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Re: Awards
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From: Sheila Welch <sheilawelch_at_juno.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:56:35 -0600
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I agree with Elsa. Although the Newbery criteria says "most distinguished contribution," that does imply the winning book is the "best" book for kids published the previous year. Yet many Mock Newbery groups read, discuss, and eventually select different "winning" books. Personally, I would like to see about eight to ten honor books each year. Then readers would have a group of excellent books to guide them in their search for outstanding material.
The only one of the three Newbery books I've read is the honor book, INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. It has stayed with me although I read it a while ago. The part with the narrator's brother hanging onto the dead bird reminds me of the intense but quiet book, THE SUNDOWN RULE, by Wendy Townsend in which the main character clings to a dead crow. It is surprising to find such unusual behavior in two books published the same year, yet both these characters are dealing with loss and trying to hold on to life.
Sheila Welch
On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:55:38 -0600 Elsa Marston writes: My contribution to this discussion is that I really, really dislike the emphasis on "the best." I think it's philosophically wrong and unfair to designate anything as "The Best," when we all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Of course I agree that there should be selections based on "excellence," but why not find another way to designate--and think of--the winners, more along the lines of "outstanding"? (Another of the perennial debates about terminology!)
And while I'm on this rant, I feel the same way about calling the United States of America "The Best," meaning the best of all nations, just Because. It'll be a big step toward world peace when we can encourage our children to think of the U.S.not as Country Number One by definition, but as striving to be "the best we can be."
Elsa www.elsamarston.com
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:56:35 -0600
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
I agree with Elsa. Although the Newbery criteria says "most distinguished contribution," that does imply the winning book is the "best" book for kids published the previous year. Yet many Mock Newbery groups read, discuss, and eventually select different "winning" books. Personally, I would like to see about eight to ten honor books each year. Then readers would have a group of excellent books to guide them in their search for outstanding material.
The only one of the three Newbery books I've read is the honor book, INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. It has stayed with me although I read it a while ago. The part with the narrator's brother hanging onto the dead bird reminds me of the intense but quiet book, THE SUNDOWN RULE, by Wendy Townsend in which the main character clings to a dead crow. It is surprising to find such unusual behavior in two books published the same year, yet both these characters are dealing with loss and trying to hold on to life.
Sheila Welch
On Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:55:38 -0600 Elsa Marston writes: My contribution to this discussion is that I really, really dislike the emphasis on "the best." I think it's philosophically wrong and unfair to designate anything as "The Best," when we all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Of course I agree that there should be selections based on "excellence," but why not find another way to designate--and think of--the winners, more along the lines of "outstanding"? (Another of the perennial debates about terminology!)
And while I'm on this rant, I feel the same way about calling the United States of America "The Best," meaning the best of all nations, just Because. It'll be a big step toward world peace when we can encourage our children to think of the U.S.not as Country Number One by definition, but as striving to be "the best we can be."
Elsa www.elsamarston.com
---Received on Fri 27 Jan 2012 07:56:35 PM CST
