Talking About Theme: Newbery Criteria Deep Dive
Today we continue our series of conversations about the literary elements noted in the Newbery Terms and Criteria and how they apply to some 2023 Newbery contenders. We looked at “delineation of characters,” “development of a plot,” and “presentation of information”. Now we’ll shift to “interpretation of the theme or concept.”
Emily: I’m excited to talk about theme and concept today, because I think it is the criteria that is really the backbone of the Newbery award. It doesn’t matter what format the title is in (picture book, chapter book, nonfiction… theme and concept is something that NEEDS to be strongly developed if you want a title to be remembered. And I feel like themes are what actually stick with a reader for years to come (and characters too of course).
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Emily: On Heavy Medal, we group books by theme a lot. It’s an easy way to see what is trending. Steven did a post on titles about leaving one place for another. There also seems to be a lot of titles addressing pandemics (COVID or imaginary ones) like AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT AND NEW FROM HERE. Are there any other themes you see trending this year Steven?
Stephen: I think the importance of community has come up in a lot of books. In books like ANYBODY HERE SEEN FRENCHIE? and AVIVA VS. THE DYBBUK you have kids in trouble and a larger group coming together to help them out. Even ODDER by Catherine Applegate has some of that. Odder is supported both by other otters in the wild in the aquarium and by the human to try to help him.
Emily: Some authors take one theme and work to make it really strong (for example giving back to nature in BERRY SONG) while other titles may have three to five themes (bullying, friendship, family in NEW FROM HERE). I’m not sure if I particularly think one way works better than the other, though I think it takes a skilled author to balance everything.
Steven:. I do think one theme is usually enough in a picture book. THE YEAR WE LEARNED TO FLY was a good example. Where that theme of using imagination is applied to real world stuff. Which shifts from regular everyday problems to bigger things like the isolation of a pandemic and systemic racism.
Emily: I see a lot of that theme shifting in historical fiction books from this year that take really serious topics like the Holocaust (ALIAS ANNA) or slave ships (AFRICAN TOWN) and add themes of family and growing up that make it relatable to our age audience.
Steven:. Fantasy also does that. THE OGRESS AND THE ORPHANS is a good example of how the themes of fantasy can spill over into our real life. The role of truth versus lies and the idea of passively accepting bad times is a big part of that world of the ogress. And a big part of the world readers are living in today. Some have said that book is too obvious in its themes. Emily have you noticed that tendency in other books from this year?
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Emily: Yes, I got that a little bit from LOVE IN THE LIBRARY which others may view as a positive element of the book. And then in HEALER AND WITCH I thought the “finding her way” was a bit drawn out– I ended the book wanting more.
Nancy Werlin
Steven: l was kind of disappointed with the ending of INVISIBLE. I thought the themes were so well developed by the kids’ stories, especially the idea that people aren’t what they appear to be. Then when their story was told, a couple of the grown ups summed it up almost like they were speaking directly to the reader to tell them what they were supposed to have learned.
Emily: Let’s shift to interpretation of concept, which I think is often used for nonfiction books. Of course we have to mention HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN and how they take the concept of evolution and center the whole format of a book around it. I also think of TINY DINO by Deborah Freedman where she combines dialogue and different dinosaurs to teach about them in a unique, kid-friendly manner.
Steven:. I’m glad you brought up concept and nonfiction. HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN has really been the standout for me in that area. I need to relook at some of my nonfiction favorites and see which ones also shine in this area. If I find more I’ll continue this conversation in the comments. And I hope other Heavy Medal readers will join in as well.
Filed under: Book Discussion
About Emily Mroczek-Bayci
Emily Mroczek (Bayci) is a freelance children’s librarian in the Chicago suburbs. She served on the 2019 Newbery committee. You can reach her at emilyrmroczek@gmail.com.
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I loved this post very much. There seems to be a difference in bashing a reader over the head with a theme and just letting the story speak for itself. I know I pick on Ogress a lot, which isn’t fair, so I’ll go with Windswept, by Margi Preus this time I say that I did feel that certain aspects were a bit too preachy. THat doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great book, because I did love it, and I thought the themes it explored were wonderful and relevant.
