Go, Otto, Go! by David Milgrim

Image from Books.SimonandSchuster.com

Elisa Gall is today's guest contributor. She's the Director of Library Services at an independent school in Chicago serving children in preschool through high school. Find her on Twitter: @gallbrary.

When people hear beginning reader, they often think two things—or rather, people. Yep. You know who (*cough*DickandJane*coughcough*). There is a well-known story about Dr. Seuss—the creator after whom the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is named—writing his first reader after a challenge by William Spaulding (inspired by John Hersey) to break the “boring” Dick and Jane mold and make something both helpful and engaging for young readers. (More about that can be found here.)

David Milgrim’s Go, Otto, Go!—about a homesick robot creating and flying a jetpack to find his faraway family—succeeds in accessibility and appropriateness for beginning readers, with short sentences, hefty white space, a large font size, patterned language, and supportive illustrations. But look closely: do you notice any similarities between the language of Go, Otto, Go! and this page from a reader of yesteryear?

Image from Go, Otto, Go! by David Milgrim (photos by Elisa Gall)

Image from Rare Book School from Mancini, Mark. "15 Fun Facts About 'Dick and Jane'" Mental Floss. N.p., 16 Sept. 2015. web. 07 July 2016.  

Those familiar with the ALSC awards will note that I can’t compare Go, Otto, Go! to Dick and Jane. I can only compare it to other eligible books published this year. So I’m going to own that this comparison would be shushed in jury deliberations and stop there.

What I find remarkable about Go, Otto, Go! is that despite its predictable and repetitive format, Milgrim’s text works in tandem with bold, heartfelt illustrations to make the story the opposite of boring. The images also keep the story interesting by adding characters and objects visually (a telescope, for example) without overwhelming the text.

The placement of page turns also does wonders for the plot and for readers. On the first page, we “See Otto,” frowning at a picture. After a page turn, we “See Otto look,” the portrait enlarged for assumptions to be made that the picture is of Otto and his family. On the recto page, we “See Otto look at his home” through a telescope. The following page turn and double-page spread (showing Otto looking up at the stars, family portrait in hand) builds suspense and paces the story so young readers can sit with the information and check for understanding. We then see Otto working, pals by his side, to build a jetpack and fly it up, down, left, right, here, there, and nowhere—until he recognizes that despite his setbacks, he has a home with his loyal buddies. For added humor, Otto’s pals look in dismay at his mishaps, with nothing but an exclamation mark coming out of Otto’s word balloons. These user-friendly balloons and one-syllable sound effects (POPs and POWs, which explode out of Otto’s jetpack) carry meaning while also keeping readers engaged.

I am still reflecting on whether the scaffolding is strong enough when Otto is “here” (a desert), “there” (Antarctica), and “nowhere” (back where he started). As part of a series, the question of whether the book is dependent on other media might also come up, up, up. (I couldn’t help myself there, but rest assured: it stands on its own.) Go, Otto, Go!’s greatest achievement might just be that it is simple, but not too simple. It is accessible, but not condescending. I’m on board the Geisel train for this one, as are the handful of kids I know who have read it independently. How about you? Go, you, go! and read this one with children. I’m interested to hear what you all think.

What It's Like to be on the Geisel Committee #1

One of our recurring features on this blog will be reflections by previous Geisel committee members on their experiences. If you've served on the Geisel Committee in the past and would like to share your experiences, please contact one of the blog administrators.

Today's guest columnist is Sarah Stippich, Early Literacy Coordinator for the Free Library of Philadelphia. She is a longtime children’s librarian and proud member of ALSC, currently serving on the Every Child Ready to Read Oversight Committee and Early Childhood Programs and Services Committee. She is currently reading Hundred Percent by Karen Romano Young. Sarah, thanks for sharing your experiences with us!

Congratulations! You’ve been appointed to the Geisel Award Committee, one of the most distinguished literary awards for children’s literature. You are now part of a secret club of librarians whose task is to deeply evaluate books for beginning readers. You will bestow a prestigious honor upon an author and an illustrator, and your work will be national news. Uh… what now? 

