From Page to Screen: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

It seems ages ago that I first heard talk of Martin Scorcese adapting Brian Selznik's Caldecot winning book for the big screen. And now, come Thanksgiving, it seems that we will finally get to see it. My first question, after watching the trailer, is--what happened to the rest of the title? The invention has fallen by the wayside. It's seemingly arbitrary changes like this which always make me suspect of film adaptations of beloved books (and The Invention of Hugo Cabret is much beloved by me--it was my Book of the Year for 2007.) And truthfully, there is still a part of me which feels that a film could never live up to the book, because the real magic of the book was the unique experience of reading it. Even in 3D I don't know that there will be much unique about this film-watching experience. To be truly unique, I think the film should be silent, but that's just me. Have a look at the trailer and judge for yourself.

SEMLS Mock Caldecott 2009

It was more books and fun at this year's SEMLS Mock Caldecott Workshop. Eleven librarians (only 3 shy of an actual Caldecott committee) debated the pros and cons of over thirty illustrated books, ranging from the lyrical My Friend, The Starfinder (Illus. S. Gammell) to the dramatic Duel! Burr and Hamilton's Deadly War of Worlds (Illus. L. Day.) Our list included such unorthodox choices as the novelty book Swing! by Rufus Seder and the photo-laden Nic Bishop's Frogs (by, well, Nic Bishop!) Graphic novels were represented by There's a Wolf at the Door: Five Classic Tales (Illus. R.W. Alley) and wordless picture books also got consideration thanks to Trainstop by previous Honor winner Barbara Lehman. In the end, the 2009 winners were:

Caldecott Winner:
Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein, illus. by Ed Young

Honors:
Kitten Tale by Eric Rohmann
A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee
Nic Bishop Frogs by Nic Bishop
Night of the Veggie Monster by George McClements

Come 26 January, we'll see how our selections hold up.

More Hugo Cabret

This article appears on School Library Journal.com. I'm not surprised at the debate around Hugo Cabret's eligibility for the Caldecott, although it does not match the level of controversy which met Sue Patron's Newbery for The Higher Power of Lucky last year. But it seems clear that there is a preconceived--or perhaps preapproved?--idea of what constitutes a picture book, and "Invention" deviates from that in a big way. But if you read the terms and criteria for the Caldecott medal, as specified by the American Library Association, then it is hard to argue that "Invention" is not a picture book.

A "picture book for children" as distinguished from other books with illustrations, is one that essentially provides the child with a visual experience. A picture book has a collective unity of story-line, theme, or concept, developed through the series of pictures of which the book is comprised.

That's the first criteria. And since I feel that for the reader The Invention of Hugo Cabret is all about an experience, I'm won over with the very first point. And besides, who could begrudge such a magnificent book this honor?

Hugo Cabret in the News

And you can expect to see him a lot more in the future, now that The Invention of Hugo Cabret (my 2007 Book of the Year, by the way!) is the recipient of the 2008 Caldecot Medal. Newsweek has a very nice interview with author Brian Selznik, in which he talks about his time working in a bookshop and the fact that Martin Scorcesse in making the book into a film (although I kind of wonder if that's totally necessary. And will it be silent?) There are a few spoilers in the article, so if you are planning to read it anytime soon (and why wouldn't you?!) and don't want to know the secrets of the story.....consider yourself warned.

And the (mock) winner is......

This afternoon I met with fellow librarians representing the Southeastern Massachusetts Library System to try our hand at selecting a Caldecott Winner. The 2008 Caldecott Medal will be awarded on Monday 14 January (along with the Newbery, Seibert, and Prinz) at the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in Philly. We will see how our selection stacks up at that time. This was the first time I had taken part in such an event, and it was good fun. We were a group of 14, so we were only 1 body short of the actual nominating committee. But we only had 2 1/2 hours to select, defend, and vote on a title, as opposed to the conclave that will duke it out this weekend. As it was, we had to award a tie, because after two ballots and a hand count we were evenly split. We started with 29 titles, selected in advance by Melody Allen of the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services. Those 29 were narrowed down to 17. We then split into three groups, with each group commissioned to select two titles of the 17 to present and defend (and there could be no duplication between groups.) Although only 6 books were presented, each member was allowed to vote for a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd selection from the group of seventeen finalists. First time through I voted as such:

Dogs and Cats by Steven Jenkins
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Jabberwocky by Christopher Myers

Second time through I voted:

Dogs and Cats
First the Egg
Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, Illus. by Kadir Nelson

When it came for a hand vote, I went with First the Egg.

