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Batchelder Honor: Enchanted Lion Books for Big Wolf & Little Wolf
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse_at_wisc.edu>
Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:03:43 -0600
It's great to read what Renee, Annette and Megan wrote about the Batchelder winner FARAWAY ISLAND. I'm eager for my name to come up on the public library reserve list.
Yesterday I had a chance to see BIG WOLF & LITTLE WOLF written by Nadine Brun-Cosme which gleaned an Honor Book citation for the U.S. publisher Enchanted Lion Books of Brooklyn. (This book was "distributed to the trade by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.")
I'm astonished to see that a picture book has been commended through the Batchelder Award process. The Mildred Batchelder Award is designated for books with substantial texts, books someone can't just thumb through in order to get the gist, books needing a first-ever translation into English.
However, I'm also enchanted by this book in which the text unfolds a story unlikely to be discerned visually. It's a fresh story about two creatures with human emotions whose trust in each other subtly evolves. Humans can learn a lot by reading this gracefully written narrative originally published in France. The artwork by Olivier Tallec is stunning, and the large size of the book reinforces the power of the story. Artist Tallec is given equal rank with author Brun-Cosme on the jacket and title page, raising another question about the independence of the text for Batchelder purposes. Claudia Bedrick's name as translator is all but hidden within publication data, and she deserves significant space on the title page, because the text flows so easily.
Perhaps others who've seen this attractive picture book will chime in, as well as anyone who's read the original French edition. Although I'm still dubious about having a picture book cited within the Batchelder "family," I'm absolutely delighted to be encouraged by the Batchelder announcement to see and enjoy this fine book. And isn't that the ultimate reason for having book awards, anyway, i.e., to bring visibility to excellence from a variety of perspectives? So I'll stop whining about eligibility issues, and instead I'll thank the 2010 Batchelder Committee for discovering and commending this terrific picture book to wider attention.
Peace, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse_at_wisc.edu
Received on Thu 04 Feb 2010 04:03:43 PM CST
Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:03:43 -0600
It's great to read what Renee, Annette and Megan wrote about the Batchelder winner FARAWAY ISLAND. I'm eager for my name to come up on the public library reserve list.
Yesterday I had a chance to see BIG WOLF & LITTLE WOLF written by Nadine Brun-Cosme which gleaned an Honor Book citation for the U.S. publisher Enchanted Lion Books of Brooklyn. (This book was "distributed to the trade by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.")
I'm astonished to see that a picture book has been commended through the Batchelder Award process. The Mildred Batchelder Award is designated for books with substantial texts, books someone can't just thumb through in order to get the gist, books needing a first-ever translation into English.
However, I'm also enchanted by this book in which the text unfolds a story unlikely to be discerned visually. It's a fresh story about two creatures with human emotions whose trust in each other subtly evolves. Humans can learn a lot by reading this gracefully written narrative originally published in France. The artwork by Olivier Tallec is stunning, and the large size of the book reinforces the power of the story. Artist Tallec is given equal rank with author Brun-Cosme on the jacket and title page, raising another question about the independence of the text for Batchelder purposes. Claudia Bedrick's name as translator is all but hidden within publication data, and she deserves significant space on the title page, because the text flows so easily.
Perhaps others who've seen this attractive picture book will chime in, as well as anyone who's read the original French edition. Although I'm still dubious about having a picture book cited within the Batchelder "family," I'm absolutely delighted to be encouraged by the Batchelder announcement to see and enjoy this fine book. And isn't that the ultimate reason for having book awards, anyway, i.e., to bring visibility to excellence from a variety of perspectives? So I'll stop whining about eligibility issues, and instead I'll thank the 2010 Batchelder Committee for discovering and commending this terrific picture book to wider attention.
Peace, Ginny
Ginny Moore Kruse gmkruse_at_wisc.edu
Received on Thu 04 Feb 2010 04:03:43 PM CST
