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Caldecott winner: The Three Pigs
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 15:36:43 -0600
Yesterday some of us had the opportunity to hear Marge Loch-Wouters, member of the 2002 Caldecott Award Committee, talk about the books selected this year. The audience of Wisconsin public librarians, school library media specialists, and others was assembled from across Wisconsin at distance education sites, and the session was devoted to Outstanding and Award-winning Books for Preschoolers. Marge is a well respected youth services and public library leader in Wisconsin (and elsewhere, too, but especially in Wisconsin where people know she's professionally reliable in so many ways.)
I'm going to try and summarize what Marge said yesterday, because I don't think she'll do that for us on CCBC-Net. Maybe I'm wrong, and perhaps Marge will chime in before we end this discussion. (We'll begin on Sunday/Monday to talk about the Newbery Award winner and honor book.)
Marge briefly commented on The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins and Martin's Big Words. She indicated that she'd talk more about them during a second similar session next week when we'll focus on Outstanding and Award-winning Books for Children. Marge was speaking for herself, as well as talking about why - in general - each book was appreciated by the Caldecott Award Committee.
One of the things she appreciates about The Three Pigs is it's conceptual and visual playfulness on several levels. She talked about the ways the pigs change as they morph (my word, not hers) through illustration styles of Leslie Brooks and Arthur Rackham and others. Those of us who already are familiar with David Wiesner's award winning version of this tale laughed together about the way the pigs become pastel pink and lemon yellow while they're "in" the cartoon-like nursery rhyme "hey diddle diddle" and how they say "Let's get out of here." We observed that they pass through a gallery of paintings with references to some of Wiesner's earlier artwork and to that of several others.
We also talked about the audience for this edition of The Three Pigs. It's the experience of several participants that this is not a book for a group of preschoolers, its brilliance beyond its concept overall and Wiesner's superb uses of page spaces, white space, etc., rests in the delight of slightly older children to discover the many references and droll humor within it. It's very successful with preschoolers in a one-to-one or one-to-two environment, but not with a group that age. They simply don't have the experience to figure out much of what's happening. They can't begin to comment about bookmaking or having enough letters to make alphabet soup, etc. There's so much in this book, and most people have found that it's a delightful experience to share it with kids a bit older than preschool. Thinking of it only as to whether or not it's successful as a "read-aloud" is to give short shrift to what the Caldecott Award is all about, and also to the potential for this amazing book.
How about it? What else have you discovered in Wiesner's The Three Pigs? Look closely. There are many surprises in this book truly inspiring in terms of giving "readers" an opportunity to complete it.
- Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Cooperative Children's Book Center www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A Library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin Madison (open during each of the seven days every26 week during the University semester in 4290 Helen C. White Hall at the corner of N. Park St. and Observatory Drive. St.)
Received on Thu 31 Jan 2002 03:36:43 PM CST
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 15:36:43 -0600
Yesterday some of us had the opportunity to hear Marge Loch-Wouters, member of the 2002 Caldecott Award Committee, talk about the books selected this year. The audience of Wisconsin public librarians, school library media specialists, and others was assembled from across Wisconsin at distance education sites, and the session was devoted to Outstanding and Award-winning Books for Preschoolers. Marge is a well respected youth services and public library leader in Wisconsin (and elsewhere, too, but especially in Wisconsin where people know she's professionally reliable in so many ways.)
I'm going to try and summarize what Marge said yesterday, because I don't think she'll do that for us on CCBC-Net. Maybe I'm wrong, and perhaps Marge will chime in before we end this discussion. (We'll begin on Sunday/Monday to talk about the Newbery Award winner and honor book.)
Marge briefly commented on The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins and Martin's Big Words. She indicated that she'd talk more about them during a second similar session next week when we'll focus on Outstanding and Award-winning Books for Children. Marge was speaking for herself, as well as talking about why - in general - each book was appreciated by the Caldecott Award Committee.
One of the things she appreciates about The Three Pigs is it's conceptual and visual playfulness on several levels. She talked about the ways the pigs change as they morph (my word, not hers) through illustration styles of Leslie Brooks and Arthur Rackham and others. Those of us who already are familiar with David Wiesner's award winning version of this tale laughed together about the way the pigs become pastel pink and lemon yellow while they're "in" the cartoon-like nursery rhyme "hey diddle diddle" and how they say "Let's get out of here." We observed that they pass through a gallery of paintings with references to some of Wiesner's earlier artwork and to that of several others.
We also talked about the audience for this edition of The Three Pigs. It's the experience of several participants that this is not a book for a group of preschoolers, its brilliance beyond its concept overall and Wiesner's superb uses of page spaces, white space, etc., rests in the delight of slightly older children to discover the many references and droll humor within it. It's very successful with preschoolers in a one-to-one or one-to-two environment, but not with a group that age. They simply don't have the experience to figure out much of what's happening. They can't begin to comment about bookmaking or having enough letters to make alphabet soup, etc. There's so much in this book, and most people have found that it's a delightful experience to share it with kids a bit older than preschool. Thinking of it only as to whether or not it's successful as a "read-aloud" is to give short shrift to what the Caldecott Award is all about, and also to the potential for this amazing book.
How about it? What else have you discovered in Wiesner's The Three Pigs? Look closely. There are many surprises in this book truly inspiring in terms of giving "readers" an opportunity to complete it.
- Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Cooperative Children's Book Center www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A Library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin Madison (open during each of the seven days every26 week during the University semester in 4290 Helen C. White Hall at the corner of N. Park St. and Observatory Drive. St.)
Received on Thu 31 Jan 2002 03:36:43 PM CST
