After our class session on Tuesday the 27th, I was thinking of our discussion of the Caldecott Medal. During class we talked about the different reasons we thought a book could be chosen for the award. I found it difficult to understand how they came up with the winner for the Caldecott Award because from the books that won the award in the past, they had different illustrations, different types of Genres, it was just a variety of different types of books that had won the award. I decided what makes these adults choose these awards for children's books, how do they know what books a child would like to read. So, I thought why not have a panel of children who read or have adults read to them the different books published in the year and have the children have discussions about what they liked and disliked about a book. From this the children will individually without the other group of children get to vote and pick out their favorite books of the year, and have the children pick a book to receive an award for the year. It would be like the "Children's Literature Award by the Children". There for we know what books the children actually enjoyed for the year, and what books kept them interested instead of adults choosing the book awards for the year. What do you all think about this?
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Interesting idea. one question I would have few or for someone else who might want to do another post about this is are there awards out there that do this? Are there national awards that are chosen by children? This might be something interesting for somebody to research and potentially to post about.
I completely agree with the fact, that how does an adult really know what is quote-un-quote “a good book in children's eyes”. I remember as a child my teachers would try to recommend books that had received literature awards and those books would always be my least favorite books. Don't get me wrong I liked the books, but they weren't my favorite. I think the Caldecott awards and other children literature awards that are voted on by adults, but I think there need to be more awards that are voted on by children. When doing a little research I found that the State of Utah has a Beehive award. This award is voted on by the children. Children vote for their favorite books and then that is how the awards are determined. There are 5 categories: 1. Picture book award, 2.Fiction book award, 3. Informational book award, 4. Young adults book award, 5. Poetry book award. I think that is really cool because it doesn't just narrow it down to one great book for every genre for the entire year.
That's really cool that the state of Utah actually has an award that the children vote on!! I just had thought about it a lot during class why adults go to vote on the books and not the children. Thanks for doing a little research!! I also agree with your comment a lot of times the books my teachers wanted me to read, I didn't want to read and it was hard for me to stay motivated. But when I got to go to the library and pick out the books I wanted, I enjoyed reading books.
I think that children choosing what books to give awards to would be a really cool idea. It is nice to see that the Beehive award exists. When I was looking at a list of books that had won the Caldecott award I noticed that I personally did not like many of the books when I was younger and I doubt that I am the only one that feels that way. If children were to choose books for awards then it is more likely that other children will also enjoy the books that were given awards. i also really like that the Beehive award has different categories based on genre. There are so many children's books out there that it doesn't make sense to only award one book.
I think that children choosing what books to give awards to would be a really cool idea. It is nice to see that the Beehive award exists. When I was looking at a list of books that had won the Caldecott award I noticed that I personally did not like many of the books when I was younger and I doubt that I am the only one that feels that way. If children were to choose books for awards then it is more likely that other children will also enjoy the books that were given awards. i also really like that the Beehive award has different categories based on genre. There are so many children's books out there that it doesn't make sense to only award one book.
I think that this would be an excellent idea, however I consider the opinion of an adult for the Caldecott award as extremely important to the system and how books are chosen. Most books that are purchased in children's literature are are chosen based on an adults opinion. Most parents are going to chose the books that their children are going to read, or they are going to read to their children. Adults who are interested in children's literature probably think a like, and since members of the Celdecott committee understand that this award means a certain prestige and rise in value, they are going to choose what they think sells. So, I agree that allowing children to have a say in what books are worthy of a Caldecott award is a great idea, I don't think that the importance of the adults opinion can be overlooked. Because I am an advertising major, I look at the business side of this situation, so I consider how this book will sell as being the biggest driving factor for how the award is granted.
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