First of all, before serving on an award committee, do your time and walk the walk. It is a huge honor to be appointed to an award committee, and many of us dream of serving on the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery, Geisel, etc. But you do need to make yourself known to the ALSC powers that be. Spend time on a process committee and get to know your fellow ALSC members. Help publish a booklist or article or blog series. My time on the School-Age Programs and Services Committee was fun and rewarding, and I met so many talented colleagues. And I can’t stress enough how eye-opening my experience with the Morris Seminar was. Spending a day hearing from experienced reviewers and learning to defend my point of view about fabulous books was monumental for me, and ALSC leadership considers this experience when making appointments to award committees. 

Second, learn to love spreadsheets. Each member of each award committee has their own record-keeping style. But let’s face it: we’re librarians and we love organizing things! For me, an intricately color-coded Google spreadsheet with lots of tabs and columns was just the thing. I have heard of different methods involving Post-Its, complicated shelving schemes, super-secret binders, and hand-written reviews. Whichever way you choose, make sure you plan it well and keep up with it consistently. When those books come pouring in, you’ll thank yourself. 

Third, borrow some kids. One of the most interesting things about the Geisel Award criteria is that kid appeal is built right into it. It must motivate children to read. I adopted a local second grade class whose teacher was thrilled to have me visit weekly with a crate of books for my Junior Geisel Committee. I created a review worksheet for students to fill out after reading, allowing them to rate the book on humor, illustrations, and readability. Their reviews were hilarious! It was really fun to share books with them (of course they nearly screamed when I gave them a first look at the brand new Elephant & Piggie book), but I did have to take their input with a huge grain of salt. Child appeal is important to the Geisel, but not every book can be about Spider-Man. Their teacher was a great partner in this process, telling me which books they re-read, and which were simply too difficult for them.

Photo courtesy of Claire O'Leary Arnold

Last and most important, get ready to change your mind. Sharpen your debating skills, and be ready to not just HEAR, but LISTEN. It will be your task to prove to six smart, savvy professionals that your favored books meet the Geisel Award criteria in the best ways possible. Each of you has a wealth of experience to offer, and you will not always see eye to eye. And no matter how much you prepare your ideas and scour each page for flaws, one insightful comment from another committee member will completely blow your argument out of the water. There will always be a page turn or word choice or illustration that slipped by you, and now you can’t un-see it. On the flip side, you will see something that no one else on your committee sees. If you can convince them, “your” book might just advance in the selection process. Your time on the Geisel Committee will be invigorating, chaotic, and will completely change how you share books with new readers. Good luck!

Get a Hit, Mo! by David A. Adler and Sam Ricks

Today's guest blogger is Liesel Schmidt. Liesel is a Children's Librarian at Denver Public Library. As a former preschool teacher, Liesel is excited about books that get young children reading.


Liesel here to take on Get a Hit, Mo!, the sequel to last year’s winner. Last year’s Don’t Throw it to Mo! charmed the Geisel judges with its plucky protagonist, Mo Jackson, vibrant illustrations, and approachable text. This year, author David A. Adler and illustrator Sam Ricks bring Mo back for another shot at athletic glory. This time around, Mo is playing baseball and he’s giving it all he’s got.

Does the story “carry a child along from start to finish”?

Image from www.penguinrandomhouse.com

Get a Hit, Mo! revisits many of the themes that we saw in Don’t Throw it to Mo! Mo is still smaller and younger than the other players on his team. As in the previous book, the reader is again drawn through the action to discover whether or not Mo will succeed in his efforts to help his team win, this time by getting a hit in the baseball game. At the outset of the book, things look grim. Mo will “bat last. I always bat last, Mo thinks.” The “page-turning dynamic” is built right into the action of the baseball game. It all comes down to the final hit. Will Mo save the day?

Does the text support a beginning reader’s needs?
Without getting too “inside baseball” about it, the book accurately captures the intricacies of a ball game in short, declarative sentences. Mo watches the other team’s batters let balls pass them if they are too high or low. “When the ball is just right, they swing and hit the ball. That’s what I’ll do, Mo thinks.” Sports terminology provides a natural support for beginning readers. The frame of a baseball game lets Adler convey lots of action with few words, including “ball”, “strike”, and “hit”.The baseball terms used in the book are repeated throughout to give readers a chance to become comfortable with the text.

