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| New copies on the left, old on the right. |
So many of our older Caldecott titles are permabound copies. Yes, they've stayed firmly together since the 1970s. But they've also become dirty as all get-out. I recently went on a replacement-purchasing binge so that the cover artwork of these books with award-winning illustrations is a positive representation of the beauty inside.
Then there are the Newbery winners. Have you looked at your Newbery books lately? Please tell me: what do the covers look like? Do any look as dated and culturally confusing as our copy of the 1951 winner Amos Fortune, Free Man?
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| New copy, old copy. |
Do any boast awkwardly-illustrated dogs that make readers think it's a book about a dog rather than an epic fantasy story, like our copy of 1976 winner The Grey King?
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| New copy, old copy. |
How about a cover that is completely blank, like our copy of 1921 winner Smoky the Cowhorse? Yikes!
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| New copy, infinitely worse old, blank copy. |
As a librarian, I have no idealized notions about how readers choose books. They absolutely judge books by their covers; everyone does it, especially kids. And these covers dissuade readers from ever giving these titles a chance. Say what you want about the books that have won awards, but they did win their honors for a reason. Yet very few children will electively pick up one of these books with disgusting, ridiculously dated, or blank covers. I'm hoping that our updated replacement copies will boost interest--or at the very least, shelf appeal--for the titles that have won some of children's literature's biggest awards.
Fun link: Travis Jonker at 100 Scope Notes has been recovering the Newbery winners, creating updated covers for each of the books that have won the award since 1922. Take a look at some of his fun designs!
How often do you update your collections of award-winning titles? What's the worst award winner on your shelves right now? Please share.
Yes on those covers! What a difference...especially like Amos Fortune
ReplyDeleteDo you think having a pulled out section has increased circulation on some of the older ones (especially with nicer covers?) Being an older library, we have a fairly complete collection, so now I'm wondering if it might be a benefit to pull them all together in one area, rather than spread out throughout the library.
ReplyDeleteWe get good circulation from our separate display in large part because a number of local teachers do a unit wherein they require students to read an award-winning book. Children find it easier to browse for this assignment than hunt for individual titles in the stacks. That said, I'm always catching people browsing the display--something about the shiny medals and shelf location, I think.
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