One of the best books I’ve encountered this year regarding theme is Black Bird, Blue ROad, by Sofiya Pasternack. It explores a sibling relationships, false assumptions and the inevitability of death in a gentle way, using the characters and plot to explore the themes. That one was a real stand-out for me. I also felt that The Patron Thief of Bread explored its themes gracefully, using the relationship between Duck and Griselde to show our search for a home, Duck’s gradual development of her voice, and the important theme of forgiveness. The themes were woven into the tapestry of the story without being explicitly stated. At least, I felt that was the case.
Another one I’ve just encountered is a picture book called Choosing Brave, by Angela Joy. It focuses on Emmett Till’s mother, exploring her childhood and adulthood by emphasizing the difficult choices she had to make. Thus, the theme of courage is explored but in a tasteful and accessible way considering the subject matter.
I agree with most of your thoughts Meredith, but definitely those regarding Patron Thief of Bread. The theme of forgiveness and also acceptance were so important in that book! I haven’t read choosing brave yet, so need to take a look at that one!
I tend to react negatively with those overstated themes, but I wonder if that’s the adult reader in me. TWO DEGREES by Alan Gratz does that for sure, but with a book like that, you could argue that “overt presentation of themes” is a stylistic choice. The impacts of climate change is part of everything, and the kids’ recognition of that and choices about what action to take is central to their development. He weaves those into three highly compelling survival stories, with nonstop action. If your goal is to grab kids with a compelling plot and inspire awareness and action about climate change, the author succeeds. Does it fall into the “didactic” level that the Newbery Criteria warn against (“the award is not for didactic content…’)? Maybe not, because he makes the teaching part so much a part of the characters’ experiences. Even so, I feel like he could have been more restrained with the messages and reminders, and still have retained the strong characters and plots.
I agree that TWO DEGREES by Alan Gratz is a highly compelling read with nonstop action. But in my mind, the overstated theme of climate change affected the believability of the characters, especially Akira and her dad. Akira was definitely a hero, which I enjoyed as a reader, but she became unbelievable to me, when there was fire completely surrounding her family’s home, and her dad wouldn’t leave because he doesn’t believe in climate change. Akira had to take the responsibility, make all decisions and rescue her whole family (part 6 pages 254-276). Where are the adults in the room?
I think BLUE: A HISTORY OF THE COLOR is distinguished in its interpretation of a concept (blue) and interwoven themes. It explores how a single color relates to history, technology, language, labor, and culture. For me, part of the distinguished-ness of BLUE is that it’s “individually distinct” — you have not seen these themes explored in this way a hundred times before. The illustrations are getting a lot of buzz, but I think the text is powerful on its own. Blue is a concept that most children probably think they already understand completely. This book opens up all the layers underneath, potentially letting them see the color (and the world) with new eyes.
Excellent points about BLUE. I especially like “you have not seen these themes explored in this way a hundred times before.” Especially with middle-grade fiction, we do often see authors tackling similar themes, and even when they use very different styles or stories, they don’t always feel fresh and new. I think about CONCRETE: FROM THE GROUND UP by Larissa Theule in a similar way: she has a creative approach to introducing a concept that might seem unremarkable on the surface. But comparing CONCRETE to BLUE makes me realize that BLUE does this in a fuller, more complete way, which I think will make a deeper and more lasting impact on the reader…
One book that I felt the themes were overstated was Attack of the Black Rectangles, by A.S. King. I enjoyed the book and the topic but got a bit tired towards the end. That’s bad to say about a book with such an important topic, I know. I’m just mentioning it as a contrast to the titles I mentioned in my earlier comment.
I still need to check out Blue, which I’ve heard a lot about.
And, yes, Ms. Emily. I’m glad that you agree about The Patron Thief of Bread. I loved the exploration of forgiveness and how the story truly utilized Duck as it progressed, showing how her agency grows along with her. Everything seemed so natural and fluid, which I liked as it seems that so many children’s books lately seem to trying a bit to hard to bring their points home. Perhaps this is just my opinion.