Do the illustrations “function as keys or clues to the text”?
As in Don’t Throw it to Mo!, the illustrations here complement and support the text. Text is printed simply and uniformly, and paired strategically near illustrations that visually express Mo’s enthusiastic efforts. When the new word, “umpire” is introduced, there is the umpire’s face filling the page, holding his mask. Onomatopoeic sound effects hover near Mo’s bat at appropriate moments to draw the reader’s focus toward the action-- “Whoosh! Strike one.” And, although the vocabulary used is straightforward, readers can get a sense of Mo’s complicated feelings of excitement, nervousness, and dismay by looking at Ricks’ depictions of Mo waiting for his turn to bat.

Get a Hit, Mo! is another great contribution to the needs of beginning readers. For beginning readers who loved Don’t Throw it To Mo!, this new sports adventure will be a hit. If we are in the business of “Guessing Geisel”, I would look elsewhere to new stories breaking new ground, but I will be glad to see more of little Mo Jackson and his big dreams. Keep this series in mind for young readers looking for books with simple text and exciting sports action.

My House, by Byron Barton

Image from HarperCollins.com

Today's post comes to us from Katya Schapiro, Senior Children's Librarian at the Bay Ridge Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. She served on the 2016 Geisel Award committee, and has just joined the Quicklists Consulting Committee.

Hello Geisel Guessers! This is Katya, of the 2016 Geisel Award Committee, here to discuss My House by Byron Barton.

Barton’s richly saturated digital illustrations and simple declarative prose have made his picture books justly beloved for many years. From My Car to My Bike, he has explored homey, perennially interesting subjects through easy-to-digest first-person narration.

In My House, the narrator is Jim, an orange cat. Jim shows the reader through his house (bright yellow and magenta) and introduces his bed, his litter box, and his friend, Jane. Jim wraps up with his love for his house, his home, and that’s it. In twenty short sentences, none longer than seven words, Barton takes the reader through a satisfying journey of recognition and comfort.

Barton uses large font text as a visual element, contrasting brightly colored letters with equally bright backgrounds. Beginning readers are often docked points for a lack of white space, which helps the uncertain reader distinguish between text and illustration, but in My House, the large font on colorful backgrounds provides an alternate way for the text to pop out to the viewer’s eye. This is a plus for the early reader, who can have trouble distinguishing smaller fonts or more complicated text placement. Some of the color combinations, such as yellow on a variegated green, might cause issues for colorblind readers, but most readers will welcome the eye-popping contrasts.

A quick walk through the Geisel criteria:

Excellence in quality: Unquestionable. From the first full page spread (none of that pesky publishing info interfering with the story text) to the final conceptual lift as ‘house’ is elevated to ‘home’, this is a carefully thought out and beautifully made title.

Individually distinct: Barton’s fully saturated pages cannot be mistaken for the work of any other creator, and his unique style is consistent throughout.

Providing a stimulating and successful reading experience for the beginning reader containing the kind of plot, sensibility, and rhythm that can carry a child along from start to finish: Absolutely. The repetition of ‘this is, these are, I am’ carry the reader through the new vocabulary as different parts of the house are introduced. The book isn’t big on plot, but the pleasure of recognition and the gentle, straightforward friendliness will carry readers through and keep them turning pages. Barton is very careful about vocabulary choice as well—most of the words are contextual or illustrated, and all are easy to sound out. The two stairway spreads “Upstairs is the bedroom” and “I hear a noise downstairs” cannot be entirely decoded using visual context clues, but with such a simple story the minor challenge to the reader is a positive. Literal minded kids and children on the spectrum will appreciate the real world practicality of the story, and everyone will love Jim’s house right along with Jim.

