From: Kathy Isaacs <kisaacs>
Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2001 20:11:00 -0500

Brenda Bowen asked:

Echoing Nina, I can't speak for the committee or about committee discussions but I did find that harder; this WAS the apples and oranges issue. I read many, many picture books, and read them with very young captive listeners, noting the ones that passed the 2-year-old test
(which means that you read them again and again) and the 5-year old test and so forth. I kept asking myself when does documentation become essential? How much information needs to be conveyed, and to whom? How many words do you need? Some writers add a page or two of explanation for the adult reader at the end of the book. An interesting example of this is Thomas Locker's "Cloud Dance." Single descriptive sentences accompany each glorious full-page painting, landscapes heavy on the skies but with tiny human figures whose activities a picture book reader might imagine. The last page, About Clouds, includes enough scientific information (written by a researcher, not the author) to satisfy an upper elementary school reader or the teacher. In others, as Nina noted, the pictures carry the message and if the pictures are not even the author's who's responsible for the distinction of the book? (That's another argument for acknowledging the editors, but that's a different subject.) I found myself being drawn to books that could be appreciated on different levels, and for different reasons. Megan's word "complexity" is important. Even the simplest of picture books can carry more meaning than first appears, but there is no question that books for the 12 year old reader can have considerably greater depth. It's hard to ignore the richness of those books when you're forced to make choices.

-Kathy Isaacs kisaacs at mindspring.com
Received on Wed 07 Mar 2001 07:11:00 PM CST