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Every year I’ve had the pleasure of asking the Carle Honor recipients a salient question about picture books, the medium in which they have made a profound impact.
That tradition continues, although the annual ceremony will be reimagined as a virtual benefit on Thursday, September 24, and this year’s Honorees will be commemorated at Carle’s 2021 in-person event.
For the Virtual Benefit, picture book art by some of publishing’s most esteemed artists will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting the museum. Bidding begins in mid-September and will culminate in a live two-piece auction during the virtual benefit.
Please support the museum and its mission here!
Sign up for the Virtual Event. It is absolutely free to attend, but you must register to get the link.
In 2020, given our extraordinary circumstances, I’ve asked this year’s distinguished honorees a question we all may need answering:
How do picture books provide a safe space for children and their families navigating through difficult times?
Every Child a Reader
Angel Honoree
Represented by Carl Lennertz, Executive Director
The biggest benefit of picture books comes if parent and child read together. During these times, being together versus alone in one’s room is a huge plus and discussing a book’s themes brings the additional benefit of conversation and soothing voices. And even if one reads quietly in one’s room, pictures and stories take us away to another time and place. Books are love.
Raúl Colón
Artist Honoree
Picture books take the readers to another world. Or at least through some sort of journey. Especially wordless picture books, which make the mind enjoy the trip a little more. Now the observers have to decipher what they see in front of them. Bring some sort of coherence to all the visuals that remain in a certain order in their eyes. Once they’re lost in that visual adventure, they leave the physical space they find themselves in, and fly away to another place—the difficult times left behind, if only for a moment. However, the lingering effects of a good story may last for hours—or even a lifetime.
Patricia Aldana
Mentor Honoree
Publisher, Aldana Libros
My father was born in Guatemala in 1907 into a professional, military family of some means. In 1910 they lost their mother. And in 1917 the year he turned ten Guatemala City was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake, leaving my father and his siblings with nowhere to live. They were sent to stay with their grandmother, herself dependent on her son in law, in a small city in the east of Guatemala. Suddenly they had no money. My father, at twelve, had to go and work as a timekeeper on the railroad—a company then owned by the United Fruit Company which used the trains to bring their bananas to the port on the Gulf of Mexico. My father was very bright, but he had to leave school. By some miracle there was an outstanding library nearby. It had the great books of the Western Canon from Shakespeare, to Cervantes, to Racine, to Tolstoy to Dickens. By going and reading in this library every day after work my father succeeded in passing his bachillerato, his secondary degree. He then went to medical school, became a doctor, and a surgeon. He was one of the best-read people I have ever known. Eventually he became the Surgeon General of Guatemala and founder and first rector of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. I think it is correct to say that reading saved my father’s life.
Sad to say, there were no picture books in those days. Today’s children have a treasure trove of such books.
Around the world IBBY (the International Board on Books for Young People) has developed the practice of bringing wonderful books to children in crisis, reading aloud to them, and giving them books to read to themselves. Following earthquakes in Japan, Chile and Indonesia; with refugee children in countries ranging from Afghanistan to San Salvador to the US border, to Syrians in Lebanon, to refugee kids in Toronto, our experience has been that this practice of bibliotherapy has a hugely beneficial effect on children who may have faced death, displacement and loss. Many are able to talk for the first time about the trauma they have experienced. They sleep better. They play better. They can laugh again.
How could this not work with children stuck at home by Covid-19? After all this is a traumatic time, too. Setting aside a special reading time, separate from all other activities for an hour a day; reading aloud from really good picture books; talking about the books; drawing pictures, singing—letting the child lead the way. This should be time away from media, schoolwork, and should be completely free from any kind of didacticism.
There are several essential things to keep in mind. The first and most important: Let the child choose the books. Have a pile of great books, vary them, but let them choose. In our experience children in dire circumstances may want books that are funny, or about love, or that are sad. Let them talk, let them interrupt, but make it the most fun moment of the day. And even with older kids starting the special books time by reading aloud—as long as it’s a book the child has chosen, can help to engage them. And let them talk about the books. Reading saves lives.
