Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Newbery Award Blog

I found this blog called "The Newbery Project" were they read all the books awarded the Newbery Award and includes summary of each book

Friday, November 20, 2009

outline for the conditions of children literature from 1970 through present

1960’s involved the institutional market

1970's

-There has been an overproduction of some kinds of books-notably picture books and a general underfunding of education.

-the number of titles of children’s books rose steadily during this period. Each title had a shorter print run than earlier in the decade, because publishers were ‘driven inexorably towards shorter print runs, fast selling lines, or both’, with the danger that the quality of writing for children would suffer.

-short print runs affected the structure of royalties to children’s authors who traditionally relied on their books being retained in publishers’ lists over several years.

-presentation mattered more than content; that the boom in pop-up books of the time . ‘Apart form the subliminal message to children that things shaped as books can be fun, they have nothing to do with the magic of the word’ (Children’s Books of the Year, 1979)

-the rise in the cost of block-making, printing, and paper meant that there were fewer illustrations in children’s novels and the general inflationary pressure throughout the 1970s resulted in a very step rise in the general cost of hardbound books. Consequently, there was a surge in paperback publishing of children’s literature

-

1980’s

-1970’s economic trends and anxieties continued into the 1980s. Cuts in money for public libraries, the price of children’s books rose inexorably.

-The sharing of books across the years and the common core of a shared reading experience will be lost(Children’s Books of the Year)

1990’s through present

with the development of interactive multimedia, the interactive books of the future would be electronic using many technology.

-condition of late twentieth and early twenty-first-century children’s literature: the overwhelming reading list, everything seems already to have been said and done. Kids find themselves trapped in moments of high culture.

-Contemporary children live in communities of false belief and mistrust; religious doubt, indifference, skepticism, impatience, or passive acceptance of other people’s failures. Shocking subjects that give hint to their curiosity is more appealing to contemporary children. Also bullshitting language is overused in the literature in this period.

-Much recent children’s literature locates its boys and girls on city streets, in urban surroundings

-There are many experimental children books published like touch and feel books, pop-up books, parody books of traditional story, and others with mixed medium.

-Moreover, there is style figurations of that old meaning of the word, the writing instrument. Adapted different medium to stylize the written story.(Ex:Fantastic Mr. Fox, Alice in wonderland, Challie and the chocolate factory, Stuart Little, Harry Potter, Where the wild things are)

Outline for early history through the Victorian Era and into the Golden Age

I still have a few gaps (like between the 17th century and the 19th century/Victorian Era, and the Golden Age), but I will rectify that.

“Children’s books are here to be pulled to pieces.” Dr. Hoffmann, author of Struwwelpeter

Notes from: Illustrating Children’s Books: History, Technique, Production Henry C. Pitz, New York Watson-Guptill Publications 1963

Three Centuries of Children’s Books in Europe Bettina Hurlilmann, Translated and Edited by Brian W. Alderson, The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York 1967

Once Upon A Time: Illustrations From Fairytales, Primers, Pop-Ups, and Other Children’s Books Amy Weinstein, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2005

And the online artice Picturing Childhood http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/special/childhood/pictur.htm


-Johannes Gutenberg developed the printing press around 1440

-Through the 15th to 17th and even into the 18th century, children were viewed as miniature adults.

-Hornbooks were one of the earliest forms of children’s education, originated in England in 1450
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornbook)
“In early childhood education, a hornbook was a primer for children consisting of a sheet containing the letters of the alphabet, mounted on wood, bone, or leather and protected by a thin sheet of transparent horn or mica. Sometimes the sheet was simply pasted against the slice of horn. The wooden frame often had a handle, and it was usually hung at the child's girdle. The sheet, which was first of vellum and later of paper, contained first a large cross, from which the horn-book was called the Christ Cross Row, or criss-cross-row. The alphabet in large and small letters followed. The vowels then formed a line, and their combinations with the consonants were given in a tabular form. The usual Trinitarian formula - "in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost, Amen" - followed, then the Lord's Prayer, the whole concluding with the Roman numerals.”


