As winter comes, librarians scan the journals, newspapers, and websites for lists of Best Books of the Year. One of the first contenders in this contest of lists is the N.Y. Times list of the Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2009.
No one interested in picture books should miss the thumbnail pictures of the book covers, each linked to its review in the paper. Most of the styles of illustration now popular for children are represented--except for the growing group of graphic novel formats. One of the chosen books is an unconventional retelling of familiar folktales with stark, bold illustrations, another is an elaborate pop-up book that would never survive a child's handling. Some of these books will be more popular with adults than with children, but each of them represents an aspect of children's book culture today. Komako Sakai's The Snow Day brings memories of Ezra Jack Keat's classic Snowy Day, but this time instead of a recognizable child, the leading character is a bunny who lives like a human. Is this perhaps a move into abstraction so critics cannot raise issues of race or stereotyping? All of these books, although beautiful and worthy of a child's attention, seem curiously remote from the world our children live in. They exist perhaps to serve the needs of artists and other adults more than the needs of children. This is a trend worth thinking about.
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