But as I said, it was a tie. And so I present to you, the 2008 Caldecott Winners for the most distinguished American picture book for children published in English in the United States, as chosen by SEMLS:

The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington, Illus. by Shelly Jackson
AND
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Honors went to:

Fred Stays with Me! by Nancy Coffelt, Illus. by Tricia Tusa
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik
Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, Illus. by Kadir Nelson

Aside from providing a bit of fun, this afternoon's exercise was a great lesson in objectivity and critical analysis. It was new for me to take these books and judge them on the merits of a single aspect, in this case the illustrations (especially since I tend to pay more attention to text.) It was too easy to dismiss a title simply because the story or subject matter itself did not appeal to me. In order to judge fairly and according to the criteria which I had been given, I had to evaluate the effectiveness of the illustrations, not just as enhancers of the text, but as the heart of the story-telling process itself. Peter Sis' The Wall, for instance, is text heavy in a way that is not likely to attract a young reader. But the context and execution of the paneled illustrations does a superb job of presenting the themes discussed in all that text, in a way that is accessible to children. They may not read all the information about life in Communist Prague, but they will understand from the pictures that the place the author is describing is oppressive, colorless, and uniform. So in that regard, the book is outstanding.

Although I had enjoyed most of the 29 titles submitted for consideration, there were some severe omissions, in my opinion (where oh where was The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan?!) Here are the other 24 titles:

The Apple Pie That Papa Baked (Thompson, Lauren, illus. by Jonathan Bean)
At Night (Bean, Jonathan)
Beetle Bop (Fleming, Denise)
The Cheese (Palatini, Margie, illus. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher)
A Closer Look (McCarthy, Mary)
Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars (Florian, Douglas)
The Crow (Paul, Alison)
Dog and Bear (Seeger, Laura Vaccaro)
Dogs and Cats (Jenkins, Steve)
Duck, Duck, Goose (Hills, Tad)
A Good Day (Henkes, Kevin)
Heat Wave (Spinelli, Eileen, illus. Betsy Lewin)
Jabberwocky (Myers, Christopher)
Knuffe Bunny Too (Willems, Mo)
Leaves (Stein, Ezra David)
Let it Shine (Bryan, Ashley)
Lightship (Floca, Brian)
Little Red Riding Hood (Pinkney, Jerry)
Mary and the Mouse, The Mouse and Mary (McClintock, Barbara)
Pictures from our Vacation (Perkins, Lynne Rae)
Rainstorm (Lehman, Barbara)
Velma Gratch and the way Cool Butterfly (Madison, Alan, illus. Kevin Hawkes)
The Wall: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain (Sis, Peter)
The Wizard (Prelutsky, Jack, illus. Brandon Dorman)

Raising my Librarian Hackles

Just in time for Banned Book Week--this story has hit the airwaves. A woman in Maine has borrowed two copies of the sex education book, It's Perfectly Normal (Harris, Robbie) from two separate libraries, and she has refused to return them. The general stereotype of the spinster librarian with a bun, or at the very least, a well-placed finger in shushing position, gives absolutely no credit to the role of the librarian as the defender of intellectual freedom. Librarians are taught that every person has a right to read whatever they want. It's not our business to ask what they are reading or why. It's even considered bad form to comment on materials at checkout--"Do you like John Grisham? Me too!" So when I read stories like this one, about an individual who takes it upon herself to determine what is and isn't suitable for patron consumption.....well! I get my bun in a twist! Seriously, though, who does she think she is?

I am familiar with the book in question, although I have not read it myself (I guess she has one up on me there.) By now it is an old book, but I remember when it came out, and it caused controversy then, too. Sex ed books are easy targets for censors, and my guess is that the use of the word "normal" in the title upsets some readers because, hey, what's normal? My definition may not jibe with my neighbor's. Be that as it may, nobody has a right to tell me or anyone else what books I can or cannot read, and by removing a book my ability to choose is effectively removed, too.

Here's a story from my own experience. One day, a patron handed me a book and said, "I think you should see this." The book in her hand was The Biggest Bear, a picture book by Lynn Ward. A Caldecott winning picture book, written a long, long time ago (read "in the unenlightened past".) Someone, who clearly did not like or approve of the book, had written all over it, claiming that it glorified hunting, was violent, cruel to animals, and single-handedly responsible for the downfall of society. The book was removed--no doubt the scribbler's intent--but reordered (as a Caldecott winner, we're practically required to own it.) The thing is, the scribbler had every right to dislike that book. They even had the right to come up to me and voice that dislike. They even had the right to lodge a formal complaint (we have paperwork for that.) But there is an even simpler solution to that problem--if you don't like the book, DON'T READ THE BOOK! This is a large and vast world. And even in a place as bleeding-heart as the Boston area, there are people who probably like hunting. Or maybe they just like books about bears. Or maybe they just want to see what passed for award winning Children's literature nearly 70 years ago. All those different types of readers have the right to go into their library and look for The Biggest Bear if they want it. And pre-pubescent children who want to know about their changing bodies have a right to read It's Perfectly Normal. Heck, kids who just want to know what the other sex looks like with no clothes on has a right to look at the book. Grown-ups who want to know what's considered "normal" sex ed have the right to look at that book. Maybe they don't like what they see. Then they talk to their kids themselves, instead of leaving it up to a book. Or they say, "That book is from the hands of Satan himself! Don't read it!" At which point the child has the right to decide for him or herself if they want to take their parent's advice.