Illustrating Children’s Books:
-Der Ritter vom Turn printed with woodcuts in Switzerland in 1493; then Caxton in England produced an illustrated Aesop in 1484 - Before Comenius

-Discussions of the origin of the children’s illustrated book begins with Bishop (John Amos) Comenius (1592-1670).
- “Disgusted with the pedantic instruction of his day, he instituted the idea of teaching language through pictures.”
- One of the first children’s picture books, “Orbis sensualium pictus” or “Visible World in Pictures.” printed in Nuremberg in 1658
- “One often quoted sentence of Comenius, ‘Pictures are the most intelligible books that children can look upon,” is certainly an age-old truth which has lost none of it’s luster.”

- 1665, volume of Aesop’s Fables engraved by Hollar, Stoops, and Barlow
-Wenzel Hollar was an accomplished etcher
-Francis Barlow could be called England’s first illustrator
-The volume was a little too fancy to really be a children’s book, and was only given to children on special occasions and not for general reading or learning

-The Puritans published a lot of very serious texts for the education of children
-Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress”
-Crouch’s “The Young Man’s Calling” was a pirating of Puritan texts
-Chapbooks were sold on the street in Britain
-cheap, crude adventure and fairy tale stories with “gory happenings from history”
-not really intended for children

The Victorian Era 1837-1901

-From Once Upon a Time: “Illustrated children’s books flourished at a time when educational theories inspired by the eighteenth-century Enlightenment and evolving concepts of childhood innocence took firm root in the growing American middle class. In the introduction to their 1855 Painted Picture Playbook, London-based publisher Dean and Sons advised parents that leisure-time reading was a valuable pastime for children, suggesting that,
Like a tender plant, the Infant Mind requires the aid of watchful care;
Direct its early thoughts aright, the good effects will soon appear.
With pleasing pastimes now and then the leisure moments pass away,
The more important tasks may well engage the mind of riper day.

-The influence of John Locke (17th Century philosopher) and Jean Jacques Rosseau (18th Century philospher) “revolutionary principles of education and child-rearing were instrumental in radically altering established doctrine that regarded children as miniature adults, sinful creatures whose innate propensity for evil demanded eradication through stern discipline.”
-Children were now regarded as “blank slates” to be molded with parental guidance and age-appropriate activities

-However, it should be noted that fairytales written by The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen contained very harsh and gruesome punishments, and these tales were published in the 19th century. Popular through the Victorian Era and into the Golden Age of illustration, so although children were now given a more age-appropriate childhood to be reared in and nurtured, many stories aimed at them were sometimes still scared them into good behavior.
- “Their writings were directed at the education of upper-class thriving British and American publishing industry catering to children as children, with unique needs and abilities.”Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffman 1845

Outline for the 1920's, 1930's, and 1940's

1920’s

Historical Events

• End of WWI
• Radical Political movements such as communism and fascism rise during economic and political turmoil after the war.
• The 1920’s were known as the Roaring Twenties and the Jazz Age in U.S., Canada, and the UK. And the “Golden Twenties” in Europe.
• The Lost Generation; flappers the Charleston and bobbed hair was popular in youth culture.
•On October 16, 1923, brothers Walt and Roy Disney founded the Walt Disney Company, animation studio.
• Women are given the right to vote in multiple countries in the 1920s.
• Illiteracy in the United States reached a new low 6% of pop.
• Unemployment 5.2% in the United States.
• Stock Market Crash October 29, 1929 “Black Tuesday”. The beginning of the Depression
• 1924 Restrictions on immigration take affect as a rise of nation wide xenophobia takes affect. It was more lenient towards Eastern and South European nations but further enforced the ban on Asian and African nations.
• 1925 John Logie Baird invents the first working mechanical television system and demonstrates the first color television in 1928.
• Many artists and writers were affected by the war and inserting the feelings and experiences into their works.
• The Algonquin Round Table (aka the Round Table) an informal group of American Literary men and woman who met weekly for lunch at a large round table in the Algonquin Hotel in New York City during the 20’s and 30’s. Among the members were many well-known writers, artists, and journalists in New York.
• 1922 Newbery Awards first awarded. Awarding the most distinguished children’s book


