OCR Text |
Show ‘Tie SalfLake Tribtie HOME&FAMILY ‘Friday, July 95, 1907 MagicWordsin Children’s Lit? Newbery Award BY JEROME WEEKS 1996. Most children’s books sell 5,000 copies or fewer, Roxburgh DALLAS MORNING NEWS SAN FRANCISCO — Inkid lit, it's the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. When parents are noted, and Jamie concerns a mother and son fleeing her abusive husband(‘‘what Jamie saw” was a sibling getting flung against a wall).~ scouting books for their children to read, what they rely on — droves of them is the Newbery Medal. Li- All yery socially relevant but not the easiest sell to make in kid lit. When Jamie was released,it received seven “starred”reviews, brarians were hep to this long ago. Manylibraries set aside spe- but there still were only 1,800 copiesout. cial shelves, even whole sections, devoted entirely to Newbery winners — orits sister award among children’s picture books, the Cal- Two weeks after the Newberys were announced,FrontStreet had shipped 23,000 copies to meet demand. “It kept Front Street alive,” the publishersaid. Popularity with young readers decott Medal. Parents come in and ask, they get pointed thataway. Asa result, Front Street Press publisher Stephen Roxburgh told a recent conferenceof the American Library Association in San Francisco, “The Newbery sells is not a criterion for the award. But the Newbery’s track record includes Sounder (released in 1970, made into a film in 1972), Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of more booksthan anyotherliterary award. Period. That includes NIMH (1972; it became the 1982 animated film “The Secret of the National Book Award,the Pulitzer and the National Book Critics Circle.” Officially given each yearto the “most distinguished contribution to Americanliterature”in fiction NIMH”), Ramona 1957, a Disneyfilm the sameyear) and The Voyages ofDr. Dolittle (a slow comer; it took 44 years from or nonfiction for 14-year-olds or younger, the Newbery Medal en- tails no cash, no offer of publication. The ALA, which administers the prize, markets it with relative- lylittle fanfare beyond the requisite press release, awards dinner and,of course, a Web homepage. Yet the Newbery has the kind of clout publishers cash checks with. E.L. Konigsburg,a previous honoree and this year’s winner for The View From Saturday (Atheneum), told ALA members the Newbery is better than the Nobel: “It sells books.” It certainly does. In fact, every single one of the 76 Newbery winners since 1922 is still in print. ThePulitzers aren’t even close to that. Toillustrate the Newbery’s influence, Roxburgh cites Carolyn Coman’s What Jamie Saw, a Newbery honor book (a runnerup) that Front Street released in Quimby (a runner-up in 1982, a PBSseries in 1988), Old Yeller (a runner-upin the award to the 1967 film). The late Isaac Bashevis Singer was a three-time runner-up; other well- known winners include Maurice Sendak, James Thurber and Ursula K. Le Guin. To a publisher, the Newbery meansmore than booksales, Rox- ™@ Patricia Bown,a Silver Hills teach problem solving and Ameri- ean and worldhistory. @Students in Panguitch are among 25 first-place winners in a nationwide contest, Cartons for Computers. The competition, sponsored by the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board, challenges junior highs and high schools to increase in-school milk consumption by at least 10 percent over one month. Nearly 200 schools nationwide participated. Panguitch Middle and High schools consumed 7,096 cartons of milk in March, an increase of 341 percent. The students won $2,000 toward new school computers and $1,000 in cheerleading uniforms after the squad helped ed on a particular winner remains hush-hush. Even years later, pan- since the beginning of the elists will not discuss which books were considered or howtheballoting went. But in an ALSC workshop in San Francisco, two former committee chairpeople discussed serving on the award committee andits general procedures. Not surprisingly, it involves a lot of reading — and fereading. Although there is no official methodology, somepanelists con- more milk. Shannon Lorenzo, a Rosslyn Heights Elementary math teach- er, and Teresa Rountree, a science teacher at Central School, Brigham City, received presiden- tial commendations for excellence in math andscience teach- ing. @ Sarah Jensen, Salt LakeCity, and Audrey Smith, Sandy, attended the American Legion Auxiliaty’s Girls’ Nation in Washington, D.C. @ Misti Lombardi, Sandy, has won a $1,500 Paul R. Ball scholarship awarded by Mountain Ameri- ca Credit Union. Other winners are Darin Arnell, West Valley City, and Dimitry Dessiatnikov, Layton. Thecredit union also has donated computers and printers to nine Davis County high schools. of next year’s Newbery panel. “The awardis given not to a tract, notfor didactic reasons.Itis a literary award, so the choices depend a lot on the character of the committee. But very often, the two — great literature that is appealing