Congratulations to the Honorees and thank you for sharing your wisdom!
The Carle Honors Honorees are selected each year by a committee chaired by children’s literature historian and critic Leonard S. Marcus, who was central to the founding of the Honors. The committee recognizes four distinct awards: Artist, for lifelong innovation in the field; Angel, whose generous resources are crucial to making illustrated children’s book art exhibitions, education programs, and related projects a reality; Mentor, editors, designers, and educators who champion the art form; and Bridge, individuals or organizations who have found inspired ways to bring the art of the picture book to larger audiences through work in other fields. This year’s Bridge Honorees are Dennis M. V. David and Justin G. Schiller, founders of Battledore Ltd.
Visit The Carle Museum online at carlemuseum.org.
In one month, The Carle Museum of Picture Book art will hold its annual Carle Honors, awarding four people/entities who have made significant contributions to the art form.
Also that evening, September 26th, final bids will be accepted on original artwork by picture book masters. Today, The Carle Honors are pleased to announce the artists whose work will be auctioned this year.
The auction will go live on Friday, August 30th and you can register to bid here.
For the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to ask the Carle Honorees a question about picture books. My question this year is…
“Picture books exude a certain kind of magic. How would you describe that magic?”
Melissa Sweet
2019 Carle Honors Artist
In a picture book, the magic begins as a swift and surprising connection to the art and design of a book, and later the words.
Often I dissect a book from cover to flaps to endpapers and everything in between, in order to figure out the decisions that make it compelling.
But in thinking about magic, I also think of magicians. One thing that makes a magic trick awe-inspiring is the set-up, which takes practice, timing and repetition, and drawing in the audience.
Then a myriad of decisions so that every word, every movement, points to witnessing something extraordinary.
Creating a picture book also requires minute decisions by a cast of dozens. The words, images, and design come together to create something wholly new.
Often there’s a moment when a book seems to have a mind of its own. And when the final book feels effortless and like something we’ve never seen before, it seems…like magic.
REFORMA
The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos & the Spanish Speaking
represented by Kenny Garcia, President
2019 Carle Honors Angel
‘Picture books allow readers to imagine a world or a future that the reader exists in and thrives. It opens up new possibilities, words, and worlds full of love, hope, expressions, and emotions that affirms the reader’s life. This magical spark empowers children to imagine and create a better world for themselves and their communities. Multicultural picture books can be such a transformative experience for all of us, but for children of color, the ability to see and read picture books by illustrators of color can nurture the idea that they can also have a future career in writing and illustrating books, and continue the magic for future generations.
Chihiro Art Museum
represented by Takeshi Matsumoto
2019 Carle Honors Bridge
statement by Yuko Takesako
Executive Director of the Chihiro Iwasaki Memorial Foundation
Chief Curator of the Chihiro Art Museum (Tokyo & Azumino)
When children open the cover of a children’s book, a special kind of magic bubbles up. It gives a glimpse of a world yet unseen, enables the reader to experience something never done before, or brings back a memory of an event long forgotten.
The magic of picture books especially has a great impact on children of different nationalities or languages, or on babies who still cannot read, or at times on children who are not so adept at communicating with others. The visual magic cast on a young child once he or she opens a picture book is so powerful that memories of the book may suddenly come alive when the book is placed firmly in their hands—once again after a forgotten period of 10, 30, or even 50 years.
In this fashion, the yearning, understanding, and sympathy found through experiencing a different world helps to create another sort of magic which is respect and love for people of different cultures and the world they live in.
Such is the magic that exudes from picture books—something all too precious and special.
David Saylor
VP, Creative Director, Trade Publishing
Publisher, Graphix
Scholastic Inc.
2019 Carle Honors Mentor
What I love most about picture books is how the words and artwork blend to create an enhanced and perfect entity: the book itself. Their heightened interaction is the alchemy that every picture book hopes to achieve, that moment where words spark a thought and the pictures expand the narrative spaces between and around the words and sentences. For that reason, my favorite picture books are fully alive with emotion and artistry.