Newbery Award Winners

1922 – The Story of Man Kind by Hendrik Willem van Loon
1923 – The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
1924 – The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes
1925 – Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger
1926 – Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman
1927 – Smoky, the Cowhorse by Will James
1928 – Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
1929 – The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly


1930’s

• The Great Depression
• Unemployment reached a low of 25%
• Public Education in a pinch as many parents were not able to afford needed supplies, clothing and textbooks for school. Taxes went unpaid. School terms were shortened. Teachers salaries cut. Some schools were forced to charge tuition one year which lead to many children dropping out of school for that year.
• The Dick and Jane Books that helped children how to read were first published in 1931.
• Caldecott Medal Awards given for the first time in 1938

Newbery Awards Winners

1930 – Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
1931 – The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth
1932 – Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer
1933 – Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Lewis
1934 – Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women by Cornelia Meigs
1935 – Dobry by Monica Shannon
1936 – Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
1937 – Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
1938 – The White Stag by Kate Seredy
1939 – Thimble Summer – Elizabeth Enright

Caldecott Award Winners

1938 – Animals of the Bible by Dorothy P. Lathrop
1939 – Mei Li by Thomas Handforth

1940’s

• WWII 1939-1945
• With Nazi hold over much of Europe, many artists and writings were left to flee for countries such as the United States to escape prosecution, this caused for much of Children’s literature in European countries to fall under Nazi propaganda. Many images found in these books depict children adorning Hitler Youth uniforms.
• First appearance of paperback books, a more inexpensive option for books. Which lead to a rise in book sales.
• With many fathers away at war and mothers working to support families, juvenile delinquency rose as a new phenomenon.
• Teenagers were able to find employment more easily with men away at war, leaving them with more money to spend.
• Advertisements began aiming towards teens.
• During the War rations affected not only food and clothing but also toys for children.
• Little Golden Books published their first series on Oct. 1, 1942.
• When children’s books sold for $2-3, a bit of a luxury for many families Little Golden books sold for 25¢, a durable and affordable book for most American families.
• The men returning from the War lead to the creation of the baby boom.

Newbery Awards

1940 – Daniel Boone by James Daugherty
1941 – Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
1942 – The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds
1943 – Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
1944 – Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
1945 – Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
1946 – Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
1947 – Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
1948 – The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène
1949 – King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry

Caldecott Awards

1940 – Abraham Lincoln by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire
1941 – They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson
1942 – Make Way for Duckling by Robert McCloskey
1943 – The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
1944 – Many Moons by Louis Slobodkin
1945 – Prayer for the Child by Elizabeth Orton Jones
1946 – The Rooster Crows by Maud and Miska Petersham
1947 – The Little Island by Leonard Weisgard
1948 – White Snow, Bright Snow by Roger Duvoisin
1949 – The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader

Fantastic souces for the 1940s- Nazi propaganda books for children

"The Hitler Youth marches.
Otto is with them.
He has his new boots on.
They are the best of all.

Otto, why are you limping?
Are you worn out?
Oh dear, his feet hurt!
But he grits his teeth."

Absolutely mind blowing, definitely a must use for the 1940s section of our presentation

http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/textbook04.htm

http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/textbk03.htm

Images of children in the Hitler youth playing a "game" where they establish a concentration camp- http://bytwerk.com/gpa/ib33-15.htm

It's crazy.

