100 Best Books for Children

Transcription

1 Press Release 100 Best Books for Children by Anita Silvey About the Book About the Author A Conversation with Anita Silvey Praise Some of our 100 BEST BOOKS according to Anita Silvey "It would be hard to find a more authoritative voice than Anita Silvey." Publishers Weekly About the Book With countless books being published every year, adults need expert guidance in order to expose children to the best books available. Anita Silvey provides this guidance for parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, booksellers in her engaging and accessible new book, 100 Best Books for Children. No one but an expert like Silvey, with her thirty-five years at the heart of children's publishing, could compile such an authoritative and informative list. By selecting only 100 "best books," Silvey distinguishes her guide from all others and makes it possible to give young readers their literary heritage in their childhood years. "These books motivate children to read," Silvey says of her 100 choices. "They include the best stories, the most compelling characters, and use the most imaginative language." In most cases, these books have stood the test of time, entertaining and educating children for several generations. In other cases, for books more recently published, Silvey chose those that she believes will become classics. Among the attributes of the 100 books are that they: demonstrate the highest quality of writing and artistic merit exhibit popularity over time with children, parents, teachers, librarians, and booksellers appeal to many ages, interests, genres, reading skills, and ethnic backgrounds make excellent read-alouds for family and classroom sharing have stayed in print in the United States 1 of 7 Copyright 2004 Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

2 Silvey allowed herself to choose only from books published in the last 100 years ( ), and she limited her selections to one book per author. By keeping her list so succinct, Silvey is able to go into detail about the contents of each book, its strengths, and "the story behind the story" of each book's creation. Having spent much of her career behind the scenes as a publishing insider, Silvey has privileged knowledge about many of the titles she discusses, and she passes this information along to her readers to give them a greater appreciation of the books and their backgrounds. Included among the memorable anecdotes: Robert McCloskey, the author and illustrator of Make Way for Ducklings, kept ducks in his bathtub in an attempt to figure out how they looked and behaved. (And when they wouldn't sit still long enough for him to draw them, he resorted to giving them wine!) Marguerite Henry, the author of Misty of Chincoteague, lived with the real Misty of Chincoteague so that she could recreate her. Henry brought Misty around to schools and libraries, and even took her to the annual American Library Association Conference. Gary Paulsen experienced everything that happened in his survival work, Hatchet, including eating raw turtle eggs, which tasted, he said, a bit like Vaseline. Beyond Silvey's main selections are extensive lists of excellent books for different age groups and for children with various interests, including poetry, fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, survival stories, and multicultural books. 100 Best Books for Children is essential reading for anyone choosing a book for a child today. About the Author Anita Silvey estimates that she has read 125,000 children's books, starting from childhood and continuing through her years as a reviewer and editor of The Horn Book Magazine and as a publisher of children's books for Houghton Mifflin. She is the editor of The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators. Silvey's lifelong conviction that only the best is good enough for the young forms the cornerstone of all her work. A professor, reviewer, writer, and well-known children's book advocate, Silvey lectures throughout the United States and Canada and has appeared frequently on radio and television in her efforts to promote the best books available for our children. For more biographical about Anita Silvey, please visit If you would like to arrange an interview with Anita Silvey, please contact trade_publicity@hmco.com. 2 of 7 Copyright 2004 Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

3 A Conversation with Anita Silvey Q) You have already edited a great resource, The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators, which includes thousands of titles. What made you decide to write this book and focus on a much more select group? A) Every time I talked to members of the media or parents, they kept wanting to discuss the same books. For about twenty years this focus on such a few titles bothered me. Then, one day I realized that people talked about the same books because those books had truly made an impact on children; they were special in a way that other books might not be. So I set out to locate the 100 books that define excellence in children's books and to write about them. Q) Along the same lines, there are a lot of resource guides and lists out there for "the best" books for children. What makes your book different? A) First of all, most of these guides contain several hundred titles or thousands of titles. I focus on a very narrow group of books, and because I do I can go into more detail about the contents of the book, the book's strengths, and the stories behind the book's creation. By keeping the selection so narrow, 100 Best Books for Children makes the task of selecting books extremely easy for parents. It also helps parents to locate the gems that should be part of every child's literary heritage. Q) You've read about 125,000 children's books how did you even begin to narrow the field to the 100 best books? A) Fortunately, many publications and institutions compiled their own 100-best lists at the turn of the century. After creating a database with those titles, I began interviewing several hundred people, asking them about their favorite childhood books and their children's favorite books. In this way I tested what experts thought against the actual experience of children and parents. Then I read approximately six hundred titles in six months. I didn't want to compare a memory of a book to one I'd recently encountered. Finally, I had to go through the torturous procedure of whittling the list down to 100. Q) Could you tell us a little about the criteria you used and how you chose that criteria? A) I've been evaluating children's books for thirty-five years, so this project merely continued that process. First, I considered quality, for "only the rarest kind of best in anything can be good enough for the young." Then I looked for those books that have stood the test of time; the ones that have proved to be true classics, books that move to the next generation. I thought about popularity, as shown by sales figures, and about how much impact these books have made on individual children. I then tried to balance the list to include various genres. In my final cut, I chose books that work well for family or classroom sharing. I believe the best children's books communicate to both children and adults. Q) In addition to descriptions of the books, you also impart "the stories behind the stories." Would you share one of your favorite insider accounts? A) Many of our greatest writers for children had tremendous difficulty getting published. Dr. 3 of 7 Copyright 2004 Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