to children — do meld. Kathleen Horning, the 1995 an from Madison, Wis. They hold discussion groups with children; to make the awards panel diverse in its membership and its choices — rural ys. urban, public vs. duct their own research, said awards chairwoman anda librari- they collect book reviews. Then each of the 15 members nominates three books and, in a second round, three more. This means, if there were no duplica- tions (highly unlikely — often fewerthan a dozen booksareserious contenders), as many as 90 ered by the panel, although many more mayhavebeenread by indi- school libraries. But, she ac- knowledged, the panels tend to looklike her and like the majority of the ALA: “white, middle-class, middle-aged women.”” Overthe years, what the Newbery hashadgoingfor it, ironically enough, are the librarians. They may be underpaid, they may be sniggeringly thought of as schoolmarms, but when Ameri- cans need a cultural gatekeeper,a As with any committee-wrangled decision, the Newbery is far from infallible. Horning cited one reason panelists keep rereading: 1953, the panel may award an generate interest in consuming awards,” said Tim Wadham, the children’s librarian at Dallas’ WalnutHill branch and a member There are those miracles out there.” Horningsaid efforts are made with booksellers as a publisher of quality commercial volumes. The in a market that has seen two books for children’s entertainstruction. “This has beenanissueforever, “the Charlotte’s Web factor,” she calls it. It’s the fear that, as in straight years of overall sales tury publisher whofirst printed mentandnot just their moral in- Andit meanscredibility for the publishing company, credibility for the 80 percent that do notsell. It’s an ominousratio — especially for John Newbery, the 18th-cen- Children (ALSC), a division of the ALA.How particular panelvot- vidual members. rule of thumb in the industry is that 20 percent of the books pay velopment: The medal is named memberpanel from the Association for Library Service to often forging a bond between them, the kind of once-typical bondthathas nearly disappeared their choices, the Newbery panels have opted too often for the socially conscious and good-for-you educational instead of the more artful and playful. An ironic de- that don’t win the Newbery.” Established throughtheefforts of Frederic G. Melcher, co-editor of Publishers Weekly, the Newbery Medal is chosen by a 15- children’s books can be consid- from the no-longer-genteel book industry. shop, somelibrarians fear thatin “keep publishing all those books burghsaid. It meanstonsof free publicity. It means professional esteem for the editor and author, SCHOOL NOTES Elementary teacher, is Granite District's teacher of the year. Bown is a fifth-grade teacher and uses a spaceship simulator to dropping by morethan 5 percent. Thus, Roxburgh said, winning the Newbery can mean thatyou'll honorscitation to what became a children’s classic and give the Big Oneto Ann Nolan Clark’s The Secret of the Andes, which is hardly in the E.B. White weightclass. Judging from questions raised during the San Francisco work- First Amendment defender, a judge of whatchildren can read, we turn to librarians. The fact that librarians are the Newbery judges accounts for the confidence parents put in the award. That's becauselibrarians do the work no one else will, Wadham said. “Very few adults outside of children’s publishing take the time to read and consider these books seriously,” he said.‘Very few see the best of them as authentic worksofliterature.” REVIEWSOF CHILDREN'S BOOKS BY NANCYHOBBS Dear Ann: I read your response to the woman in Indiana ANN LANDERS who wants to have children but her husband had hada vasecto- napped bythe king's guards, she takes the experiencein stride and uses the opportunity to teach His Majesty little bit about social welfare. Notsurprisingly, Rumpelstiltskin's daughter outwits the king and ultimately impresses him so that he offers to “reward” her with marriage. She has a better idea. Stanley's drawingsare a humorous accompaniment. (Morrow, $15, ages5 to 9.) A spunky and clever young ties or abnormalities are too often presented in a negative light That has given children's authors fodder for newstories, with plenty of spoofs on the old. Some womanalsois the heroine of Ella Enchanted, a twisted version of cleverly succeed; othersfall flat. Diane Stanley's Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughterfalls in the former “Cinderella” by Gail Carson Levine. (HarperCollins, $14.95, ages 8 to 12.) category. Theartist for Jane Yo- len’s Sleeping Ugly has changed WhenElla of Frell is born wail- the original tale of Rumpelstilts- ing inconsolably, the attendant fairy (usual at such auspicious occasions as royal weddings and births) bestows her with the “gift” of obedience. The fairy assumed she was doing the baby’s mothera favor and refused to take back the blessing, despite the mother’s pleadings. It didn’t take long for Ella and those dearto