The Dick and Jane Books



The Dick and Jane Books were first published in 1931. It helped children learn more easily how to read.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

outline for 70s through present

70's 


American Cultural History 

http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade70.html


-change of politics along with radical movement_The chaotic events of the 60's, including war and social change, seemed destined to continue in the 70's.  Major trends included a growing disillusionment of government, advances in civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a heightened concern for the environment, and increased space exploration.  Many of the "radical" ideas of the 60's gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture.  Amid war, social realignment and presidential impeachment proceedings, American culture flourished.  Indeed, the events of the times were reflected in and became the inspiration for much of the music, literature, entertainment, and even fashion of the decade. Seventies art reflected a slowing and refinement of some of the avant-garde trends prominent in the sixties, and hippies culture/fashion was mainstream in Seventies.(see how it matches with costume in children books.)


-Social status of minority_People from Third World countries came to this country in search of economic betterment or to escape political repression.  Women, minorities, and  gays increasingly demanded full legal equality and privileges in society.  Women expanded their involvement in politics.  Affirmative action became a controversial policy as minorities and women asserted their rights to jobs and quality education.


-Edu_During this decade, the nation saw intense conflict over issues such as busing and affirmative action. It also saw the adoption of significant pieces of civil rights legislation covering women and people with disabilities in educational institutions. Concern over apparently dropping test scores and over the quality of American education began to grow.

*reference to Benjamin Spock's revolutionary message to mothers (A pediatrician, author, and social reformer whose permissive philosophy in his influential book, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, was blamed for a wide range of social problems in the 1970's.)

http://www.drspock.com/about/drbenjaminspock/0,1781,,00.html

http://salempress.com/store/samples/seventies_in_america/seventies_in_america_education_in_the_united_states.htm






Newbery Award Winners(Many of the books published in the 70's revolved around a general theme of man's alienation from his spiritual roots)


1970: Sounder by William H. Armstrong

1971: Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars 

1972: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

1973: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

1974: The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox

1975: M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton

1976: The Grey King by Susan Cooper

1977: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor 

1978: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

1979: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin  


Caldecott Award Winners


1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley 

1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian  

1973: The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent; text: retold by Arlene Mosel 

1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach

1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott

1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: retold by Verna Aardema

1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: Margaret Musgrove

1978: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier

1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble  





1980’s


President Ronald Reagan (1981~1988) 


-Individual success(individualism) is major goal for the people_Me! Me! Me! generation of status seekers. If you've got it, flaunt it and you can 

have it all! people were more interested in status, power, and money than at any time during the past 15 years.  Richest people(business people) are main characters operating the world.

-shopping became a way of life_called "splurge generation"

-Technology developed in the eighties along with the increased users of computer.  

-Violent crime rates increased. 

-Families changed drastically during these years- more divorces, more unmarrieds living together, more single parent families. The two-earner family was even more common than in previous decades, more women earned college and advanced degrees, married, and had fewer children.(How this social issues influence on children? and how many children books deal with the lost of family or lack of love from parents?) 


-American was reading a lot. many copies of books came out.

-Efforts to censor books tripled in the eighties. 

-Kids were used to do after school activities like sport(especially), music, and dance.

 


Newbery Award Winner - Began in 1922 (most distinguished children's book of the previous year)
1980: A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832 by Joan W. Blos
1981: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
1982: A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard
1983: Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt
1984: Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
1985: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
1986: Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
1987: The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
1988: Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
1989: Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman  

Caldecott Award Winner - Began in 1938 (most distinguished children's picture book of the previous year) 

1980: Ox-Cart Man, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: Donald Hall

1981: Fables by Arnold Lobel 

1982: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg

1983: Shadow, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars

1984: The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice & Martin Provensen

1985: Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; text: retold by Margaret Hodges

1986: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

1987: Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski; text: Arthur Yorinks

1988: Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr; text: Jane Yolen 

1989: Song and Dance Man, illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text: Karen Ackerman  



90s


President George Bush(1988~1992)

President Bill Clinton(1992~2001)


-In 1994, Republicans won a majority in Congress for the first time in forty years for the promise to reshape government by decentralizing federal authority, giving states more control over taxes, and social programs like welfare system for family and children. 