4 Seuss was turned down twenty-seven times. He was going back to his apartment to burn the manuscript for And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street when he ran into an old Dartmouth friend who had just been named children's book editor of a small press. The friend was searching for books, and Seuss had one. The rest, as they say, is history. Q) In your behind-the-scenes stories, you mention many of the editors by name and give us a peek into the author-editor relationship. How important is that relationship to the creation of a great book for children? A) Children's books are a good deal like plays or movies. Although everyone focuses on the actors or actresses, a team of people have made those performances possible. I wanted readers of 100 Best to see the people behind the scenes of our great books the editors, art directors, production managers, publishers, and reviewers. All books are created by a team. Usually, with our best books, those teams have worked particularly well together. Q) How did you find those back stories? A) At first I consulted everything that had been published about these 100 books. But the printed material left a lot of unanswered questions. So then I worked with original manuscripts and correspondence. I also interviewed people involved in making the book. From these three sources, "the stories behind the stories" emerged. Q) What is the behind-the-scenes story for 100 Best Books for Children? A) Every time I got discouraged in the three-year writing process, something happened to inspire me to keep going. I was visiting the editor Susan Hirschman in New York. She was walking me through Else Minarik's Little Bear to show how Minarik constructed the text. The phone rang; Susan said, "I'll let that go," and we went back to the book. But then we heard Else Minarik's voice on the answering machine. They had not talked to each other in about thirty years! Susan picked up the phone, and we told Else what we were doing when she called. That day I went back to writing the book with increased vigor. Q) Often, parents choose books for their children based on their own childhood favorites. While there are many, many worthy children's backlist titles, there are also excellent new books being published for this audience. Does your list include both backlist and new titles? A) Many of my own childhood favorites made the list: Make Way for Ducklings, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, and The Diary of Anne Frank. However, some titles didn't such as Papa Opp and the Galloping Ghost. The most recent publication turned out to be Because of Winn-Dixie (2000). I chose fifteen books published in the 1990s, a very fine decade, with titles such as The Giver, Holes, and Officer Buckle and Gloria. I also included an extensive recommended booklist that incorporates recent titles as well as backlist favorites. Q) Today we are besieged by celebrity books. Can anyone write for children? A) No specific career path prepares someone to write for children. Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows) was a banker; Louis Sachar (Holes), a lawyer; John Gardiner (Stone 4 of 7 Copyright 2004 Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

5 Fox), an engineer. Many of our best books began when parents or grandparents told a story to a child. However, I do believe that our children would be better served today if parents simply ignored the recent avalanche of celebrity books and focused instead on titles of meaning and quality. Q) You include a reading journal at the end of the book. Can you tell us why? A) I wanted families to record, for posterity, their own stories what happened when they shared the book together. We keep baby albums and picture albums, but every family should also keep a reading journal. It will be absolutely priceless to a child when he or she becomes an adult. Q) You dedicated your book to your grandparents. How did they influence you? A) My grandparents were passionate about books. When my grandfather disagreed with a book, he would yell at it and sometimes throw it across the room. As you might imagine, that behavior made quite an impression on me. My grandmother filled their home in Marietta, Ohio, with books, and she always took me to the Marietta Public Library. About fifteen years ago, I visited that library and felt as though she were holding my hand. I myself have been known to yell at books, throw books, and haunt libraries and bookstores. So the apple has not fallen very far from their tree! Q) What is the most important thing that any parent or caretaker can do when it comes to children and reading? A) Read to children at least ten minutes a day and find ways for children to have their favorite books at home. Keep reading, even after children have learned how to read. You will not only be giving your children the best possible gift educating their minds, increasing their vocabulary, and opening up the possibilities of life you will be generating precious memories for everyone. Praise Advance Praise for 100 Best Books for Children "It would be hard to find a more authoritative voice... than Anita Silvey." Publishers Weekly "Whether you're a parent or teacher introducing the best books to your children, a Constant Reader checking to make sure that you've read The Best, a student of children's literature, or someone who would like to give a really helpful gift for a shower or birthday, you'll find this list of books and Mrs. Silvey's thoughtful commentary to be the ideal resource. If you thought you knew about these books, be ready for a treat with her story-behind-the-story. This book belongs in every home." Children's Literature Network 5 of 7 Copyright 2004 Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

6 Praise for The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators "Illuminating... Like taking a quick and entertaining course in children's literature." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Comprehensive, easy to use, and instructive... The Essential Guide is a must for parents who hope to instill a love of literature in their kids." BookPage "One of the best gifts for a new parent or for anyone who cares about children's literature... This reference work opens a world beyond individual reading preferences." Oakland Press Some of our 100 BEST BOOKS according to Anita Silvey Preschool (Birth to Age 2) Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John Burningham The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle Freight Train by Donald Crews The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss Picture Books (Ages 2 to 8) Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak Doctor De Soto by William Steig The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst Tuesday by David Wiesner Books for Young Readers (Ages 7 to 9) Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder Books for Middle Readers (Ages 8 to 11) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson 6 of 7 Copyright 2004 Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

7 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen Holes by Louis Sachar Charlotte's Web by E. B. White Fantasy Books (Ages 8 to 12) The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper The BFG by Roald Dahl The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Multicultural Books (Various ages) Morning Girl by Michael Dorris John Henry by Julius Lester In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor Information Books (Various ages) Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman The Way Things Work by David Macaulay Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin The Great Fire by Jim Murphy Books for Older Readers (Ages 11 to 12) The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse The Giver by Lois Lowry (Lists are available to media to reprint) 7 of 7 Copyright 2004 Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.