Other voices on the Newbery

The fires seem to be abatting over Anita Silvey’s article last week.  As I dropped in on the talkback, here’s a few more sites I found:

Another Mock Newbery site, of a self-proclaimed "Obsessed Librarian".  I enjoyed finding this post of hers after last year’s award announcement.  "Residual awards" is another common complaint about the Newbery that Silvey didn’t even touch on–that is, the idea that an author wins the Newbery because their really good front-runner didn’t win the year before.  It’s certainly true that good notoriety means an author’s book will more easily catch the attention of the committee…but the committee sees everything, and is just as likely to award a sleeper.

Another librarian’s thoughtful response to the article caught my attention thanks to both Monica Edinger and Roxanne Feldman (aka fairrosa).

And Fuse#8 seized the right day to post her 2009 Newbery and Caldecott Predictions–Fall Edition.  

But wait! The winds have only shifted. The discussion sparked up again this weekend on the child_lit listserv. A great time to check out that community if you haven’t before. 

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