Children's Books: Awards and Medals

Making awards is a chancy business, which is one of the reasons it is invariably done by committee—the blame, incredulity or downright scoffing can be spread around a little. However vulnerable this leaves the award makers, it proves satisfying to read about the awards in one's field, permitting the luxury of armchair disagreement or confirmation of one's taste, expertise and insight. There is the smug satisfaction of being able to tick off familiar books with a clear sense that one's own preferences are validated by the choices of experts, and the occasional disdain when what is "obviously" inferior is heaped with undeserved accolades.

From a scholarly perspective these lists can spark critical response. What emerges is a profile of the literary values of an age, and an indication of the direction that academic inquiry might fruitfully pursue. The ethno-centricity of many of the works from the 60s and 70s, for example, and the increasingly sophisticated subject matter of the books of the 80s point up the need for a kind of critical perception that the often more naive and innocent works of an earlier time do not require.

Awards and Prizes, the eighth volume in the series of what was originally in the 1950s a mimeographed shopping list for librarians, contains a cumulative listing of all prizes and awards. Its five sections list awards selected by adults and young readers, awards made in the British Commonwealth, international and multinational awards, and a classification of awards. Not only is there a description of each award, but also its history, criteria and sponsors. The editors acknowledge that this form enables them to recognize the contributions of the sponsors, who are proliferating with vigor, and whose support has been crucial in the explosive development of the field.

Certain ironies emerge from the lists, in addition to the forgettable nature of some of the winners. One award, established "to encourage young adults to read good contemporary literature which gives an understanding of the human experience," was bestowed by its teenage judges for the first time on Amityville Horror. In most cases, however, the recurrence of old favorites in a number of different contexts emphasizes the many ways in which good books can appeal.

The introduction details the rationale and organization of the book whose salient feature is its comprehensiveness. The information is accessible, the presentation straightforward, and the subject is significant—all sufficient reasons for professionals in the field to take note of this handy and attractive reference tool which is, no doubt, worth having on the shelf.

Newbery and Caldecott Medal Books: 1976-1985 is more limited in scope, but more analytic in nature. It lists and evaluates the winning books as seen through the perspective of a decade. There is a pŕecis of each work; the winner's acceptance speech; a brief biography by friend, editor or family member; a list of the Honor Books for each year; and an index of authors and titles mentioned.

The acceptance speeches, removed from the context of the celebratory moment, are alternately charming and gossipy, predictable, and critically insightful. The authors' descriptions of the geneses of the winning works tend to be of casual rather than critical interest. I found most absorbing those speeches which deal with questions of creativity, the nature of the artistic expression, and matters of technique. In particular Joan W. Blos, whose A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32 won the 1980 Newbery, makes a distinction between truth and truthfulness in fiction which struck me as a fine jumping-off point for a critical discussion.

There are three essays which attempt, with varying success, to put the entire subject in perspective. Zena Sutherland's general review of the winners of the Newbery draws on off-the-record comments of past and present committee members on the rationales for the choices. It is generally concerned with pointing out...