The future of libraries vs. eBooks is a crazy, growing debate right now. It’s got me fired up (I’m working on more posts on that subject…). While I suss that out, here’s some news about a present-day happening in library land.
I’m on the CLA illustrator award committee and the 2011 shortlist has been officially announced.
Here they are:
Book of Big Brothers/ Illustrated by Luc Melanson (Groundwood Books)
Counting On Snow /Illustrated by Maxwell Newhouse (Tundra Books)
Fishing With Gubby / Illustrated by Kim La Fave (Harbour Publishing)
The Good Garden /Illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault (Kids Can Press)
I Know Here /Illustrated by Matt James (Groundwood Books)
Owls See Clearly At Night: A Michif Alphabet /Illustrated by Julie Flett (Simply Read Books)
Making the Moose Out of Life /Illustrated by Nicholas Oldhand (Kids Can Press)
Roslyn Rutabaga and the Biggest Hole on Earth! / Illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay (Groundwood Books)
Singing Away the Dark /Illustrated by Julie Morstad (Simply Read Books)
Spork/ Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault ( Kids Can Press)
All of these books are amazing in their own way. We boiled the long list down to this ten via conference call. It was probably one of the more interesting conversations I’ve had in a while. How often does anyone get to stick up and argue for something (with a little congenial passion) like this?
It doesn’t hurt that the calibre of the top ten, let alone the top twenty-eight books, is so amazing.
The next step is to decide the winner! To help me out, I’ve recruited some librarians who work with kids to go through the books with me. I’m really looking forward to these chats, since a) I love books and b) I love illustrations, illustrators, and the worlds they share with us. Opportunities like this make me glad I landed in the bibliothécaire profession.
Like anything on the list? Let me know in any way that pleases you.
Owls See Clearly At Night gets my vote.
Hi there, I am particularly drawn to Julie Flett’s “Owls see clearly at Night”. The illustrations are so tender and captivating. Simple yet say a lot. We work at a Metis Trades School and I am trying to think of ways to incorporate these illustrations into our classrooms……
Love it so much!
Francesca
Francesca. I was really amazed at how many books were half English and half Michiff/Cree/Inuit etc.. Owls See Clearly at Night was the best, though. Reminded me a lot of the old Watership Down movie(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZcHLpjiEdw).
For kids, but sort of dark. Great stuff.
I’m a retired teacher-librarian and I had a wonderful experience presenting ‘Owls See Clearly at Night’ to my students from K to 7. The little ones loved the simplicity and the older ones both the simplicity and the little nuances (the bear behind the tree in ‘bannock’, the pounce of the fox in ‘snow’) and the French Immersion kids could really appreciate how the language evolved (Lii Zyeu – eyes). Best of all, my First Nations kids, a few of whom are Metis, just glowed with joy and pride. Broad and insightful discussions were inspired …. such a treasure! I am so glad to see it on your list.
“Owls See Clearly at Night” is one of those delightful books that can truly be read by all ages. Very young children can be delighted by its depictions of animals and activities with which they can identify. Older children will be able to grasp its gentle social, linguistic, and cultural references. And everyone can drink in the power of its pleasing, elegant illustrations. It is a fine book.
I love Julie Flett’s Owls See Clearly at Night. I’m retired now, but I am still connected to the school where I was a vice-principal. The children love the pictures, and are drawn to being able to pronounce the Michif words. I display it on my piano at home and many people notice it and read it cover to cover.
I thought Owls See Clearly at Night was so pure. The simplicity of the pictures captured movement and nuance. There was learning in the best manner – no preaching, just inherent in the work. The elegant lines of the moccasins on the little girls feet was just one example of that which can bring a culture to life. This book is a treasure and we are proud to have it in our community library.
Karen,
I do really love that book. It was a hard choice to not make it first. Really, we had 10 first place books on the short list.