What I Learned During the Caldecott Committee Process or Picture Book Analysis in Six or Seven Easy Steps By Gene Nelson Provo City Library Director I just concluded a wonderful, enlightening year serving on the Randolph Caldecott 2000 Committee. From March of 1999 to the dramatic conclusion at the Newbery/Caldecott banquet this past July, I spent any “extra” time immersed in the visual language of the picture book. As I entered this fascinating process, I felt quite competent and qualified as a new committee member. I have been very involved in reading and teaching children's literature for more than two decades. My bookshelves are crammed with children's books, folktale collections, criticisms, and a complete collection of Arbuthnot and Sutherland's Children and Books. I felt pretty good about myself. After reading close to seven hundred picture books, most receiving close analysis, and studying many articles and books written by eminent critics about picture books, and after sitting at the feet of three of the nation's top “experts” in the field and after twenty-four hours of intense committee discussion of picture books. . . Caldecott Rule #1 (Blatant ripoff of Newbery Award winner Christopher Paul Curtis) Just when you think you know what you're talking about, SOMETHING will hit you across the face to gently persuade you that you don't. My “something” was what I call the Caldecott Experience. In a few short sentences, I hope to toss together a vicarious Caldecott meal, juiced with some authentic Caldecott anecdotes and a side order or two of ideas to help kids make the Caldecott connection. A delicious bibliography of some of the best reference materials to support an ongoing diet of Caldecott titles will wrap up the course. Dripping with sweat (for it was quite humid in New Orleans in June), I literally slid into a chair in a conference room labeled “Caldecott 2000 Committee,” my first meeting with the other members of the Caldecott committee. Eight of us were elected by the membership of the Association for Library Services to Children, and seven were selected by the president-elect of the association. Thirteen women and two men represented a diverse geographic distribution and different minority groups. As we introduced ourselves, I couldn't help but pinch myself as I sat next to some of my heroines in the children's literature community. Barbara Kiefer, the chair, has written many articles on picture books and is the author of an excellent text, The Potential of Picturebooks: From Visual Literacy to Aesthetic Understanding. Barbara Elleman, the creator of Book Links magazine, and author of many articles on picture books, had just completed a biography of artist Tomie dePaola entitled Tomie dePaola: His Art and His Stories. My last heroine is Ginny Moore Kruse, Director of the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She, too, has written many reviews and articles in the field. These experts plus eleven other very knowledgeable folks combined to make quite an illustrious committee. Caldecott Rule #26 Fifteen heads think better than just one. Our meetings in New Orleans were short, more to meet each other and be oriented to the selection process. We discussed the terms and criteria of the award and haggled over semantics and other fun stuff (terms and criteria for the Caldecott can be found at www.ala.org/alsc/caldecott.html). The work was just beginning. For the next six months, it was Christmas every day. Almost without fail, I received at least one box of books each day. Caldecott Rule #19 You'll never get tired of getting free books in the mail. By about the three hundredth title, I started to realize I had a lot of work to do. I began by organizing the books into three basic piles: the “Oh Wow!” books, the “I like this book and it is starting to grow on me” books, and the “good try, but no cigar” books. The cigar books went onto my slush-pile shelf and basically lived a quiet life. Now and then I would revisit the shelf, just to make sure I hadn't missed an Oh Wow book and to let the cigar books know that I thought about them. The Oh Wow titles and the Starting to Grow on Me books were closely read and reread. I read not only the text, but also probably more important, the pictures. General and specific thoughts were scribbled down. My critical thought process became more concise and, I think, intelligent as more and more books were read. As I started this involving process, I remembered an article that Barbara Elleman wrote for the Journal of Children' s Literature entitled “Evaluating Illustration.” As she says in that article, “The textual orientation of fiction and nonfiction makes them easier to evaluate; picture books, with their integration of word and illustration, demand a more complex approach and response.” This is Barbara's five-part method for “approaching and evaluating a picture book.” 1. “I flip through the book to get a feel for the tone and approach.” At this step, readers could ask themselves what type of picture book is being presented and what type of artistic expression is being used. 2. “I read the text carefully, mentally blocking out the illustrations.” No cheating, no pictures. Determine the rhythm and pacing of the storyline, go through a mental list of literary criteria: plot, characters, setting, conflict, and theme. 