CCBC-Net Archives
Awards: the process and the intent
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Maia <maia>
Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 12:15:42 -0800
Ginny,
I think you highlighted a key issue about the awards process, which is how the award is perceived, regardless of how it is intended. For example, an award may be created with the intent being strictly to examine and reward fine writing, but once that SOA (seal of approval) is on a book, how do the various
"users" see the award? Kids aren't likely to look at a book and say, "Oh, that's the Newbery, that's for the writing," -- no, they, and most of their parents (and many educators) are going to look at that SOA and think that the book has been approved in its entirety -- which includes its art, its cover, and even its appropriateness for children. For all that we in the field may
(!) recognize the distinctions, the majority of people to whom that seal is designed to appeal will not.
So what does that imply about the awards process in general? Is it responsible to read - and award - books in galley, as Julius describes (a timeliness issue, no doubt)? Is it responsible to create awards that only address certain aspects of a whole book (meaning that thing that you hold in your hands), expecting the audience to decipher the distinctions? Perhaps... I guess it depends on what the awards are for. If awards are primarily to enlighten or alert the "users" (i.e. the children, and their adult assistants), then I think that considering less than the whole package is risky. If awards are to reward the writers/illustrators/etc. for some aspect of their craft -- if they are therefore more about adult community -- then perhaps those SOA's belong somewhere else?
In a way, award-givers are offering a product to the community. So in all fairness, I think that what the community thinks it is purchasing should have at least as much weight as the intentions and desires of the committees. E.g. If you speak in a language that tells me I am buying a good washer, then I expect all the parts to work, and not just the spin cycle...
Maia
-maia at littlefolktales.org www.littlefolktales.org the Spirited Review: www.littlefolktales.org/reviews
Received on Tue 09 Jan 2001 02:15:42 PM CST
Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 12:15:42 -0800
Ginny,
I think you highlighted a key issue about the awards process, which is how the award is perceived, regardless of how it is intended. For example, an award may be created with the intent being strictly to examine and reward fine writing, but once that SOA (seal of approval) is on a book, how do the various
"users" see the award? Kids aren't likely to look at a book and say, "Oh, that's the Newbery, that's for the writing," -- no, they, and most of their parents (and many educators) are going to look at that SOA and think that the book has been approved in its entirety -- which includes its art, its cover, and even its appropriateness for children. For all that we in the field may
(!) recognize the distinctions, the majority of people to whom that seal is designed to appeal will not.
So what does that imply about the awards process in general? Is it responsible to read - and award - books in galley, as Julius describes (a timeliness issue, no doubt)? Is it responsible to create awards that only address certain aspects of a whole book (meaning that thing that you hold in your hands), expecting the audience to decipher the distinctions? Perhaps... I guess it depends on what the awards are for. If awards are primarily to enlighten or alert the "users" (i.e. the children, and their adult assistants), then I think that considering less than the whole package is risky. If awards are to reward the writers/illustrators/etc. for some aspect of their craft -- if they are therefore more about adult community -- then perhaps those SOA's belong somewhere else?
In a way, award-givers are offering a product to the community. So in all fairness, I think that what the community thinks it is purchasing should have at least as much weight as the intentions and desires of the committees. E.g. If you speak in a language that tells me I am buying a good washer, then I expect all the parts to work, and not just the spin cycle...
Maia
-maia at littlefolktales.org www.littlefolktales.org the Spirited Review: www.littlefolktales.org/reviews
Received on Tue 09 Jan 2001 02:15:42 PM CST
