From Cover to Cover (17 page)

Hyperbole
, the use of exaggeration, characterizes the speech of melodramatic Joselle: “For the first couple of years of your life, you were probably no bigger than a salt shaker…. I’ll bet your parents have photographs from when you were three, but they tell you they were from the day you were born.” By way of contrast, Blaze is often characterized with
understatement
to underscore his timid nature: “Blaze didn’t particularly like spiders, except from a distance.”

Kevin Henkes also uses
sound
devices to enrich the language of his novels. Some examples:

Alliteration
: the repetition of initial consonants, as we see with both
s
and
l
in the phrase “legs scissoring the sunlight,” which imitates the sound of scissors cutting.

Assonance
: the repetition of similar vowel sounds. “Puddles dotted Floy’s lawn like scattered mirrors.” The long vowel sounds in the first four words come in quick succession like dripping water.

Consonance
: the close repetition of consonant sounds. Note the repetition of the fluttering
l
sound when Joselle’s grandmother tells her: “Your eyelids are the color of my needlepoint lilacs.”

Onomatopoeia
: the use of words that sound like their meanings.
We see an example of this when Blaze’s father allows him to help attach canvas to frames. “The staple gun had a nasty little kick that jolted Blaze’s arm, and it made a whooshing noise that reminded Blaze of getting a vaccination.”

Rhythm
: the pattern of words in a sentence, which gives it a particular flow, or
cadence
. Note the way Henkes uses rhythm in the following sentence to give readers a playful sense of somersaulting downhill: “Summer afternoons on the hill smelled of heat and dirt and grass and weeds and laziness.”

Allusion
makes reference to literature or historical events that are part of our common cultural heritage. It is less frequently used as a device in children’s books simply because children typically do not have the necessary background to recognize and appreciate it. It is not, however, unheard of. Lois Lowry provides a stunning example of literary allusion in
Number the Stars
when Annemarie’s courageous journey through the forest to take a basket of food to her uncle clearly echoes the story of “Little Red Riding Hood.” Even though this is a folktale that most children know well, they might not expect it to show up in a novel. For this reason, Lowry draws a clear connection to it earlier in the novel with a scene in which Annemarie tells the story to her younger sister at bedtime.

Diction
is another aspect of an author’s style that enriches the manner in which a story is told. Sometimes referred to as the author’s
voice
, diction injects prose with the flavor of a particular time and place by using words and grammatical structures native to the story’s setting and characters. Diction can appear as distinctive in both dialogue and narrative. In dialogue, an author uses diction to approximate the way spoken language sounds. In narrative, diction creates a sense of the story as the characters who live in it might tell it themselves.

Christopher Paul Curtis is especially skilled at enlivening his novels with diction in both narrative and dialogue. Consider the following passage from
Bud, Not Buddy
, a novel set during the 1930s:

Even in the narrative, Curtis’s main character sounds as though he is speaking directly to the reader in his natural conversational style, and his dialogue gives us a sense of Billy’s character. Compare this with the language he uses in another novel set in 1860,
Elijah of Buxton
:

Although both books use colloquial black English in the dialogue and the narrative, it’s clear from the language that they are set in two different time periods.

Tone
is the reflection of the author’s attitude toward the story. It corresponds to the tone of voice in spoken language; however, since we can’t hear a tone of voice in writing, the author conveys this sense
through style. The tone in a children’s novel may be humorous, as it is in
Elijah of Buxton
, or serious as it is in
After Tupac and D Foster
. In both these examples, the tone gives us an idea how the author feels about the story.

In children’s books, we sometimes see instances of a condescending tone, which indicates that the author believes his or her ideas are really too complex for children to understand, so he or she must simplify it for them by explaining everything or trying to make it cute. We see, even more frequently, books with a sentimental tone. The latter often implies that the author believes all the world’s great problems could be easily solved if they were viewed through the innocent eyes of a child. Other times a sentimental tone reveals that the author is fascinated by his own childhood but cares very little about the childhood of others, namely his readers.

To evaluate style, look at the ways in which an author uses language. Do you notice a distinctive style? How does the story sound when it is read aloud? What literary devices do you notice? How do these relate to the reality of child readers?

THEME

Theme is often one of the most elusive aspects of fiction, but it is an important one, because it answers the question: What is the story about? When you ask children this question, you often get a recitation of plot details in response. But theme is more than what happened in a story. Theme reflects the overall idea the author was trying to get across to readers in the first place. The fact that a child has difficulty articulating this deeper meaning doesn’t necessarily mean that the theme wasn’t understood.

All the pieces of a work of fiction—plot, characters, point of view, setting, and style—add up to its theme; that is, a significant truth that
lies just beneath the surface of the story. If you, as an adult reader, have difficulty determining what, exactly, the theme of the book is, this may be an indication that the author did not have a clear theme in mind to start with or was unsuccessful in getting the idea across to readers through the story as it now stands. Conversely, many books are easily summed up in a phrase, which may suggest that the author did not succeed in combining fictional elements to give depth to the story.