When considering simple picture books for the Geisel award, it can be easy for us storytime mavens to get sidetracked into their excellent qualities as read-alouds, and to assume that those qualities will translate to benefits for the independent reader. While there is certainly overlap, this can be a dangerous assumption, as some great read-alouds prove too simple, too complex, too punctuated, or too otherwise daunting for the kindergartner who laughed and laughed at storytime. Some, though, make the transition flawlessly—usually through a combination of strong child appeal and an attention to detail. Based on my class visit experience where early readers enjoyed hearing it read aloud AND grabbed for it after the session, I can firmly say that My House succeeds in both categories, and will be an enjoyable and successful reading experience for many young real estate lovers.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

Our guest blogger today is Susan Kusel, a librarian, children's book buyer and selector at an independent bookstore, and the owner of a children's book consulting company. She has served on the Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award committee, the Cybils Easy Readers and Early Chapter Book Awards committee, the 2015 Caldecott Medal selection committee and she is currently a member of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee. She blogs at Wizards Wireless.

There’s a genre of books for children learning to read. They are usually (but not always) a certain size and shape. They are often leveled.

What should we call this type of book? 

I often hear the term Easy Readers, which implies that these books are easy to read. They aren’t easy for the children reading them for the first time. Calling them easy diminishes the work of a new or struggling reader. 

I would call them Beginning Readers, which is what the Geisel Award criteria calls them. Everybody starts at the beginning. These are the books used when starting to read. I have met so many parents and kids who take the levels printed on the books very seriously. They tell me they can only read Level 2 books, for example and they resist books at other levels. The tricky thing about the levels, and why it is important not to get tied to them, is that they vary completely by publisher. A reading level marked Level 2 by one publisher could be marked Level 3 by another. 

Where to shelve these books? Typically they get their own section, in both libraries and bookstores. I think the way that makes it easiest for readers to find them is to create beginner, intermediate and advanced categories. This system ignores the levels and helps to place books that have no levels. 

One of the wonderful things about the Geisel Award is all the non-traditional Beginning Readers that have been honored. A book doesn’t have to look like a reader in order to be a helpful tool for children learning to read. Take a glance at previous Geisel winners and you’ll see books of poetry, non-fiction, graphic novels and picture books. 

The Geisel criteria states that the award recognizes winners with “literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading.”
That’s the key. Good, well written and illustrated books that help children learn to read.

That’s a very good place to start.

Big Cat by Ethan Long and Nate Likes to Skate by Bruce Degen

Welcome, Amanda here today. Let's take a look at two of the latest entries in a series clearly designed with beginning readers in mind. 

Image from holidayhouse.com

Big Cat is an obvious choice to consider for the Geisel award, as its creator Ethan Long took home the gold in 2013 for Up, Tall, and High! Here Long pairs his bold cartoon illustrations with sentences that couldn't be more simple or straightforward. In describing the trials of Big Cat as first one child and then the next involve the cat in their play despite its best efforts to avoid them, Long employs a repeated sentence structure, finishing the sentence "Big Cat can ___" on each two-page spread.

The Geisel criteria asks us to consider the simplicity of these short, declarative sentences and the use of repetition in an easily recognizable pattern. We can also find excellence in the appropriate size and style of the typeface in this and other books from the I Like to Read® series, which eschew traditional typeface "a"'s and "g"'s of in favor of a look that is more similar to the way a child learns to shape letters. The sentences are short enough that no line breaks are necessary, which is appropriate for the earliest of readers.  

When looking at the criteria on design excellence, the line about "an uncluttered background that sets off the text" might give us pause. These are full-bleed illustrations, leaving very little white space. And does our opening sentence, "Big Cat can nap" create the page-turning dynamic that we're looking for to motivate our beginning readers?

Image from holidayhouse.com

Nate Likes to Skate by Bruce Degen is for a more confident beginning reader than Big Cat, varying its sentence length and the number of lines on the page. The Nate of the title has a friend Kate, who prefers hats to skating. After a brief conflict over this difference, Nate inadvertently knocks some sense into himself by falling off his skateboard. A reconciliation occurs, after which they pursue their interests together. Sentences are short and declarative and most words have 5 letters or fewer. The text is often set against a white background despite the frequently full-bleed colored pencil illustrations. Thoughtful attention is paid to the line breaks, which fall between the short sentences in almost every case as in "Kate says, 'Look, Nate!/ I can skate. Wheeee!'"