her to learn that the gift really was a curse. And so readers are introduced to the kinslightly, and then followedits natural course She addresses the question that even young children have when they hear or read the original tale: Why would the miller's daughter ever want to marry a man who locks her up in a room until she performs to his liking (let alone havehis child, parents agree)? So in Stanley's revision, she doesn’t. Given the choiceof spin- ever-obedient -- though not al- ning a third roomof straw into gold and becoming the king's wife, or not spinning and being beheaded, the miller’s daughter is ways happyabout it — Ella. There are unmistakable parallels with the traditional fairy tale, which readers will quickly pick up on — particularlythe dreadful torn. Rumpelstiltskin takes her young women who will become up on the suggestion they get mar- ried, and the two run away from Ella’s stepsisters. ter they married, he changedhis mind. She was miserable and unhappy andhad gained 60 pounds. You told her she wasin no condition to makea decision to end her marriage and that a woman who gains 60 poundsandcriesall the time needs serious counseling. I could notdisagree more. That woman could have been “Want to Be a Mother in Indiana." We think your response was mail from women (mostly) who Instead of telling her to get therapy, you should have told her ing ME. I am facing a mountain of 180 degreesoff course. howunfair her husband was. This wood. Get out the wet noodle, and keep reading From Oakland, Calif.: You perfectly sane woman went into that marriage —herfirst, his second — with the understanding that she wouldbeable to have her completely missed the point in ing were moreimportant than trying to save a marriage that was your response to the woman who wanted a baby. Her husband changed his mind about reversing his vasectomy after promising her own children, which was always her dream. She probably would feel cheated. She entered into told her at the beginning that he didn’t want torhave any morekids. Having childrenis an important not have married that man had he he would. Shehas everyright to notsalvageable. Now, 18 monthslater, I have Jost 40 pounds. I’m living in my she would beable to have a child own home and am at peace. Shewas royally double-crossed. was insensitive and arrogant for children and raised them as my own. We had a child together a ings, especially since he had already experienced the joyof haying a family. Howcould you be so happier. You Dear bombed. children —a fact he hid from me until we had been married for two years. I cried, ate constantly and gaineda lot of weight. Then, I de- The woman who wrote to you needsto say adios to that husband who broke his word. Helied to her,and youfailedto give him the clobbering he deserved. — Criticalin California DearCritic: True, I may have cided that my health and well-be- failed to give that husband the me. I, too, was desperately unhappy in a marriage to a man I loved very much but who did not want clobbering he deserved, but the readers wasted no time clobberlanded on melike a ton of teak- my. He was divorced with two kids but had promised he’d have his vasectomy reversed so they could have children together. Af- that marriage believing one day part of life for most women. It I married a man with two small few years later. My husband adores her, and we couldn't be Eugene, Ore.: My roommate and are writing in response to her husbandtocastasideher feel- insensitive? — Annoyed With Annoyed: Sorry Designer Window Coverings. Bargain BasementPrices. Carpet for 70% OFF "39 BLINDS Y ‘ee 4] The Best 399 ; FREE aa Sy Carpet Dealin Town! MEASURING ateMe | ChuAer yourCai by Granite Installers. We This isn't your ordinary 399 carpet deal. Granite Furniture’s vg i eg *399 carpet is beautiful sculptured carpet you will be proud to have in Ua your home. Andthis low price includes quality pad andinstallation by 4 Granite’s certified installers! Up to 40 sq. yards — enough to carpeta 12’ x 16.5’ living room,3’ x 12" hall and 12’ x 10.5’ dining room! FREE estimate by phone! r} See TmTEGR URAC|tOwess By = “ eS war lags mata wartyGe SNe aon ee oom 4M MMe fe}| eo Rm ete No one! Sm P w WOOD BUND FR ° INCLUDING PAD AND LABOR) PYTi) laid greed, and so whensheis kid- tales, we adults can find plenty wrong with them, especially in this age of political correctness. For example, critics have complainedthat tales of the Brothers Grimm and their ilk are too violent; that they cast women in subservient roles; they place too much emphasis on physical beauty; and characters with deforma- Reluctant Hubby Double-Crossed Would-Be Mother 3 Roomsof CLAM Prya Ni the kingdom tolive happily. They have a daughter who growsup hearing about the king’s THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE As muchaschildren lovefairy n,m e sxrzzizynzo=tomrmw “resgseee Dewees” yietin Sgrpe mene ee 40% OFF Manufacturer's Suggested neers patel Price! ON SILHOUETTE” WINDOW BLINDS FURNITURE COMPANY I |