My daughter is only six, so she still pretty much does what I tell her to. If I tell her to put a book down, she generally does. That will change, and there will be things that she will want to keep secret from me. If she seeks out information from a source other than me, I would much prefer that she wanders the stacks of a library, perhaps soliciting some guidance from a non-judgemental librarian, rather than trawling the internet, with its abundant lack of organization, accountability, or expertise. However, if there are would-be do-gooders, weeding collections based on their own one-sided value system, with no regard for differing taste, opinion, or perspective, then she is robbed of the opportunity to make her own choices. And as a parent, I don't like to think that anyone is disadvantaging my daughter in anyway. So self-appointed censors--HANDS OFF! If you want to save the world, become a librarian and protect books, not destroy them.

My Friend Rabbit-- From Caldecott to Emmy?

Publisher's Weekly reports that Eric Rohmann's Caldecott wining picture book, My Friend Rabbit, will be turned into a TV series by Nelvana (well-known to viewers of Noggin, the cable network for pre-schoolers, who broadcasts many of their shows.) They have turned countless children's books into TV series, including Franklin and Little Bear (now known as "Maurice Sendak's Little Bear. No offence, Mo, but didn't Else Holmelund Minarik write the books?) And for the most part, they've done a good job. Little Bear, for instance, is wonderfully calm and low-key, just like the books. And from reading the article, I can see where Nelvana is going with this one. They are focusing on the relationship between Mouse and his friend Rabbit, a well-meaning, fly-by-the-seat-of-his pants kind of bunny, who is a great friend, but perhaps best in small doses. And that's why the book worked so well; it was a snapshot of a single incident, but the reader knows that there will be more like it, because that is simply life with Rabbit. Do we need to see similar hijinks's spread over a 26 episode TV series? Well, maybe if you're 2-7 years old, yes we do, because anything fun bears repeating (dare I say beating to death with repetition!) But as a reader and a librarian and a guru, I recommend just sticking to the book. It says all you need to know about the friendship between Mouse and Rabbit, and all you need to know about your own friends who may be Rabbits themselves.

Remembering September 11, 2001

Six years on, and it is a different world. I think of the fear I felt and must still acknowledge, as so many uncertainties revealed that day have not gone away. This is a dangerous world for everyone, not just Americans. My daughter was only nine months old when it happened. Amazingly, she will grow up with the legacy of September 11th but have to be taught about it as well; it is a part of her life, but not her memory. It will be history and contemporary for her all at the same time.

It did not take long for authors and illustrators to tackle the topic of September 11th , as a new canon of "cope literature" needed constructing. Here are some outstanding titles, written only because September 11th happened, existing only because of that dreadful day.

The Man who walked between the towers (Gerstein, Mordeci)
There's a big beautiful world out there! (Carlson, Nancy)
Fireboat: the heroic adventures of the John J. Henry (Kalman, Maira)
September roses (Winter, Jeannette)
9/11: the book of help (Cart, Michael, ed.)

Opening Horizons

Story time this evening saw us enjoying The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan, one of my favorite cerebral picture book authors. (Check out Serious Farm.) This wise story about the complacent Dodsworth who "loved to do nothing" until he discovers a magic pink refrigerator with other plans, put me in mind of a couple of other picture books where the small world of the central character is slowly opened wide enough so that real life magic can find its way in.

Hey Al! (Yorinks, Arthur) This 1987 Caldecott Medal winner is one of my all time favorite picture books. One over-worked custodian and his dog Eddie discover that the grass is neither greener, nor, necessarily, on the other side.

Mole Music (McPhail, David) Mole works all day and watches TV all night, until he decides to learn how to play the violin. Practice makes perfect, and changes the world, too.

The Magic Bed (Burningham, John) Georgie has outgrown his crib and is ready for a big boy bed. And he doesn't choose just any old bed as a replacement. Magic and imagination are interchangeable in this story about moving on.