Degen advances the plot from one page to the next with skill. On one spread, Nate inquires "'Kate, do you skate?'" and our young readers must turn the page to see that "Kate says, No, Nate./I hate to skate./Do you like my hat?'" Does he like her hat? We have to keep turning these pages to find out! (Spoilers: he hates the hat. "It's a great big bat.")

Both of these titles exhibit excellence in technical elements named in the Geisel criteria. But are they engaging, demonstrating creativity and imagination that rises to the level of "most distinguished"? How do your beginning readers fare with these books? If you were on this year's committee, would either of these make your list? 

Ballet Cat: Dance! Dance! Underpants! by Bob Shea

Image from Books.Disney.Com

Hi there! Amy here to take a look at Ballet Cat: Dance! Dance! Underpants! by Bob Shea, a book  that corners the market in cover appeal. The bright colors and sparkles fairly scream to young readers, “read me!”

Ballet Cat, introduced in last year’s Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret, is ready to do some super-high leaps with her friend Butter Bear. Unfortunately, there’s a secret that’s making Butter Bear shy away from this pinnacle of balletic fun. What could it be? Underpants, of course! It’s very worrisome to think that others will laugh at Butter Bear’s underpants while she does her super-high leaps. Naturally, Ballet Cat forges ahead to save the day. Amid showers of applause and roses she exclaims, “Hooray! Ballet conquers all!”

Let’s take a look at the Geisel Award criteria. How does the latest Ballet Cat adventure stack up?

“Page-Turning” Dynamic

The criteria indicates that a plot that advances with “page-turning” dynamic is one marker of beginning reader excellence. In other words, does the plot engage the reader and are they encouraged to turn the page for more? I think Ballet Cat excels in this area. The page turns are well-timed for humor and pacing. The cartoonish illustrations use thick outlines, eye-catchingly bright colors, and comical facial expressions, drawing the reader into the story.

Text

Word repetition is another award criteria. In this title there are many instances of repetition, “cereal” shows up three times and “underpants” is repeated a whopping eleven times. However, some unusual words only appear once, such as “conquer” and “dangerous.” New readers may find these words difficult to sound out because they have unfamiliar sounds (the q in “conquer” is quite intimidating) or because of their length (“dangerous” has 9 letters).

Another factor is sentence length. The need for “simple and straightforward” sentences is listed as an award criteria. Some sentences in this story are quite long and include several newly introduced words. Ballet Cat’s declaration, “If you dance with all your heart, the only thing they will see is the beauty of ballet” is eighteen words long and it’s the first time words “heart” and “beauty” appear in the text.

Illustrations

The criteria calls for illustrations to “function as keys or clues to the text.” These visual context clues can help readers with new words. Although the illustrations in this title add to the kid appeal, the lack of visual context clues for words such as, “orange juice”, “practiced”, and “lazy,” is disappointing. The off-page dialogue could be problematic as well, as there aren’t any visual clues to the unseen action.

Font

Another element to consider is the choice, color, size, and placement of the font. This book has a nice large, bold, black  font well-chosen to stand out on the colorful pages. Like Willems’ wildly popular Elephant and Piggie books, Shea makes great use of color coded speech bubbles--pink for Ballet Cat and yellow for Butter Bear. This design choice helps new readers follow the dialogue even as they sound out new words. On the flip side, many sentences are divided in order to squeeze all the text into the speech bubbles and this can create some problematic line breaks. Butter Bear speech bubble reads, “No wonder I am so / tired. I must go to / sleep for the winter.” It’s a shame each sentence could not have been printed on it’s own line.

In conclusion, with great repetition and color-coded speech bubbles, there are some very strong elements in this engaging, energetic story. The font is easy on the eye and the page turns are well-placed. The eye-catching cover and humorous story have clearly been designed to create maximum kid appeal. Unfortunately, there are some weaknesses as well. The presence of so many difficult new vocabulary words, lack of visual context clues, and long sentences could make this a frustrating reading experience for a new reader.

What do you think? Have you read this book with kids? What did they have to say about it?