publisher did not send it to committee because (I suppose) they felt a picture book would not be considered for the award. Some members of the committee did not get to read it under we reached Midwinter (at which point they insisted on reading it without first looking at the pictures in order to evaluate the text fairly). Well, it prevailed in the company of such outstanding books as Dicey's Song (the medal book), Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush, Homecoming, Graven Images (all honor books). The committee was dedicated to recognizing it for its words, even though the pictures are perfect for it and add to the "distinguished nature" of the book as a whole
(also a consideration for Newbery).
The sideline is that it probably would never have been considered without the CCBC!
Eliza Dresang Associate Professor School of Information Studies Florida State University
Ginny
Received on Tue 30 Mar 1999 05:52:43 AM CST
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 06:52:43 -0500
Just a reminder that Dr. De Soto by William Steig was a Newbery Honor Book
-- one of the few picture books that has been awarded a prize for the text--as opposed to the illustrations and how the text and illustrations interact.
There's a little anecdote behind its selection that relates to the CCBC. I was on the Newbery Committee that year. Members pledge to consider all books for the award, not just those that the publishers send. One is supposed to have access to some other source(s) of books. Of course, with the CCBC next door, I did have such a source. I made a weekly Friday afternoon trip to the CCBC to see if there were books I had not received.
One Friday afternoon late in the fall, I came upon Dr. De Soto. I thought the text was fantastic. I nominated it to the committee. It turns out the publisher did not send it to committee because (I suppose) they felt a picture book would not be considered for the award. Some members of the committee did not get to read it under we reached Midwinter (at which point they insisted on reading it without first looking at the pictures in order to evaluate the text fairly). Well, it prevailed in the company of such outstanding books as Dicey's Song (the medal book), Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush, Homecoming, Graven Images (all honor books). The committee was dedicated to recognizing it for its words, even though the pictures are perfect for it and add to the "distinguished nature" of the book as a whole
(also a consideration for Newbery).
The sideline is that it probably would never have been considered without the CCBC!
Eliza Dresang Associate Professor School of Information Studies Florida State University
Ginny
Received on Tue 30 Mar 1999 05:52:43 AM CST
