MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events for Children’s Librarians
National Book Award Nominees Announced
The National Book Award nominees were announced on October 11, 2000. In the Young People’s Literature category, four novels and one book of history received nods. The awards will be announced in a ceremony on November 15th, hosted by comedian and author Steve Martin. Ray Bradbury will receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
The nominees in the Young People’s Literature category are:
NEWS AND NOTES
SLJ’S New Editor
Julie Cummins, formerly head of Children’s Services at the New York Public Library, has been named Editor of School Library Journal.
Censorship Thwarted
Just in time for Banned Books Week, federal Judge Jerry Buchmeyer struck down a resolution of the Wichita Falls City Council, which allowed any book to be pulled from the library if 300 library card holders signed a petition asking for a book’s removal. The original resolution was drafted to remove the two picture books on gay families, HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES and DADDY’S ROOMMATE.
"Where the Sidewalk Ends"
Sony Legacy/Columbia has just re-released Shel Silverstein’s CD of his best-selling book, "Where the Sidewalk Ends." The CD, which won the Grammy for Best Children’s Album in 1984, features Silverstein reading his poetry, accompanied by occasional guitar music. His readings feature whispers, growls, squeals, and other vocal interpretations. The re-issued CD features eleven bonus tracks, and is priced at $11.97, available at most music retailers.
EASY READER CLASSICS IN LARGER SIZE
I did a double-take when I first saw these familiar old favorites in a new format. HarperCollins has taken some classic easy readers and enlarged both the width and height of the pages by about two inches, making them a "picture book." The text and illustrations are unchanged, aside from being enlarged. It begs the questions: "Why?" Has HarperCollins finally run out of Little House On The Prairie picture book permutations and now turned to other favorites? The good news is that, unlike the unfortunate slicing and dicing of the Little House books, these titles have not been abridged or otherwise adapted. However, youngsters looking for easy readers will prefer the old, small-sized format, and parents looking for these titles as read-alouds to younger children will not find this new picture book format more useful or accessible than the traditional format. Yet the price (retail $12.95, versus the traditional easy-reader format cost of $15.95) will likely lure many unsuspecting parents to purchase these new ones instead of the more appropriate smaller format. Although the illustrations in this picture-book format would carry better in some storytime settings, most libraries would undoubtedly prefer a Big Book edition if the goal was to display the pages to a large group. That leaves only one possible reason for this new series: profit for HarperCollins.
Sandy Kirkpatrick,
Benicia Public Library
Professional Reading for Children’s Librarians
Glassman, Peter, editor. OZ: THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION. Books of Wonder/HarperCollins, 2000. $24.95. ISBN 0-688-15915-X.
As the subtitled states, "Thirty favorite artists and writers celebrate one hundred years of Oz." This Oz-fest, a fundraiser for the Reading Is Fundamental organization, offers tributes to L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, in short essays and with original, inventive artwork. These tributes are to both the books and the popular 1939 movie starring Judy Garland. The book seems more of a gift item for adult Oz fans, than a book for children, yet it will certainly find fans among librarians.
Many of the tributes are to the film, which is often a person’s introduction to the Oz characters. Tomie DePaola offers a colorful illustration of himself as a boy, dancing down the Yellow Brick Rode, and his essay celebrates the film. But he then explains how the film led him to the books, where he found Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse to be the more interesting characters. Later, the essay and ink drawing by Lloyd Alexander also mentions Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse as his favorite characters.
Some of the pieces are simple but striking: Eric Carle’s collage painting of the Very Hungry Caterpillar dresses as the Tin Man, Chris Van Allsburg sepia-toned drawing of Dorothy’s house mid-air during the "twister," and Mark Teague’s portrait of himself, meeting the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Scarecrow on his suburban street on his way to school.
Adults will appreciate Jule Feiffer’s cartoon of Dorothy on the psychiatrist’s coach, describing how it isn’t her fault her house killed the Witch of the East. And many readers will relate to the comment by several of the contributors that the Flying Monkeys are one of the most memorable, and terrifying things about the film and the books, a comment that comes from Kay Chorao, Bruce Degen, and Richard Egielski.
As a collector of Oz memorablia, my favorite essay and illustration is the one from William Joyce. He describes the unbelievable but true story of Frank Morgan, the actor who played the wizard. He didn’t like the coat that was assigned to him by the costume department, so he bought one at a thrift store. Later, he found the tag inside the jacket naming the previous owner: L. Frank Baum, who had lived in the Hollywood area several years before.
As the hundredth anniversary of the first Oz book comes to a close, look for other items that offer tribute to this American classic. At least with this book, the profits go to a deserving organization.
Penny Peck,
San Leandro Public Library
FIRST PERSON IN REVIEWS: TWO OPINIONS
Nay On I
References in the first person singular (I, me, my, mine) are absolutely acceptable in conversations, informal intercourse among and between people. For instance, someone is asked "How are you?" [You-second person singular objective case]. "Thank ye kindly I [I-first person singular, nominative case] am fine. And you?" [q.v., supra first interrogation].