I thought the themes in BLACK RECTANGLES worked pretty well. The book censorship was intertwined with Mac’s confusion and anger about his father and his changing relationship with Marci, and the issues piece seemed like a big part, but not the only part, of his development. Having said that, though, I admit that having Jane Yolen herself show up, though gratifying for the reader, was maybe an unneeded piece of the conflict about the books….
Today I read in quick succession Yuval Harari’s Unstoppable Us: How Humans Took Over the World and Turner’s HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN. For those unfamiliar with the former, Yuval Harari writes bestselling “big history” books like Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind that get recommended by the likes of Bill Gates and Barack Obama. I’ve read a couple of his books, and they are indeed marked by a remarkable talent for explaining, ordering, and synthesizing “big” ideas with such clarity that I think, if they were up to reading 450 pages, children could follow his books. Unstoppable Us came out a couple weeks ago, is not 450 pages, and is actually intended for a child audience. (It is not, however, Newbery-eligible, as Harari is not American.) Information-wise it is almost the same book as HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN. But I think Unstoppable Us shows how “interpretation of theme or concept” might be a potential weak spot of HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN. As Emily points out, HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN uses “evolution” as a organizing concept, though the conclusion adds a brief plea to cooperate for good not bad. That message is what Harari’s book is built around (in my reading), and to me that results in a more impactful and effective book. Harari’s presentation of the exact same material just seems to have more of a “point.” For example, both Harari and Turner present “storytelling” as an important uniquely human innovation. But over the course of the book, Harari goes on to demonstrate how a corporation is an example of cooperating storytelling that almost led to the extinction of the blue whale. The individual pieces of this can all mostly be found in HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN, but Harari’s ability to make connections makes his book feel both more surprising and thus exciting and more unified and thus satisfying. It is a fair question whether this should affect Turner’s Newbery evaluation (i.e., if I think a very similar, non-eligible book is better, should that matter?) At least, the non-eligible book does clarify for me why I might not be as enthusiastic about HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN as others. (And for what it’s worth, if Unstoppable Us were eligible, I don’t know that I’d advocate it for the Newbery.)
Thanks for the thoughts Leonard. And now I want to read Unstoppable Us though I try to avoid ineligible books. Steven is much better at articulating this, however I would say looking at the criteria… https://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/newberymedal/newberyterms/newberyterms.htm
term 3- ” The committee in its deliberations is to consider only the books eligible for the award, as specified in the terms.”
and definition 9 “9. The term, “only the books eligible for the Award,” specifies that the committee is not to consider the entire body of the work by an author or whether the author has previously won the award. The committee’s decision is to be made following deliberation about books of the specified calendar year.”
Means that thinking Unstoppable is better is not a “Newbery point.” but concrete reasons you’ve determined for not supporting HUMAN you can use- for example if you said HUMAN was lacking in supporting points/ concepts etc. etc.
Does this make sense? Hopefully?
Yes, I think Emily has the Newbery discussion element of Unstoppable Us just right. All the committee members come to each book with their own unique knowledge and experiences, both in terms of children’s literature (what they’ve read, liked, thought about) and the wide world (general knowledge and everything else). In this case, Leonard could bring his understanding of evolution and how it could be effectively presented to kids into the discussion. He just couldn’t draw the specific comparisons between the two books. Another committee member might have very little previous knowledge about the topic, and that person’s experience of being introduced to a new subject could be equally useful. It’s one of the advantages of having a 15-person committee, where you have such a wide range of experience that gets applied to the same books.
I just finished Farmhouse which shows the theme incredibly well. We see how the kids get older and move on to different careers but we also see the house decay. It really shows how everything is a cycle.
I agree Michelle the themes in Farmhouse are strong and showing the family, fun, lifecycle etc.
I thought it was such a lovely theme, and that ending was particularly beautiful. What’s more, I think that the text alone is worthy of a Newbery, even without the gorgeously detailed illustrations, which I believe is the criteria for a picture book.