By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Children’s books and news headlines don’t often intersect.
Yet that happened on Friday as local library staff and book lovers gather to discuss contenders for the Caldecott Medal, the most prestigious award for children’s book illustration.
On Friday, the local evaluators taking part in the Wood County District Public Library’s Mock Caldecott event selected “We Are Water Protectors” written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. The book reflects the struggles of indigenous people to stopthe construction of oil pipelines running through their land, specifically the Keystone XL pipeline.
On Wednesday, President Biden announced is administration was revoking the permit for the project.
If “We Are Water Protectors” wins the Caldecott Medal, it certainly speak to “this particular time in history,” said Kathy East, retired children’s librarian at WCDPL. East has served on the American Library Association’s Caldecott Committee twice, once as chair.
Sometimes the awards do speak to current cultural concerns, she said. Sometimes the honor just goes for “gorgeous illustrations.”
Issues of cultural diversity seemed especially evident. In addition to “Water Protectors,” volumes selected for consideration included Jerry Pickney’s version of “The Little Mermaid” with Black characters, “Black Is a Rainbow Color,” and “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” a biography of Aretha Franklin.
East said this has been a theme for a number of years, but seems more prominent this year because of the rise to prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Wood County District Public Library has been hosting the Mock Caldecott for at least five year. Usually, the event is held in the library with participants having 50-60 books on hand to evaluate.
The pandemic moved the event online. Cassie Greenlee, of the Children’s Place staff, coordinated the event. With the help of East and others on the staff, she pulled together a list of 24 possible nominees based on buzz in the library community and reviews. “We looked for the books getting the most attention as potential Caldecott winners,” Greenlee said.
A recorded video of each was made and posted on the WCDPL’s website. People were invited to check out the selections and then vote on their 10 favorites.
From that balloting, the 10 overall favorites were chosen, and that was the field of nominees the local panel considered.
Usually, East said the committee could have 80 books to go through winnowed from the hundreds of picture books published in the previous year.
But supply chain problems – most books are printed in China – have disrupted the industry. East said she’s interested in talking with someone from the committee after Monday to see how many books they had to consider.
At stake is more than bragging rights. The winning book will never go out of print, East said.
The eventual winner may not be one considered locally. East noted she received a copy of a new illustrated edition of Lewis Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky,” which impressed her. But it arrived after Greenlee had put together the Mock Caldecott list.
But this didn’t stop an enthusiastic conversation on the books.
The books eligible cover a wide age range from 0 to 14.
The books considered Friday included a 64-page “Fabled Life of Aesop,” illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski and text by Ian Lendler that was both a biography and a collection of 10 fables and “Polar Bear in the Snow, “ with cut paper illustrations by Shawn Harris. Mac Barnett is responsible for the spare, yet evocative text. It was one of several books that had a nature theme.
The variety within the books is needed. Children’s Librarian Maria Simon said then when a kindergarten class would visit the library, every child would pick a different book.
While the Caldecott Medal goes to the illustrator, one of the considerations is how well they complement and amplify the text.
“We Are Water Protectors” easily came out on top. Then the readers went back to see if any of the top runners-up deserved Honor Book recognition.
In the end all four were given that honor. They were: “Polar Bear in the Snow”; “If You Come to Earth,” written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall; “Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera,” illustrated by Eric Rohmann and written by Candace Fleming; and “Nesting” written and illustrated by Henry Cole.
Regardless of which book ends up with medal emblazoned on its cover, Simon knows who the real winners will be.
“It’s promising for the future to know that we’re giving such a variety of books to children.”
