Winner
See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog written by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
Amanda: Delighted to see this choice! Congratulations to David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka. A fantastic combination of meta humor and solid beginning reader fundamentals. I hope this means we’ll see more beginning readers from this pair.
Amy: I love the clever humor and off-stage narrator for this meta charmer. I’ll be honest, I had totally overlooked this one because of the way the text and illustrations often say and show different things. I worried new readers might get confused by the juxtaposition. However, knowing that the real committee makes a point to observe developing readers interacting with contenders, I have a feeling this book did better with real readers than it did with the imaginary ones in my head! I do so love being proved wrong when it means another book for new readers to love!
Misti: In a year of not reading as widely as I usually do, it was exciting to see the award go to something I had actually read! But whether or not I had read it beforehand, I would have been so pleased with this pick, with its clever use of speech bubbles and fonts, its hilarious back-and-forth between the dog and the book, and its charming illustrations.
Honors
The Bear in My Family written and illustrated by Maya Tatsukawa
Amanda: This one caught us by surprise, but I can see how the design choices and the relatable storyline for anyone with a sibling appealed to the committee. I find the illustrations charming. I’ll bet there was some interesting discussion in the room about the hand-lettered text, and the brevity and repetition that we know really supports an emergent reader.
Misti: Boy, do I love the illustrations in this book! The font is dark and clear, and the hand-lettered text is generally also clear enough to be easily deciphered by a beginning reader. As Amanda said, it caught us by surprise, but that’s another reminder to us all that the committee is always working hardest to discover and discuss all of the year’s best.
Amy: I’ll echo the others: surprised, but delighted! There are too few beginning readers by BIPOC creators that feature BIPOC characters, so I was really happy to see two on the honor list this year! Strong word repetition and page-turning dynamic provide support to help readers over the occasional uneven punctuation and line breaks. The illustrations are so playful, and I think the idea of a protection bear is really relatable for early elementary kids.
Ty’s Travels: Zip, Zoom! written by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Nina Mata
Amanda: Both entries into Ty’s Travels were great this year, and such welcome additions to the beginning reader shelves. It is fantastic to see one of them receive the honor. Congratulations to Kelly Starling Lyons and Nina Mata for creating this celebration of imagination, perseverance, friendship and joy.
Misti: This book has repetition without feeling repetitive -- that’s an impressive display of writing skill! There’s so much kid appeal in both the illustrations and the plot, and hooray for a story featuring BIPOC characters just having a fun day. We need more of that in the beginning reader arena.
Amy: The illustrations are such a stand out for me. The change in illustration style makes the transition between the real and imaginary worlds crystal clear. I can also see a book featuring scooters as a real winner with kids. I’m still working mostly from home and I kind of miss having to remind kids that scooters, while awesome, are best used outside the library.
What About Worms!? written and illustrated by Ryan T. Higgins
Amy: I find the word repetition in this one especially clever. The illustrations add humor and foreshadowing in a way that is not often seen in beginning readers. Here’s hoping for more beginning readers from Ryan T. Higgins!
Misti: I’m always excited to see humor recognized for excellence, and this book definitely has it, both in words and pictures. Well done!
Amanda: The Elephant and Piggie Like Reading series is definitely building a reputation for quality easy readers, and this funny entry about fears and mistaken impressions will surely leave readers giggling. Thrilled to see so much well done humor for beginning readers being recognized this year, and this one is as delightful to read aloud to others as it is to read alone.
Where’s Baby? written and illustrated by Anne Hunter
Misti: I was initially on the fence about splitting up the syllables in the word “ba-by” in most instances in the book, but I think the intention is clear, and it’s repeated often enough that the reader will be confident in encountering it by mid-book. Indeed, repetition is definitely one of this book’s strengths. Clever illustrations, as well.
Amy: Picture book contenders can easily fall through the cracks because reviews, publisher summaries, and other online book discussions/content seldom evaluate picture books with a beginning reader lens. So I was happy to see the committee had cast such a wide net when looking for contenders. I agree with Misti, repetition is clear and intentional throughout. The illustrations are unusual for a beginning reader text, which makes me love them all the more. I’m always a fan of the unique!
Other Thoughts
Amanda: Overall it felt like a great morning. A mix of pleasant surprises and affirming choices both for Geisel and all the other YMAs. I am thrilled for all the committees and winners.
Misti: This has to have been such a challenging year for the committee, with virtual meetings, delayed deliveries, and all of the stress and uncertainty of everyday life. Thank you all for all of your hard work. And thank you to our blog readers for sticking with us through all of the changes in our lives and yours. Here’s to a better year ahead.
Amy: The pool of Geisel contenders isn’t as big as that of the Newbery or Caldecott, but it nevertheless poses some challenges. With the many additional obstacles Misti mentioned above, I’m sure the process of identifying beginning reader excellence beyond the beginning reader section took much more time and diligence on the part of the committee members than it would during a non-pandemic year. Thank you to the committee for persevering to select such wonderful titles! Thank you to the winner and honor authors and illustrators for creating such supportive, engaging books for new readers!
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