Out! by Arree Chung and Puppy, Puppy, Puppy by Julie Sternberg and Fred Koehler: The Lower Levels of the Geisel Age Range

“Hello, do you have any books for beginning readers?”

“Of course!” *gestures toward their board books*

“Oh, no – I mean books for children just learning to read independently?”

“We have picture books right over there . . .”

Sound at all familiar? Most recently, this conversation took place at ALA Annual in Chicago, in a publisher’s booth. What makes this request such a challenge? And when a bookseller, publisher, or librarian points us toward the board books, are they so wrong? After all, we know that getting ready to read begins in infancy, as interactions with caregivers provide context and vocabulary for the world around us. But where is the transition point between early literacy and the beginning reader?

As Mock Geiselers, we can look to the criteria for help.

“Contribution to the body of children’s literature that encourages and supports the beginning reader indicates the text of a book, which must be directed at readers from pre-K through Grade 2.”

People learn to read independently at a wide range of ages. There are, for a variety of reasons, 3^rd and 4^th graders who labor over the same Elephant & Piggie titles that precocious tots recite with ease. So it’s helpful of the Geisel to give us an age range. We can at least interpret that even if the page restriction – “minimum of 24 pages” and maximum of 96 – didn’t relieve most board books of eligibility, the toddler age range they target puts them outside our consideration.

Or does it? What ages is pre-K intended to represent in our criteria? In my home state of CA, the minimum age for enrollment in Kindergarten is 5 years. Transitional Kindergarten (or Early Kinder) allows for enrollment of 4.5 year old children for that same school year. Preschoolers are typically 3-4 years of age. 

How does our discussion of a book change when we’re considering a 3-year-old preschooler or a 7-year-old second grader as our beginning reader? Particularly when we’re looking at picture books, the question of age applies directly to whether “the book is respectful and of interest to children” and  whether the subject matter is “ intriguing enough to motivate the child to read”. Where interests can be understood to overlap, this is easy enough – dinosaurs, dancers, and dogs? Check. But what about depictions of our main character in a crib, in diapers, exhibiting less independence than typical first and second graders?

Out! By Arree Chung uses only nine different words to tell a “hilarious tale of friendship and mayhem” as Jo Jo the dog tries to protect a boldly exploring baby from mishap, only to have her actions misunderstood by the parental figures. Expressive illustrations sometimes mimic comic style panels, an approach further reinforced with the use of word balloons to frame each word. From the dejection of our trapped baby on the second spread to the panic on Jo Jo’s face as the baby sits poised in the laundry basket at the top of the stairs, with few or no accompanying words the illustrations tell a compelling story of the bond between our two protagonists. 

The 2017 committee honored Oops, Pounce, Quick, Run!: An Alphabet Caper and the 2014 committee honored Ball, so there is precedent for titles with few vocabulary words (and featuring dogs) to be recognized by the committee. Could one with so many wordless spreads in a row be recognized? Is the story here told by the text, or do the illustrations do so much of the heavy lifting that it falls outside the scope of the committee?

Puppy, Puppy, Puppy by Julie Sternberg and Fred Koehler showcases another baby and puppy duo in a multiracial household. Both baby and dog appear younger than in Out! and the text features many more words, in a large font with logical line breaks and good spacing. The story contains quite a bit of repetition in the first pages, creating predictable moments for beginning readers. The formula of Baby does thing, then puppy does thing, then baby says “Puppy” continues for three spreads, until things go awry during bathtime. Even after the text breaks from formula, there is repetition to be found in subsequent spreads. New vocabulary is usually introduced slowly, and with a clear support from the illustrations. For example, in the first pages to feature the words “Mommy” and “Daddy” the text is superimposed on the shirts of these named characters. 

If I were being super picky, I’d question whether the pattern of Daddy’s shirt creates contrast changes here that might be challenging for young eyes. White space, it is not. There’s also the matter of the lines “Every single second. No matter what.” – the exceptions to the otherwise excellent depiction of the text in illustrations. These are considerations that I would bring up during committee discussions if this book were on the table, and I’d be watching and listening carefully when beginning readers approached these pages in the months leading up to the discussion.  

Both Out! and Puppy, Puppy, Puppy shine in some areas of the Geisel criteria, yet these delightful picture books are clearly intended for young audiences. When we’re considering their appeal for our PreK-2^nd grade age range, how do we compare them to the titles meant for slightly older readers? Do preschool readers engage with books about babies as readily as they engage in play with baby dolls? Would you put these titles on your ballot?