When we examine theme in a work of children’s fiction, it is important for us, as adults, to keep in mind that children are new to the idea of “significant truth.” A truth that is commonplace to an experienced adult reader may be a real eye-opener for a child, particularly if the child is given the opportunity to discover meaning on his or her own. The thrill of discovery is the great promise a book holds for a reader.

In many outstanding works of fiction, the underlying truth, or theme, is left open to interpretation. The author sets the stage for discovery, but individual readers must be trusted to bring their own experiences to the reading of any book. When an author succeeds in writing a gripping story with a fresh style, peopled with characters who seem real and alive, her work is completed. The rest she leaves in the hands of the readers.

Children’s book reviewing has had a long, rich history in the United States. In his landmark study,
The Rise of Children’s Book Reviewing in America, 1865–1881
, Richard L. Darling found that children’s books were regularly reviewed in mid-to late-nineteenth-century literary monthlies and popular magazines by reviewers who showed a considerable understanding of children and their books. More than one hundred years later, this sort of understanding continues to play a crucial role in children’s book reviewing. Then, as now, the function of reviews appearing in the popular press was to call new books to the attention of potential readers, or, as Virginia Woolf succinctly described it: “partly to sort current literature; partly to advertise the author; partly to inform the public.” This attention to new children’s books in general periodical literature was carried well into the twentieth century with regular children’s book review columns appearing in publications such as the
New York Herald Tribune
,
The New York Times Book Review
, the
Chicago Tribune
, and
The Saturday Review of Literature
.

With the development of children’s library services in the early twentieth century, reviewing began to serve another function: to provide children’s librarians with a guide for selecting books.
Booklist
,
a professional library journal published by the American Library Association and consisting solely of reviews of new titles recommended for purchase, has included a children’s books section since its inception in 1905. Other general library periodicals, such as
Kirkus Reviews
and
Library Journal
, included children’s book reviews as well.
The Horn Book
magazine, founded in 1924 by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, was entirely devoted to articles and reviews of children’s books; and throughout much of the twentieth century it was very influential in setting contemporary standards for excellence in children’s books. In 1954 the children’s book section of
Library Journal
broke off to establish its own publication,
School Library Journal
, that strives to review every book published for children whether it is recommended for purchase or not. At the University of Chicago at Urbana-Champaign
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
was established in 1945; it remains the only national journal to consist entirely of children’s book reviews. Taken as a whole, these five journals (
Booklist
,
The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books
,
The Horn Book
,
Kirkus Reviews
, and
School Library Journal
) comprise the basis for most school and public library book selection in the United States.

Many school and public library systems have created their own internal review processes that may require librarians to prepare written or oral reviews of newly published books being considered for purchase. Others use group discussion as a means of evaluating books and sharpening critical skills. With the rise of the internet, children’s book reviewing has begun to take place online, often in blogs that are mostly or entirely devoted to providing reviews of new children’s books. The quality of these reviews varies, but they cannot be entirely discounted; in fact, many of the blogs with children’s book reviews have been created by librarians with professional training in book
evaluation. Blogs offer the added advantage of immediacy and direct feedback from readers.

At the very least, children’s librarians read a wide selection of reviews from the professional review journals listed above in order to make decisions about which books to purchase for the library collection. While some purchase decisions can be made quickly based on popular demand or professional wisdom, most selections are made with a great deal of care and deliberation, based, in whole or in part, on reviews. The reviewer, then, owes it to her audience to use care and deliberation in preparing a review.

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN REVIEWING AND LITERARY CRITICISM

Although the words “review” and “criticism” are often used interchangeably, most experts differentiate between the two by pointing out that reviews are limited by time and space; that is, a review is published as close as possible to the publication date of the book under consideration and the reviewer is generally limited to a set number of words.

In an eloquent essay entitled “Out on a Limb with the Critics: Some Random Thoughts on the Present State of the Criticism of Children’s Literature,” Paul Heins, former editor of
The Horn Book
, drew the following distinction: “Reviewing…is only concerned with what is imminent in publishing, with what is being produced at the present time; and does its job well by selecting, classifying, and evaluating—evaluating for the time being. Criticism deals with literature in perspective and places a book in a larger context….”

This is not to say that criticism should not enter into reviewing. In fact, Heins makes the point in the same article that it would be virtually impossible to keep criticism out of a review: “Any form of literary
classification, comparison, or evaluation must also be considered a form of criticism.”

PREPARING TO REVIEW

Because the reviewer does not have the advantage of time, it is to his or her advantage to have a broad knowledge of contemporary children’s literature as a context for “selecting, classifying, and evaluating.” A solid background in the literature also helps the reviewer put the book into a context so that he or she can answer the questions: Are there other books like this one? If so, how does it compare to them? What does it offer that is unique?

