How can you read a book without any pictures?

[dymphna79]

Since I'm busily trying to read all the books I can that might win the Newbery, and some that might win the Printz (the relatively new young adult category), although a lot of those sound like books I don't really want to read unless someone tells me they're awesome by giving them awards, I thought I might expand into the Caldecott-eligible books

Comments

[delphica]

How are your Newbery potentials coming along?

I have almost no grasp on picture books, either. I had some favorites as a kid, of course, and I'm very nostalgic about them now ... but like you, I was into chapter books pretty early on and didn't have much time for picture books.

My mom is also strangely nostalgic, more than I am, for the books she remembers reading to us, and is slightly offended (in a funny way, you know like the family joke way) that my brother and I don't have stronger memories of her reading.

I was jubilant a few years ago because I thought Kitten's First Full Moon was an excellent picture book and got it for all my friends who had babies that year, and then when it won the Newbery, I thought I had magically gained some fantastic insight on quality picture books. But I didn't, really.

My favorites from childhood are
Santa Mouse
The Seven Chinese Brothers
Tiki Tiki Tembo
Make Way for Ducklings
One Kitten Is Not Too Many
A Visit to the Children's Zoo
Amos and Boris (possibly the saddest, most heart-breaking

[dymphna79]

Well, very non-scientifically, on the Goodreads "Newbery Contenders" list there are 38 books and I've read 18, with a few still in my stack. The books on the list are just whatever anyone wants to add, so it doesn't mean anyone "real" considers them particularly good, but it matches up fairly well with the other shortlists around. The voting is all crazy, though. The second Penderwicks book and The Willoughbys are 5 and 6 respectively, probably because more people have read them than most of the others.

My number one choice is still The Porcupine Year, and I haven't read anything that comes close in my opinion, so odds are I'll be disappointed with the outcome.

I don't think I've read ANY of the books on your childhood favorites list.

[nalyirri]

Do you ever read Cheryl Klein's blog (http://chavelaque.blogspot.com/; Carleton '00, lover of Jane Austen, editor of Harry Potter)? I find her really impressively articulate about book structure, including picture books. This seems relevant to your immediate question: http://www.cherylklein.com/cookie

[dymphna79]

Yep, I keep up on it pretty regularly. I've read the Picture Book Cookie piece before, but I've never thought about it in terms of trying to evaluate published books; maybe I will.

[nalyirri]

It would've surprised me if you weren't already reading it, but something about the cookie book was fresh enough in my mind that I thought of it right away, and wondered if you hadn't seen it...

[dymphna79]

Yeah, and I hadn't put the two together, because I always think of Cheryl's stuff as "how to write", when as you say it also makes sense for "how to critique".

Re: a few things

[dymphna79]

I just friended you on Goodreads. Thanks for the link--I haven't seen that one before. Yes, if I DO make a book blog, we will link!

[imponderabilias]

I do read picture books, though less so now that my youngest is now reading chapter books. But I still love some of them, and got a renewed appreciation through reading to my kids. My mom kept many of my favorites, so I've read their foxed and brittle pages (that 70's acidic paper sucks) to my kids often

[dymphna79]

The Gay-Neck illustrations are gorgeous, I agree--well worth reading the book for. I don't think the edition of Miguel I read had any illustrations.

I loved the pictures for Hitty--they're so carefully done.

[fox1013]

I didn't really read picturebooks til I took my picturebook class last Spring, and now they are one of my favorite types of children's books.

I know what makes a good one for me. But that's not the same as what makes a good one for anyone else. (Our class had a great project where everyone had to choose our top three contenders for the Caldecott, and we couldn't leave til everyone agreed. Hugo Cabret won the real one, obviously, but my class ended up picking Mordecai Gerstein's How to Paint a Picture of a Bird, and there was soem fierce fighting on the way. One of my favorites, no one else liked at all, and yet I stand by it. But I have a very specific aesthetic taste.)

I can recommend some books, if you're interested in picturebook theory? Those helped me figure out why I like what I like, and more importantly, whether or not something is successful, completely separate from whether or not I like it.

[dymphna79]

Yes, recommend theory books, please. I'm sure I won't get to them before the Caldecott is announced, but it seems like something I want to know about.