Since it’s apparently football season (or at least that’s what the trending topics on Twitter seem to imply) think of this as a kind of post-game recap of what went on yesterday in the land of ALA Media Awards. Each year I like to look at what I got right, what I got wrong, what I got horrendously wrong, and what I got so wrong that it’s a miracle I’m even allowed to blog anymore. And because I believe in eating my cake before my dinner, we’ll start at the top and work our way down (metaphorically speaking).
First up:
Newbery Winners: I Got Them Moves Like Gantos
When I posted my review of The Great Cake Mystery yesterday and happened to include at the end an image of Dead End in Norvelt: British Edition (called just plain old Dead End and shown here) I hadn’t even considered the possibility that the darn book was poised to win the greatest honor in the field of children’s literature. Why had I recovered from my Gantos fever? Well, I think Jon Scieszka put it best yesterday when he tweeted his congrats to Jack and applied the hashtag #afunnybookfinallywins. Ye gods. He’s right. I ran over to ye olde list of past Award winners and while some contain elements of humor, none of them have been as outright ballsy in their funny writing as Gantos was here. I mean, you can make a case for Despereaux or Bud Not Buddy if you want, but basically even those books drip of earnestness. And on some level I must have figured the funny book couldn’t win. I had forgotten myself the moniker I had applied to this year. The Year of Breaking Barriers. Well if giving a big award to a funny title isn’t breaking a barrier here or there, I don’t know what is.
It’s really funny to read my mid-year and fall predictions in regards to the Gantos title. In the middle of the year I mentioned the book as a possibility but even then I wasn’t putting too much hope there. I wrote:
This is undoubtedly wishful thinking on my part. Gantos has never gotten the gold, and he deserves it someday. This book, of course, has a weird undercurrent to it that may turn off a certain breed of Newbery committee member. Not everyone is going to find Jack’s constant brushes with death as interesting as I do. Still, I hold out hope that maybe this’ll be a Gantos-luvin’ committee year. Stranger things have happened.
Stranger indeed. By the fall I was mentioning it, but only in passing and with the feeling that it was an unlikely bet so that by my last prediction it had fallen off the radar entirely.
By: Betsy Bird,
on 5/26/2011
Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Uncategorized, Caldecott Honors, Newbery Honors, shoulda won a Caldecott, Shoulda Won a Newbery, Add a tag
It’s almost time for me to start thinking about my mid-year Newbery/Caldecott prediction list (also known as The Arbitrary Arbitrariness of the Arbitrariums). In doing so my mind has been inclined to think back over the years to past winners. In discussion with a friend the other day, the conversation turned to Jerry Pinkney. Specifically, how for years he was the Susan Lucci of the Caldecott. Time and time again Mr. Pinkney would get Honors (no small shakes) and would be passed over for the big gold, until at long last he was lionized (so to speak). So I wonder to myself, who are the folks you think of first when you hear the words “They wuz robbed!”?
I’m going to note that this kind of post is not really my specialty. We are definitely in Collecting Children’s Books territory here, and my co-writer Peter Sieruta could undoubtedly give you the history of Honor Only winners throughout the years. For my own part, here are a couple contemporary names that occurred to me:
On the Caldecott Side
Bryan Collier – His work on Dave the Potter, Rosa, and Martin’s Big Words, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mr. Collier is a force to be reckoned with. The fact that all three of these books were nonfiction fare is interesting as well. Seems the Caldecott committees are fine with honoring nonfiction insofar as it goes, but they often stop short of giving it the shiny gold. Not always. But often.
Marla Frazee – Her honors are relatively new, all things considered. Yet both All the World and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever won Honors in two consecutive years in a row. For the Frazee fans amongst us this was a huge victory and confirmation that she is the national treasure we all knew her to be. The gold so far has eluded her, but since her recent track record is so very good we hold out hope.
Kadir Nelson – Probably the most obvious amongst those listed here, though I had been under the impression that Nelson had received more than two Honors. Not the case. And while Henry’s Freedom Box and Moses got Honors, books like We Are the Ship didn’t win anything (in the Caldecott category anyway). Now Nelson has a fall Harper Collins title called Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans that may prove to win him over to the top . . . or disappear without so much as a trace.
Mo Willems – If Kadir Nelson stretches to one side of the artistic spectrum, Mo Willems sits comfortably at the other. Having won Honors for Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, and Don’t Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus, Mo is probably the best known of any of these illustrators. Yet while he sells like nobody’s business (and wins Geisels left and right), Caldecott committees have yet to give him the shiny shiny.
On the Newbery Side
Nancy Farmer – I wasn’t initially going to include Ms. Farmer, but then I counted the sheer number of Honors she has received. The House of the Scorpion, A Girl Named Disaster, and The Ear, the Eye and the Arm, all garnered them, but in the last eight years she hasn
Once again, the Caldecott award proves it is nothing more than a lottery. If you told me that these four books were not even considered for an award yesterday, I would not have blinked an eye. They all have some nice things going on, but it seems so unfair that these books will go on to launch the illustrators careers to another level, when there are many many other illustrators who don’t even seem to get a sniff from the committee who are just as deserving.
There is no answer, I guess they just have to wish and hope that their number gets pulled someday.
Jefferson’s Sons?
I share your disappointment in AMELIA LOST. Such a shame. However, as you pointed out, the reason I love these awards so much is their unpredictability. Can’t wait to get my hands on BREAKING STALIN’S NOSE, DRAWING FROM MEMORY, CAZUELA, and SOLDIER BEAR. On SOLDIER BEAR particularly as I was convinced PRESS HERE was a lock for the Batchelder.
To be fair, Chaz, last year the Caldecott went to an unknown debut illustrator. And certainly on the Newbery two newbies got Honors. I think of it less as a lottery and more as a litmus test of professional opinions. Or maybe an experiment in consensus.
Oh, and yes. Jefferson’s Sons. Would have loved to see it get something, but at least it got a lot of debate and attention early on. Still, disappointing.
Elizabeth, I really like the “experiment in consensus” phraseology. That helps put the results in a better light.
Thanks.
I finished Breaking Stalin’s Nose and Under the Mesquite this weekend (snow, ice, and a wicked cold gave me plenty of time for reading!), so I was very happy to see that they were recognized. Do read Under the Mesquite; it’s well worth it.
I am very sorry that Amelia Lost did not win anything. I was quite happy that The Running Dream won the teen division in the Schneider Family award. Personally, it was a good day for local pride: Virginia author Maggie Stiefvater was a finalist for the Printz (I knew that already, though), and Printz and Morris winner John Corey Whaley is from Louisiana, my home state!
So happy to hear the NYPL ordered more copies of A Ball for Daisy. I had put it on hold a while ago and the status indicated it was “on order.” Then it changed to “in library use only.” I hope some will be available for borrowing soon!
Oh yes, pearls were clutched at the announcement of the Schneider picture book non-decision! Library scandal!
The Horn Book should be pretty pleased with the Newbery results. Breaking Stalin’s Nose wasn’t even on my radar until it made their Fanfare list.
On the topic of funny Newbery winners – what about A Year Down Yonder? Sure, there’s some earnestness, too, but that one had me howling at times. I would call Bud Not Buddy a funny book, too, and also Holes. I haven’t read Dead End yet so I can’t compare relative humor, but still.