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Winding Down the Sibert Award Discussion
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 14:24:00 -0600
Thanks to Jonathan, Nina, Rick, and Megan for contributing to the all-too-short and all-too-quiet discussion of outstanding writing in books of information for young readers, i.e., the books formally honored through the Sibert Award process. In Nina's informative message we glimpsed a bit about the close reading and thoughtful evaluation of the 2002 Sibert Award Committee she chaired.
Make no mistake, the Sibert award is not all about footnotes and documentation. There's no doubt that this award acknowledges reliable information. It's also about compelling written narratives, visual elements, and many other factors contributing to the potential interest and appeal of each book to young readers.
We're so appreciative that we could hear from Susan Campbell Bartoletti herself via Rick's enclosure of her remarks about some of the documentation decisions she faced while writing Black Potatoes. I had the opportunity to hear Ms. Bartoletti speak a couple of years ago. I recall hearing her say that her previous experience as a teacher of young adolescents caused her to know that they can be engaged by the many stories between the lines of historical facts as written in textbooks. These accounts bring history to life for antsy, volatile, fickle middle & junior high school age readers. As I try to write here about her passionate remarks to that effect, I'm probably misquoting her. Even if I can't (horrors) document what I've written, I discover that spirit in her books: Growing Up in Coal Country
(Houghton Mifflin, 1996); Kids on Strike ! (Houghton Mifflin, 1999); and in her novel No Man's Land (Blue Sky / Scholastic Inc., 1999).
We're going to assume that most of you - for one reason or another weren't able to contribute directly to the Sibert Award/Honor Book Discussion because you haven't - yet! - gotten hold of these books. Maybe you haven't had time to read them, even if you do have them more or less - at hand. However, whatever your reason, you can still contribute to the potential impact of the Sibert Award. We hope you will "vote" with your budgets. Once you have the 2001 and 2002 Sibert Award/Honor Books in hand, purchase the new Sibert Award seal from the American Library Association www.ala.org for them. Make these outstanding books stand out in your classroom, library or bookstore. Help make the Sibert Award a prize expanding the market for highly original, even quirky, superbly written books of information for young readers. - Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Director, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A Library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin Madison 4290 Helen C. White Hall, 600 N. Park (corner of Observatory Drive & N. Park St.) Madison, WI 53706 USA Open seven days a week throughout the Spring Semester (Spring Break: Mon-Fri 9-4; Sat-Sun 12:30-4)
Received on Sat 23 Mar 2002 02:24:00 PM CST
Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 14:24:00 -0600
Thanks to Jonathan, Nina, Rick, and Megan for contributing to the all-too-short and all-too-quiet discussion of outstanding writing in books of information for young readers, i.e., the books formally honored through the Sibert Award process. In Nina's informative message we glimpsed a bit about the close reading and thoughtful evaluation of the 2002 Sibert Award Committee she chaired.
Make no mistake, the Sibert award is not all about footnotes and documentation. There's no doubt that this award acknowledges reliable information. It's also about compelling written narratives, visual elements, and many other factors contributing to the potential interest and appeal of each book to young readers.
We're so appreciative that we could hear from Susan Campbell Bartoletti herself via Rick's enclosure of her remarks about some of the documentation decisions she faced while writing Black Potatoes. I had the opportunity to hear Ms. Bartoletti speak a couple of years ago. I recall hearing her say that her previous experience as a teacher of young adolescents caused her to know that they can be engaged by the many stories between the lines of historical facts as written in textbooks. These accounts bring history to life for antsy, volatile, fickle middle & junior high school age readers. As I try to write here about her passionate remarks to that effect, I'm probably misquoting her. Even if I can't (horrors) document what I've written, I discover that spirit in her books: Growing Up in Coal Country
(Houghton Mifflin, 1996); Kids on Strike ! (Houghton Mifflin, 1999); and in her novel No Man's Land (Blue Sky / Scholastic Inc., 1999).
We're going to assume that most of you - for one reason or another weren't able to contribute directly to the Sibert Award/Honor Book Discussion because you haven't - yet! - gotten hold of these books. Maybe you haven't had time to read them, even if you do have them more or less - at hand. However, whatever your reason, you can still contribute to the potential impact of the Sibert Award. We hope you will "vote" with your budgets. Once you have the 2001 and 2002 Sibert Award/Honor Books in hand, purchase the new Sibert Award seal from the American Library Association www.ala.org for them. Make these outstanding books stand out in your classroom, library or bookstore. Help make the Sibert Award a prize expanding the market for highly original, even quirky, superbly written books of information for young readers. - Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse at education.wisc.edu Director, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ A Library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin Madison 4290 Helen C. White Hall, 600 N. Park (corner of Observatory Drive & N. Park St.) Madison, WI 53706 USA Open seven days a week throughout the Spring Semester (Spring Break: Mon-Fri 9-4; Sat-Sun 12:30-4)
Received on Sat 23 Mar 2002 02:24:00 PM CST