I’ve often wondered why picture books that were read to me as a child have stayed so vivid in my memory. I don’t think it’s simply that my young mind was eager to discover the wider world. I think it may also be that hearing my mother and father read aloud to me was my first experience of artistic communication. Those moments—the warmth of a lap, the sounds of words, the lively pictures on the page—brought to life a moment where a writer and an artist spoke directly to me, to my innermost self. I felt suddenly more alive, more aware, more full of life than I had felt just a moment before.
There’s a beautiful scene in the play Wit, by Margaret Edson. The main character is Dr. Vivian Bearing, an English professor, dying from ovarian cancer. Her mentor, an older professor, visits and tries to comfort her by reading aloud. Then her mentor does something extraordinary: she lays next to her in bed and reads a picture book that she had intended for her grandson. The books is Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny, and it’s one of the most beautiful and touching moments I’ve seen in any play. In her final moments of life, when Dr. Bearing’s ebbing life has been paired down to the elemental, only a picture book could express the right feeling with such simplicity and depth.
Thank you, Honorees, and congratulations!
Blog readers, I hope you’ll visit the Carle Honors Auction, attend the Honors gala, or donate to The Carle Museum for all they do to celebrate picture books. Just visit carlemuseum.org.
You can celebrate, too, if you’re the winner of Eric Carle’s THE ARTIST WHO PAINTED A BLUE HORSE. Simply share this blog post and comment that you’ve done so…and you’ll be entered into the random drawing to win a copy. A winner will be selected next week.
Good luck!
In one month, The Carle Museum of Picture Book art will hold its annual Carle Honors, awarding four people/entities who have made significant contributions to the art form.
Also that evening, September 27th, final bids are accepted on original artwork by picture book masters. The auction goes live on August 31, and you can browse and bid here: https://501auctions.com/carlehonors2018.
If you could ask the Carle Honorees one question, what might it be? My question is here—
“Why are picture books an art form to enjoy not only in childhood, but through every age, every stage of life?”
—and the answers are diverse and delightful, just like picture books themselves.
Paul O. Zelinsky
2018 Carle Honors Artist
“Why are pictures an art form to be enjoyed by people of all ages? Well, that has to be a function of what picture books exist in the world to be enjoyed. Some, aimed at children in a pedantic and condescending way, are no fun at all for adults, and might be appreciated by only the most deluded or idiosyncratic child. But the world has come to contain an increasingly large number of picture books created by genuine artists, addressing the full extent of their humanity. These books may not look the same through the eyes of a four-year-old as they do to an adult of ninety-five (even putting aside questions of cataracts), but they somehow charm and enrich the thoughts and the vision of both. Picture books can be appreciated by people of all ages because there are picture books that deserve this kind of appreciation. One of the best ways to prove this is to visit The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art!”
Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop
2018 Carle Honors Mentor
“Picture books are indeed an art form, and enjoyment of art is not limited by age. With their unique combination of interdependent visual and verbal art, picture books speak to readers and viewers on a fundamental level. In addition to their aesthetic appeal, their thematic content often evokes universal emotions and experiences. Picture books also offer opportunities for older students to examine and learn about artistic styles, media, and technique. Picture book texts, in their conciseness, are often poetic, and can evoke the same kinds of responses as poetry. And because many literary genres come in picture book format, picture books can be a rich source of information as well as entertainment. Like other art forms, picture books are never outgrown.”
Dona Ann McAdams
(and Lynn Caponera),
representing The Sendak Fellowship & Workshop
2018 Carle Honors Angel
“I never assume a picture book is just for children. When a picture book works it marries images and words in a way few other mediums can. Each time we revisit an old beloved picture book we discover something new within its covers and new within ourselves.”
