DOCUMENT RESUME CS 217 699 ED 458 591 Zarnowski, Myra, Ed.; Kerper, Richard M., Ed.; Jensen, Julie AUTHOR M., Ed. The Best in Children's Nonfiction: Reading, Writing, & TITLE Teaching Orbis Pictus Award Books. National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL. INSTITUTION ISBN-0-8141-0489-4 ISBN 2001-00-00 PUB DATE NOTE 175p. National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon AVAILABLE FROM Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 04894-1659: $15.95, members; $21.95, nonmembers). Tel: 800-369-6283 (Toll Free); Web site http://www.ncte.org. General (020) Collected Works PUB TYPE MF01/PC07 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Annotated Bibliographies; *Authors; *Childrens Literature; DESCRIPTORS *Classroom Techniques; Elementary Education; Evaluation Criteria; *Nonfiction; Reading Interests; *Reading Material Selection *Honor Books; National Council of Teachers of English; IDENTIFIERS *Orbis Pictus Award; Trade Books ABSTRACT This book offers readers both a glimpse into the world of children's nonfiction and practical tips on teaching these texts in the classroom. The book looks at the first 10 years of the National Council of Teachers of English's award for excellence in children's nonfiction. In the first section of the book, Orbis Pictus Awards Committee members discuss the issues they consider as they select each year's winner, honor books, and "The Quality of Prose recommended titles. Articles in this section are: (1) "Intermingling Fact and (J. M. Jensen); in Orbis Pictus Award Books" (2) "Nonfiction Book Design in a Digital Age" (R. M. Fiction" (M. Zarnowski); (3) "Acknowledging, Citing, Going Beyond: Issues of Documentation in Kerper); (4) "Significance of Topics of and (5) Nonfiction Literature" P. Smith) ; (K. Orbis Pictus Award-Winning Books" (E. M. Aoki). In the middle section, writers--and Orbis winners or honorees--reflect on their work during the "A Wish for a New Century" (D. Swanson); 1990s. These articles are: (7) (6) "Presidents, Plagues, "Lessons Learned from a Butterfly" (L. Pringle); (8) "Outside the (J. C. Giblin); and a Pilot: My Writing Life in the 1990s" (9) "A World of (10) "Writing in the '90s" (R. Blumberg); (P. Lauber); Box" (11) (M. P. Osborne); "One World, Many Religions" (J. 0. Dewey); Difference" (12) (J. Fritz); and (14) "Serendipity, Detective Work, "Nonfiction, 1999" (13) (J. Murphy). The and Worry: One Nonfiction Writer's Journey through the '90s" book concludes with an annotated list of Orbis Pictus winners and honor books from 1989 to 2000, including teaching suggestions for classroom use. (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Reading, Writing,& Teaching Orbis Pictus Award Books PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NI, A. Hittis Office of Educational Research and Improvement ED ,,J CATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) x. This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES originating it. INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 0 Minor changes have been made to 1 improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Edited by Julie M. Jensen Richard M. Kerper Myra Zarnowski 01 c/D [BEST COPY AVAILABLE 1 The Best in Children's Nonfiction 3 NCTE Editorial Board: Jacqueline Bryant, Kermit Campbell, Willie Mae Crews, Colleen Fairbanks, Andrea Lunsford, Gerald R. Og lan, Jackie Swensson, Gail Wood, Kent Williamson, NCTE Executive Director, Zarina Hock, Chair, ex officio, Peter Feely, ex officio The Best in Children's Nonfiction Reading, Writing, and Teaching Orbis Pictus Award Books Edited by Myra Zarnowski Queens College, City University of New York Richard M. Kerper Millersville University Julie M. Jensen The University of Texas at Austin National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 Illustration from AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE by Laurence Pringle. Copyright © 1997 by Laurence Pringle. Published by Orchard Books, a division of Scholastic Inc. Reprinted by permission of Scholastic Inc. Illustration from MINN OF THE 1VIISSISSIPPI by Holling Clancy Holling. Copyright © 1951 by Holling Clancy Holling. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Staff Editor: Bonny Graham Interior Design: Doug Burnett Cover Design: Evelyn C. Shapiro NCTE Stock Number: 04894-3050 © 2001 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, includ- ing photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the copyright holder. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any par- ticular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Com- mittee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in an- nouncements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The best in children's nonfiction : reading, writing, and teaching Orbis Pictus Award books / edited by Myra Zarnowski, Richard M. Kerper, Julie M. Jensen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8141-0489-4 1. Orbis Pictus Award. 2. Children's literature, AmericanHistory and criticism. 