-electronic age and the world wide web was born in 1992, changing the way we communicate, spend our money, and do business. The internet has had a huge influence on products with almost every design company having a presence on the web. The biggest trend in book selling during the 1990s included online bookstores and publishers like amazon.com. Mega-bookstores like Borders or Barnes and Noble drove the small specialized bookstores out of business.

Even reading entire books online became available through websites. 

Television  graced 98% of the households in the U.S. in 1998 with the average viewer spending seven hours a day watching 'the tube'.


-Gulf war broke out in 1993 by Sadam Husein. The decade was to end much as it began with U.S. forces deployed in many countries, and the U.S. playing arbitrator, enforcer, and peace keeper throughout the world. 



-corruption_Violence and sex scandals dominated the media(ex:President Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct) Many crimes and big events were committed in this decade. 

V


--- 


dV-The Elementary and Secondary Education Act,(No Child Left Behind) provided assistance to disadvantaged students or pupils with limited proficiency in English.(how this educational politics are reflected on the children's book?)



Newbery Award Winners - Begun in 1922 (most distinguished children's book of the previous year)

1990: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
1991: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
1992: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
1993: Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
1994: The Giver by Lois Lowry
1995: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
1996: The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
1997: The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
1998: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
1999: Holes by Louis Sachar  

Caldecott Award Winners - Begun in 1938 (most distinguished children's picture book of the previous year)

1990:Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young
1991: Black and White by David Macaulay
1992: Tuesday by David Wiesner
1993: Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
1994: Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say; text: edited by Walter Lorraine
1995: Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz; text: Eve Bunting
1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
1997: Golem by David Wisniewski
1998: Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky
1999: Snowflake Bentley, Illustrated by Mary Azarian; text by Jacqueline Briggs Martin  


 2000

President George W. Bush                                                                                            President Barack Obama

-The era of Globalization_unprecedented global economic and cultural integration

-Intellectual property is important_ The increasing popularity of digital formats for entertainment media such as movies and music, and the ease of copying and distributing it via the Internet and peer-to-peer networks, has raised concerns in the media industry about copyright infringement. (might not talk about it..)  

-I'll say this time is in panic because..

    -Digital technology gave plenty of information and entertainment, though concerns about stress and anti-sociality from the overuse of digital media like cell phones and internet remains controversial.

   -War and Terrorism_As the Cold War was over and terrorism said to be on the rise, the US allies turned their attention to the Middle East. US declared an Iraq war on terrorism.

    -There were natural disasters all over the world (ex:Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans on August 29, 2005).

    -disease like AIDS, tuberculosis, SARS, bird flu mutations, swine flu in Mexico is spread all over the world. 

    -divorce and abortion rate increased. people are irresponsible. 

    -economic crisis continues in America

-Parody of political figures_People are making satire joke about previous president Bush. Some people almost worship president Obama        

                                                                                                                                               -                                       -   


-Caldecott Medal Books in 2000~ 2009

2000:Joseph Had a little Overcoat, written and illustrated by Simms Taback          2001:So You Want to be President? illustrated by David Small                                             2002:The Three Pigs by David Wiesner                                                                    2003:My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann                                                                 2004:The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein                        2005:Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes                                                                      2006:The Hello, Goodbye Window illustrated by Chris Raschka                                         2007:Flotsam by David Wiesner                                                                                             2008:The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick                                                          2009:House in the Night illustrated  by Beth Krommes

-There are many experimental children books published like touch and feel books, pop-up books, parody books of traditional story, and others with mixed medium. 


   *** I need to trim it in more organized style with more supporting texts. Now it seems like it has overwhelming amount of political background rather than its relation to the children literature.. time to clean things out~