>Ah, Provincetown, where the Gays meet the Fisherfolk:
photo by Richard Asch
And where Buster met two of Santa’s minions:
photo by Richard Asch
But vacation is O-ver. Now I’m busy getting ready for ALA (any late Caldecott hopes, dreams, and fears you care to share?) and hustling up copy for the premier issue of our new publication, Notes from the Horn Book, an e-newsletter for parents and other adults at the consumer end of children’s books debuting in March. If you’re interested in being a charter subscriber (relax, it’s free) write to Sarah Scriver, sscriver, at hbookdotcom.
About Roger Sutton
>Do you know if the criteria for the Caldecott was changed recently? I seem to remember it being about the best illustrations, and the text should only be considered insofar as it does/does not interfere with the overall quality.
Now it just says “the most distinguished picture book.”
Or maybe I just imagined all that.
Anyway I think it is better now.
R
>No, no change–”most distinguished American picture book” is what the Medal is actually for, and the committee is instructed (in the manual, under “Criteria”) to “make its decision primarily on the illustration, but other components of a book are to be considered especially when they make a book less effective as a children’s picture book. Such other components might include the written text, the overall design of the book, etc.”
>I know you love HUGO CABRET, but I sure hope it doesn’t win the Caldecott. Why? It’s not a picture book, for one thing. And what will it mean for the future of picture books–already dicey these days– if it DOES win? OK, I know that’s not one of the criteria. But still—
OTOH, there’s FIRST THE EGG.