Of course, I was so busy trying to defend End of the Spear, which is a movie and not really a children’s movie even, that I missed announcing the ALSC awards. The Caldecott Award makes me scratch my head. I must just have terrible taste. At least it’s not gray and stark.
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Well, I didn’t know what the Caldecott Award was but was going to comment on the cheap cover of the book on the right. Hahah. Decided to check out the link first.
Imagine my horror at discovering this was an award for art!!!
So first we dumb our kids down literarily, the artistically?
I realize these are probably not educators who make these decisions, but it seems like common sense for adults to realize that kids learn best by copying what they see, especially copying who they admire. So how will any of the little pu’kins ever learn what makes for good art?
Here’s a quote from the award site: Raschkas style resembles the spontaneous drawings of children, perfectly mirroring the guileless young narrators exuberant voice. White space balances the density of the layered colors, creating a visual experience that is surprisingly sophisticated.
With a few energetic lines, Raschka suggests a world filled with affection and humor, said Award Committee Chair Gratia Banta. The richly textured tones of these expressive illustrations convey the emotional warmth of the intergenerational connection.
Uh, I thought we wanted the kids to mirror the adults, not the adults to mirror the kids. The “emotional warmth” I can go for. They also said earlier something that made me think the book was about family, so that sounded good. Just not sure why that makes the art award winning.
Becky
I thought it was funny, too, that they liked the fact that the drawings resembled the spontaneous drawings of children. heh heh. All this time I’ve had my kids artwork on my bulletin board and I had no idea what high quality it was.
The book does sound good, though.