Eisha here. Around here we've started referring to Steve Jenkins as "Mr. Cybils." His name crops up on three of our shortlisted titles: as illustrator of Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre (Non-fiction Picture Book) and of Animal Poems by Valerie Worth (Poetry), and as author/illustrator of Living Color (Non-fiction Picture Book).
But Mr. Jenkins is no stranger to accolades. Since he leapt onto the children's book scene in 1995 with Biggest, Strongest, Fastest, he's garnered just about every award an illustrator and children's book author can get. His books frequently turn up on Best-Of lists; and he was the recipient of a Caldecott Honor in 2004 for What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?, authored by his wife and frequent collaborator Robin Page.
His distinctive cut-paper collage illustrations are the perfect medium for his child-friendly texts, which often depict animals and other aspects of the natural world.
We asked Jules, our Picture Books Organizer, to act as our virtual ambassador and ask him a few questions about his uber-talented self. Below are excerpts from their interview:
Children’s book author Jon Scieszka talks through his Guys Read effort about how teachers and librarians can sometimes be dismissive of non-fiction. Do you have any thoughts on that?
In my experience teachers and librarians have not been dismissive of non-fiction, though that may be because I’m usually interacting with a self-selected group of non-fiction fans. In fact, that’s so obvious I don’t know why I never thought of it before …
I agree with Jon. I think there are several things going on. Many early education professionals come from a language arts or ‘soft’ science background, such as sociology (I’m not using ‘soft’ in a negative way), rather than from a ‘hard’ science (physics, chemistry, biology) curriculum. Reading and analyzing fiction is an integral part of most teachers’ education.
I also think fiction and non-fiction elicit different kinds of passion in readers. The themes of fiction — love, fear, adventure, triumph over adversity — are universal. Read aloud, the exploits of Lily or Despereaux can’t fail to captivate a room full of kids.
The pleasures of non-fiction are more subtle. Few readers laugh out loud or cry as they learn about the extraordinary abilities of the jumping spider or how the continents have drifted about.
And not all children are interested in the same non-fiction subjects. Some are fascinated by astronomy, others by geology or zoology. Unless a child has expressed interest in a specific subject, I think it’s much harder for a librarian to suggest a sure-fire non-fiction book.
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