Elena Pasoli
The Bologna Children’s Book Fair
2018 Carle Honors Bridge
“The language of illustration is borderless not only in terms of cultural and geographical heritages, but more and more often also in terms of the age of the readers. Who could describe ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan as simply a children’s book? This is the same for most of the wordless books which have been sharply growing in production and sales in the last few years all over the world. Illustrations speak clearly to everybody; they tell stories and leave people free of traveling across pages and thoughts; they are powerful and add emotions to the words; they can engage the readers’ memories as well as accompany them to discover new worlds.”
Andrea Davis Pinkney
Children’s Book Author, Editor &
2018 Carle Honors Presenter
“Come, little one. Climb onto my wings. Nestle, settle, celebrate. My feathered pages take you to places only the clouds can touch. Up, up! Here we go, soaring through words and pictures that fill you with my unforgettable flutter. Do you see the view from where my colors paint themselves into your quietest places, into the deep-down knowing that brings you comfort, giggles, wonder, discovery?
“Listen to my wisp of words spinning stories that will someday become your heart’s memories. Yes, child, I am a picture book. Our journeys—yours and mine, together—will last your whole life. This is what we picture books do—we lift you. We let you rise to skies filled with wonder. This, the awakening of your soul, starts from the day our wings hug your imagination. From there, we beckon you higher. Child, young or old, I am a picture book. No matter your age, stage, time or place, I give you the power to fly!”
Thank you, Honorees, The Carle Museum…and picture books!
What question would you ask the Honorees? Please tell us in the comments…
Kidlit Book Trailers
Bookselling is changing rapidly with advances in technology and the belt-tightening economy. Publishers and authors are having an ongoing discussion of electronic rights, trying to anticipate the future of digital books.
But the forces of technology aren’t all daunting. Heck, authors are having a blast creating book trailers to promote their titles. What better way to capture the attention of an increasingly online, plugged-in audience?
Award-winning storyteller Dianne de Las Casas has created a Ning community for sharing and discussing kidlit book trailers. Authors are invited to post their trailers and other videos (like a school visit). Bibliophiles can browse the selections to discover great reads.
http://kidlitbooktrailers.ning.com
Haven’t seen a book trailer? Here’s a gorgeous one from the site: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by author/illustrator Grace Lin.
The Unread
Here’s where you cover your ears because I’m gonna toot my own horn. Picture book author Heather Ayris Burnell (Bedtime Monster, Raven Tree Press 2010) interviewed me for her Unread series of aspiring authors. As you may have guessed, there’s almost as much talk about food as there is about books.
Besides Unread, Heather’s blog is dedicated to author interviews, book reviews and being a writer and librarian. So there’s lots of reasons to visit regularly.
http://frolickingthroughcyberspace.blogspot.com/2009/08/unread-interview-with-tara-lazar.html
Mitali Perkins’ Fire Escape
I am in awe of this woman. Not only is Mitali Perkins an amazing novelist, she shares the most compelling kidlit news and information via Twitter and her blog, with special emphasis on multi-cultural issues. If you haven’t visited, you really need to.
http://www.mitaliblog.com
http://twitter.com/mitaliperkins
Meet Eric Carle
August 23, 2009 marks Eric Carle’s 80th birthday and there’s a big bash at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. Crayola will unveil “The Very Hungry Caterpillar Green” crayon as part of the celebration. Wow, getting a crayon named after your work. Now that’s iconic.
http://www.carlemuseum.org/Programs_Events/Upcoming/Meet_Eric_Carle/
Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen’s Picture Book Intensive
On November 15, picture book author Sudipta (yes, she has earned one-name status) will lead a four-hour picture book intensive workshop in Princeton, NJ for the NJ-SCBWI.
Some topics she’ll cover:
- Choosing Timeless Themes
- Ebb & Flow of Tension
- Creating Emotional Attachment to the Main Character
- Finding Ways to Make Your Book Re-Readable
- Humor and Heart
- Query Letters
- Marketing
I know I’ll be there!
For more info:
http://sudiptabq.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/picture-book-writing-intensive-workshop/
To Register:
http://www.newjerseyscbwi.com/events/091115-pbintensive.shtml
Do you have any can’t-miss kidlit links to share?
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 