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[CCBC-Net] Pura Belpre Award
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From: Eliza T. Dresang <edresang>
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 10:56:35 -0500
To start the conversation, I'll volunteer that as chair of the 2002 Pura Belpr?, I'm "on line" and willing to respond to any questions any of you might have about this award. It is "new to the neighborhood" of awards for distinguished literature for youth -- this January was only the 4th time these awards for Latino literature have been given.
Most of you, I'm sure, have noted in the census statistics that the Latino population is the fastest growing in the U.S. (Lots of good information at www.census.gov). You may have also noted that "youthfulness" of this population that now comprises approximately more than 12% of people counted in the US.
A chart on the CCBC web site documents the books by and about Latino Americans (and other groups) published each year. This can be seen at
http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/ccbc/pcstats.htm
A student in the Multicultural Literature and Information Resources for Youth course I'm currently teaching at Florida State took the 2000 census figures (for those who declared one race/ethnicity only) and figured the number of books published in 2000 (the year of the census) for each individual for each group on the CCBC chart.
2000 2000 2000 Group Census Books Books per person
Although the census figures are not precise, because of the opportunity on the 2000 census to select more than one race/ethnicity, the contrast among the groups is stark. (Thankfully the total of books by and about Latinos in 2001 went up, but, of course, so did the population). In rough terms it show what a large Latino population we have and how few books are published in relation to the number of Latinos in our country, the majority of whom are youth.
So, from my perspective, it was terrific that our committee had so many truly excellent books among which to choose and that our deliberations were lengthy in order to make the choices.
I'd be interested in knowing how many of you in the CCBC-Net community were familiar with any or all of these books before the announcement of the award, if you have spoken with children who have enjoyed them, if you are familiar with other books by these authors and illustrators?
Also, I and I'm sure others on the committee, would welcome your own reactions to these stories. These books are all supposed to "celebrate, portray, and affirm" the Latino cultural experience. Do you think they do? Why or why not? (I ask this because their are many notions about what these words mean). -- and, as with the other awards, we'd be interested to know about other books with Latino themes by Latino authors that you appreciate in the past two years (the period of time this award covers).
Hoping to hear from you . . . (and thanks to those of you who sent nominations to us during the past two years).
Eliza Dresang
Received on Fri 22 Feb 2002 09:56:35 AM CST
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 10:56:35 -0500
To start the conversation, I'll volunteer that as chair of the 2002 Pura Belpr?, I'm "on line" and willing to respond to any questions any of you might have about this award. It is "new to the neighborhood" of awards for distinguished literature for youth -- this January was only the 4th time these awards for Latino literature have been given.
Most of you, I'm sure, have noted in the census statistics that the Latino population is the fastest growing in the U.S. (Lots of good information at www.census.gov). You may have also noted that "youthfulness" of this population that now comprises approximately more than 12% of people counted in the US.
A chart on the CCBC web site documents the books by and about Latino Americans (and other groups) published each year. This can be seen at
http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/ccbc/pcstats.htm
A student in the Multicultural Literature and Information Resources for Youth course I'm currently teaching at Florida State took the 2000 census figures (for those who declared one race/ethnicity only) and figured the number of books published in 2000 (the year of the census) for each individual for each group on the CCBC chart.
2000 2000 2000 Group Census Books Books per person
Although the census figures are not precise, because of the opportunity on the 2000 census to select more than one race/ethnicity, the contrast among the groups is stark. (Thankfully the total of books by and about Latinos in 2001 went up, but, of course, so did the population). In rough terms it show what a large Latino population we have and how few books are published in relation to the number of Latinos in our country, the majority of whom are youth.
So, from my perspective, it was terrific that our committee had so many truly excellent books among which to choose and that our deliberations were lengthy in order to make the choices.
I'd be interested in knowing how many of you in the CCBC-Net community were familiar with any or all of these books before the announcement of the award, if you have spoken with children who have enjoyed them, if you are familiar with other books by these authors and illustrators?
Also, I and I'm sure others on the committee, would welcome your own reactions to these stories. These books are all supposed to "celebrate, portray, and affirm" the Latino cultural experience. Do you think they do? Why or why not? (I ask this because their are many notions about what these words mean). -- and, as with the other awards, we'd be interested to know about other books with Latino themes by Latino authors that you appreciate in the past two years (the period of time this award covers).
Hoping to hear from you . . . (and thanks to those of you who sent nominations to us during the past two years).
Eliza Dresang
Received on Fri 22 Feb 2002 09:56:35 AM CST
