School Library Journal Nabs AEP Award
RSSBy Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 06/17/2009
School Library Journal is a 2009 winner of the Association of Educational Publishers’ (AEP) Distinguished Achievement Award for its controversial cover story “Has the Newbery Lost Its Way?”
The award, which honors outstanding resources for teaching and learning, went to an October 2008 story by children’s literature expert, Anita Silvey, in the category of best feature article for adult readers in a periodical.
Silvey, author of 100 Best Books for Children (2004) and the editor of The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators (2002,both Houghton), questioned whether the Newbery Medal—the top prize for children’s literature—was out of touch because librarians and kids had been disappointed with its recent picks.
“Bravo Anita! for voicing the truth so passionately and eloquently,” wrote Rita Soltan, a librarian from West Bloomfield, MI, on SLJ’s Web site. “Child-centered intrigue must be creatively addressed in good children's literature!”
Mary Smith, a librarian from Texas, agreed. “You are exactly right! The kids look at you when you try to present the newest Newbery winners with disdain, and they never check them out.”
But other’s, like Horn Book Editor Roger Sutton, felt differently. “To quote one former SLJ editor speaking of another former [Horn Book] editor—I think she’s is all wet,” he wrote on his Read Roger blog. “The main problem with Silvey's argument is that she's comparing the popular appeal (which is in any case not part of the Newbery's criteria) of current winners with that of winners from earlier decades.”
The article immediately sparked debate among critics, librarians, and other book lovers.In the weeks following the article’s release, the story was picked up by the Washington Post, the London Guardian, the Boston Globe, the Columbus Dispatch, Slate, and ScrippsNews, with each weighing in on the Newbery squabble.
Newbery Medalist Susan Patron also wrote about the controversy in the Los Angeles Times.
AEP Award winners were honored in Washington, DC, on June 12 at the Annual AEP Summit.