3. “I page through the book again, this time letting the story unfold through the art.” This time, block out the text and focus on the art and read the pictures. Concentrate on the art and how it complements, expands, or competes with the text. Don't read the text with the illustrations; let the pictures tell what they will tell. 4. “I read through the book again, making a leisurely but thorough perusal of art and narrative.” Have fun and enjoy the complete story. 5. “I page through one last time, trying to keep all these thoughts in mind as I mull over my observations and assimilate my impressions.” At this stage, Barbara particularly concentrates on design elements and the relative merits of the artist's work. As I studiously followed these five steps, I found my analysis to be more thoughtful and critically sound. I couldn't just say anymore, “I don't like this book.” I discovered how critical thought relates to picture books. My pleasure or displeasure of a specific book could now center on actual reasoned judgment rather than strict emotion. Granted, this process is still relatively subjective. At one point in our deliberations, Barbara and I felt quite different about a book. She said, with a smile in her voice, something to the effect, “Gene, did you read the same book I did?” I replied, “Yep, and I used the five-step process.” Well, we had a good laugh, but it did remind me that we all bring different perspectives and different biases to picture book analysis. I strongly recommend Barbara's approach of evaluation. It will lead to greater understandings of the symbiotic relationship of text and illustrations in picture books. Children can also profit from this structured procedure. In October we were presented with perhaps the biggest task to date: each of us had the opportunity to select our top three choices! I spent days narrowing down my favorites to the finalists. These were days of second guessing, rereading, and feeling good about my choices, only to wake up the next morning knowing I had to change a title or two or three. I knew I would have the chance to choose again in December, but that didn't seem to help a lot. Choices were finally made in both months, and we prepared ourselves for the BIG meeting in January. Caldecott Rule #50 The weather person in the sky always knows when you'll be sequestered in a hotel conference room for days. It'll be beautiful outside. I left Salt Lake City on January 13 and flew to drop-dead gorgeous downtown San Antonio, Texas. Ah, the Riverwalk, the mouth-watering Mexican food, the 70 degree weather, the romantic walks (yes, my wife was with me)! In this beautiful city, my lot was in a hotel co<full>What I Learned During the Caldecott Committee Process or Picture Book Analysis in Six or Seven Easy Step<full>What I Learned During the Caldecott Committee Process or Picture Book Analysis in Six or Seven Easy Steps By Gene Nelson Provo City Library Director I just concluded a wonderful, enlightening year serving on the Randolph Caldecott 2000 Committee. From March of 1999 to the dramatic conclusion at the Newbery/Caldecott banquet this past July, I spent any “extra” time immersed in the visual language of the picture book. As I entered this fascinating process, I felt quite competent and qualified as a new committee member. I have been very involved in reading and teaching children's literature for more than two decades. My bookshelves are crammed with children's books, folktale collections, criticisms, and a complete collection of Arbuthnot and Sutherland's Children and Books. I felt pretty good about myself. After reading close to seven hundred picture books, most receiving close analysis, and studying many articles and books written by eminent critics about picture books, and after sitting at the feet of three of the nation's top “experts” in the field and after twenty-four hours of intense committee discussion of picture books. . . Caldecott Rule #1 (Blatant ripoff of Newbery Award winner Christopher Paul Curtis) Just when you think you know what you're talking about, SOMETHING will hit you across the face to gently persuade you that you don't. My “something” was what I call the Caldecott Experience. In a few short sentences, I hope to toss together a vicarious Caldecott meal, juiced with some authentic Caldecott anecdotes and a side order or two of ideas to help kids make the Caldecott connection. A delicious bibliography of some of the best reference materials to support an ongoing diet of Caldecott titles will wrap up the course. Dripping with sweat (for it was quite humid in New Orleans in June), I literally slid into
