From: Viki Ash-Geisler <vikiag>
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 00:30:05 -0600

All this talk of "who won (and who has won) what" got me to thinking/wondering. So, I decided to look a few things up -- I am using a list of Newbery winner and honor books, found in ESSENTIALS of CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, 3rd ed for the following information

Christopher Paul Curtis seems to be the first person to win both the Newbery AND the King Author Award in the same year for the same book.

Additionally, Curtis received a Newbery Honor citation in 1996 for the Watsons Go to Burningham -- 1963.

And, he is not the only African Americans to win the Newbery -- the most recent was Mildred Taylor in 1977 for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Virginia Hamilton won the Newbery in 1975 for MC Higgins the Great.

Virginia Hamilton has had books named Newbery Honors several times: In the Beginning (Honor in 1989) Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush (Honor in 1983) The Planet of Junior Brown (Honor in 1972)

Patricia McKissack is also a Newbery Honor book recipient: THe Dark-Thirty (Honor in 1993)

As is Walter Dean Myers: Somewhere in the Darkness (Honor in 1993) Scorpions (Honor in 1989)

And Julius Lester: To be a Slave (Honor in 1969)

These are the names of African American authors that jumped out at me as I looked at the list -- but I am not sure of the racial/ethnic heritage of all the authors named. So, undoubtedly -- this is an incomplete list.

I offer these tidbits just as points of information that can inform our discussion. :-)

Viki Ash-Geisler



From: Robin Smith Subject: RE: Book Award News Notes & Caldecott Discussion Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 09:35:38 00



Thanks, for your posting regarding the processes employed by the various committees of the ALA in choosing the children's book awards. There is also a very interesting and informative piece by Marc Aronson in the recent Booklist magazine about the criteria for the Printz award.

I am lucky to have Internet access in my room and was able to gather my children around the monitor to watch for the announcement. (We are in school on MLK day. No comment.) They had not yet heard of the Medal winner, but they let out a huge whoop when the cover of Sector 7 arrived on the screen! Just 4 days earlier, the children had read the book independently, then in a group and then wrote about the book. Writing from the boy's point of view, they thanked the cloud for the trip and asked questions of the clouds. I was interested in their independent response to the book and was amazed all they took away from it. Yesterday, I read Joseph Has a Little Overcoat. What fun! Once they realized how the art "worked," the children did not want me to turn the cut-out page until they could all guess what was coming next. At the last turn, with the button to come, they could not figure out what happened next. Someone said "dot," and the class burst out laughing. "A dot?? Why would he wear a dot??" They were surprised to find out that the dot was really a button. They also loved following the photos and newspaper clippings on the walls and tables. I have always liked books that have a subtle "other" story happening within the story and the photographs and clippings added that extra touch. Many of the children in the room were familiar with "Fiddler on the Roof" and noticed those references right away. I am waiting for questions about Sholom Aleichem!

One other aspect of the book that we all loved was that the dust jacket differed from the cover. This seems to becoming a trend (one other that pops to mind is Home Run by Burleigh and Wimmer). In this case, I wonder if the cover was born out of necessity: the dust jacket was cut out (and will, alas, tear easily!!) and the book cover needed a different look. At any rate, I love both of the covers. I guess librarians will have to decide which cover to use.
 I hope to find a copy of the 1977 version of Joseph Has a Little Overcoat so the children will see the progress of the artist over the years.

A random thought about the honor books: We could barely (no pun intended) gather ourselves after the illustration that accompanies the "August" poem in A Child's Calendar. Nothing like a naked child to make second graders laugh!! I have loved this book since I first laid eyes on it. Trina Schart Hyman's


illustrations of children of all shades of brown and beige are masterful and honest. Even the December page manages a Star of David and a menorah in the very Christmasy scene.

I look forward to hearing from all of you about your reaction to the rest of the books.

Robin Smith Second grade teacher Nashville, TN
Received on Thu 20 Jan 2000 12:30:05 AM CST