In such formal locutions, obviously the respondent, i.e. the first person narrator, is more aware of his/her condition in a most subjective way possible and, unless the respondent is British royalty, must respond in the first person nominative singular. Such usage is a matter of subjective response best known to the first person.
Alas, such first person singular nominative references should not be used in book reviews if the writer/reviewer/critic is to demonstrate even a modicum of objectivity. Most people who read reviews are aware (unless those readers are vegetables) that the opinions are those of the critic/writer/reviewer. However, when the first person is placed within a review, although it may state that , "I certainly prefer this to that" it also indicates, "I certainly prefer this to that and will not accept that-and the book is full of that. Therefore, I cannot give this book a high rating because it is absolutely dependent on my exquisite taste." Now-had such a reviewer (and ACL has more than one) examined the book not as a first person subjective-reactionary reviewer, but in the third person (he/she/it/him/her/it/his/hers/its-and in reviews, "IT") as an objective critic, perhaps the book would be regarded as what it is: an aesthetic object, not something to be fondled and regarded with those deathless first person terms: "I LOVED it" or, equally obnoxious, "I HATED it."
First person is weak in writing but is even weaker in oral review and discussion. Why? If one states that one "likes," "loves," "hates," and other subjective varieties thereof, then, when another person disagrees, the "first person lover or hater" may think that she/he is personally attacked-not the book under consideration.
Go to the third person thou sluggard-or does that deal with ants?
Ruth I. Gordon
I, Me, Myself
I spring (at a snail’s pace) to defend using the first person singular in reviews. Admittedly, the practice can be abused, but used with discretion it can be an asset. Referring to oneself as "this reader" or "this reviewer" smacks of false modesty and/on an assumption that the writer is voicing the opinion of a group. There is, of course, no protection against spur-of-the-moment editorial changes of meaning, or imperfect proof-reading.
The welcome (and to my mind, essential) identification of reviewers makes it possible to recognize authors of usable reviews as well as those which are ignorable, which can be helpful. Why pretend that the reviews spring in complete perfection into existence?
Discussion makes no pretense of impersonality, and is the stronger for this element. Why eliminate all traces of this value from the written version?
Dorothy G. Dohm
"Reading the World" Draws Its Largest Audience Ever
Over 500 teachers and librarians registered as attendees to the third annual "Reading the World" conference, held Oct. 14-15, 2000, at the University of San Francisco. It seemed as though more librarians attended this year than in years past, but teachers still make up the largest group, as well as those working on their teaching credentials.
The two-day celebration of multicultural children’s books featured several dynamic keynote speakers. Both poet Nikki Giovanni and Native American Indian storyteller Gayle Ross received standing ovations for their speeches. Both offered strong opinions on schools and children’s books, but did so tactfully and clearly. Ross talked about books written by well-meaning but uninformed non-Indians, which too often have errors or misinterpretations. She asked that we look for Native American authors and illustrators to help avoid stereotypical or mistake-filled books. Giovanni hailed teachers, librarians, and the work we do in helping to curb the racism and homophobia in American society.
Other speakers included Anne Pellowski, author and expert on storytelling, who offered practical advice on telling stories from a variety of cultures, countries, and languages. Other speakers I was unable to see were Gary Soto, Ken Mochizuki, and Ashley Bryan. Bryan has attended every year, and is always a highlight to the program.
Alma Flor Ada, Professor of Multicultural Education in the School of Education at USF and an award-winning author, is the "spirit" of each year’s program, as her department is the sponsor. The Chair of the event is Beverly Vaughn Hock, who with her staff always is well-organized, gracious, and enthusiastic. The event is not just keynote speakers, but there were also more than 40 smaller breakout workshops attendees could choose from. These usually focus on a specific type of literature or a specific part of the curriculum. Presenters included local children’s librarians Susan Faust, Maeve Visser Knoth, Penny Peck, Francisca Goldsmith, Milly Lee, and Toni Bernardi.
Several authors and illustrators also conducted smaller workshops, including Matthew Gollub, author of Cool Melons-Turn to Frogs, Mira Reisberg, who illustrated Baby Rattlesnake, Ji-li Jiang, author of Red Scarf Girl, Carmen Bernier-Grand, author of Juan Bobo, and Ashley Wolff, author/illustrator of the Stella and Roy books.
The conference also featured a booksellers room, so attendees could purchase some of the books featured in the workshops and by the speakers. There were also information displays by those who specialize in specific types of books, including Oyate, a Native American children’s book organization, as well as Santillana, a wholesaler that specializes in Spanish books.
Next year, the "Reading the World" conference will be a joint conference with the International Board on Books for Young People Regional Conference (US - IBBY), which should attract an even larger audience as well as an exciting selection of speakers. It will be held October 13-14, 2001.
Penny Peck,
San Leandro Public Library