3. Children's literature, AmericanBibliography. I. Zarnowski, Myra, 1945 II. Kerper, Richard M. III. Jensen, Julie M. Z1037.A2 B47 2001 028.1'62dc21 2001044261 V Contents vii Introduction I. Ten Years of the Orbis Pictus Award 1 1. The Quality of Prose in Orbis Pictus Award Books 3 Julie M. Jensen 2. Intermingling Fact and Fiction 13 Myra Zarnowski 3. Nonfiction Book Design in a Digital Age 22 Richard M. Kerper 4. Acknowledging, Citing, Going Beyond: Issues of Documentation in Nonfiction Literature 32 Karen Patricia Smith 5. The Significance of Topics of Orbis Pictus 42 Award-Winning Books Elaine M. Aoki II. Award-Winning Authors Discuss Their Work 51 53 6. A Wish for a New Century Diane Swanson 57 7. Lessons Learned from a Butterfly Laurence Pringle 8. Presidents, Plagues, and a Pilot: My Writing Life 62 in the 1990s James Cross Gib lin 72 9. Outside the Box Patricia Lauber 76 10. Writing in the '90s Rhoda Blumberg 80 11. A World of Difference Jennifer Owings Dewey 84 12. One World, Many Religions Mary Pope Osborne 7 vi Contents 13. Nonfiction, 1999 87 Jean Fritz 14. Serendipity, Detective Work, and Worry: One Nonfiction Writer's Journey through the '90s 90 Jim Murphy III. An Annotated Bibliography of Orbis Pictus Winners, Honor Books, and Recommended Titles, 1990-1999 99 Section III Appendix: Orbis Pictus Award Choices for 2000 139 Editors 155 Contributing Committee Members 157 Contributors 159 vii Introduction Several years ago, the members of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children Committee decided that it would be a good idea to do more than select award-winning titles. We wanted to tell people about the ideas that excited and infuriated us about recent nonfiction, about the insights we were developing about the genre as we read healthy doses of it over the years, and about our "noticings" about the radical and subtle changes occurring in the literature. As discussion about this book continued, we realized that in addition to hearing from committee members, readers would enjoy hearing from writers whose books have been selected by the com- mittee. We then invited several authors to look back on their careers during the past decade as they wrote nonfiction for children. Finally, we decided that a complete listing of all Orbis Pictus winners, honor books, and recommended titles for the past ten years would be a handy reference for teachers and school librarians. Therefore, we have provided annotations for all winners and honor books and a complete listing of recommended titles for the first decade of the award, 1990-1999. Because the 2000 award winners had been announced by the time this book was in production, in an appendix to the 1990-1999 bibliography we have reprinted the Talking about Books section of Language Arts that features the 2000 award winner and honor books. The Best in Children's Nonfiction, then, is organized in three parts: Section I, in which committee members discuss the character- istics of good nonfiction; Section II, perspectives on nonfiction and writing nonfiction from authors of award-winning titles; and Sec- tion III, a complete listing of Orbis Pictus titles for the last decade, including annotations of award-winning and honor books. Serving on the Orbis Pictus Award Committee has truly enriched my life as a reader. I know I speak for the committee in inviting you to share the riches. Myra Zarnowski 9 I Ten Years of the Orbis Pictus Award Edited by Myra Zarnowski The Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children was established in 1989 to promote and recognize excellence in nonfiction writing for children. The award's name commemorates Johannes Amos Comenius's (1657) work Orbis Pictus (The World in Pictures), considered to be the first book actually intended for chil- dren. Each year one award book and up to five honor books are named. In addition, the award committee selects other titles it considers to be outstanding. Selecting Orbis Pictus Award-winning titles is a big job. Committee members sift and sort through hun- dreds of books looking for the very best in nonfiction. What's sur- prising is how, at the end of each year, there is a high level of consen- sus about which books we want to honor. Before we reach this consensus, we talk, talk, and talk some more. During our committee meetings, members bring and brag about their favorite titles. You might hear comments such as: "Have you seen this book? Isn't it great? I tried it with third graders and they just loved it." Or you might hear, "This is exactly the kind of book we need!" But then, you also might hear us voice our concerns: "Is the information in this book worth knowing? Is it important enough to spend time on?" Or, "Would this book be useful in the classroom? Would children understand it? Is it really for children?" In this section, current and past members of the Orbis Pictus Award Committee share our thoughts about issues that have sparked our discussions over the years. First, Julie Jensen discusses the quality of writing found in award-winning titles. She shows how good nonfiction writers have applied the tools of storytellers to information they have gathered through extensive research in order to write the kind of prose we want to read again and again. In Chapter 2, Myra Zarnowski discusses the intermingling of fact and fiction that has been occurring with greater and greater frequency within the genre marketed and sold as nonfiction. Noting that this is part of a larger trend in both children's and adult nonfiction, she 10