SELECTING BOOKS TO REVIEW

When you write reviews for a professional journal or as part of an internal review process, chances are you will not have a choice about which books you will review, since they will most likely be assigned to you. These assignments may be made in accordance with your own particular areas of interest or expertise; however, if you are given a book about which you simply cannot be objective, return it so that it can be assigned to another reviewer who can give it a fair review. Part of any book review editor’s job is to match books with reviewers, and he or she will no doubt appreciate your honesty if you feel you are not the right reviewer for the book. Since objectivity is an important part of every reviewer’s approach, it is best not to review books written by personal friends (or enemies) and to avoid reviewing books that give you a chance to air a complaint or grind an ax.

If you are reviewing for a general publication, such as your local newspaper, you may have the opportunity to choose the books you will review. There are no hard-and-fast rules about what to select, but it is best to choose a book that is current, readily available, and likely to be
of interest to the audience for whom you are writing. It may be the latest book by a well-known popular writer or a first book from a promising newcomer. You may choose a book to fit the current season (a great new biography about Abraham Lincoln for Presidents’ Day, for example), a book that can be linked to a current news event, or one that you know will be of local interest. When you can articulate exactly why you have chosen to review one particular book over all the others at this particular time, you have already begun to write an opening sentence that will link the book to your audience.

READING AND NOTE TAKING

A reviewer’s first obligation is to give a book a thorough and careful reading. There are, of course, different ways to approach this task. In her study of children’s book reviewers, Kathleen W. Craver found that some reviewers prefer to read a book all the way through, jotting down an occasional note along the way, and then return for a second reading to make more detailed notes. Others take careful notes during their initial reading and read straight through the second time around to get a better sense of the author’s style and pacing.

Before you begin to read, try to place the book in its broad category by type or genre: Is it nonfiction, a folktale, a transitional book? Usually (but not always) the classification is fairly straightforward. Once you have determined the category, you can use the corresponding chapter in
From Cover to Cover
as your framework for evaluation. As you read, you can jot down notes to outline the book’s structure or the main developments in the plot; to respond to questions you ask yourself as part of the critical process; and to keep track of questions the book under review raises in your mind. These questions may require you to consult outside sources before you begin to write a review.

According to Craver’s study, some reviewers write their review
immediately after the second reading and some take up to a week to mull things over before beginning to write. Regardless of their approach, all the reviewers cited rereading and note taking as an essential part of the review process.

CONSULTING OUTSIDE SOURCES

Many of the reviewers who took part in Craver’s study also indicated that they frequently sought outside information to assist them with a review. This generally consisted of discussing the book with a colleague or reading it aloud to a group of children to get their responses. It is not considered cheating to ask others for their opinions of a book you are reviewing. In fact, if you have kept an open mind toward the book, the responses of others can greatly enrich your critical perspective.

Many critics find it especially helpful to get responses from actual children. If there is an easy and natural way for you to do this, such as sharing a picture book with preschoolers during a regular library story time, by all means take advantage of the opportunity. But use the experience as one aspect of your critical approach, not the be-all and end-all of your assessment. And, please, never allow your review to sink into a description of your three-year-old daughter’s response to the book. Because your relationship with the child is of a personal, rather than professional, nature, this is not only irrelevant and unprofessional, it is self-indulgent. Save it for your annual holiday form letter.

In the course of your note taking, if you jotted down any questions that require some outside fact-checking, this is the time to do it. When you are reviewing a nonfiction book, you may want to consult other books on the same subject for comparison. This will broaden
your own background knowledge of the subject itself, and it will help you think about the book you are reviewing in contrast to other books for children on the same subject. You can mention related children’s books in your review to compare and contrast the new book to others that are available. Librarians, in particular, appreciate these sorts of critical insights; however, it is important that you don’t allow yourself to get carried away. Your primary responsibility is to review one book, not to write about every book that has been published to date on the same subject.

We have all had the experience of reading a work of fiction in which certain historical, regional, or cultural details just don’t ring true. This can raise questions such as: Would it have been likely for a nineteenth-century Amish family to join a wagon train? Did the Iroquois live in tipis? Is the black English an author uses in dialogue accurate? You may want to follow up on some of these questions, especially if it is an essential part of the book. Using the question about the Amish family as an example: If the family itself is the central focus of the book and their joining the wagon train a major factor in the plot, it would be important for you to do some background research to answer the question. If they are merely mentioned briefly in one paragraph in chapter 4, you may not want to spend a lot of time pursuing it.

Occasionally, reviewers seek the opinions of content specialists to help determine the accuracy or authenticity of a book that raises questions. If you suspect there is a problem with a book that claims one can avoid contracting HIV by showering after unprotected sex, for example, you can double-check the facts with a local expert to confirm your suspicions. If you do consult a content specialist, remember that while a content specialist is an expert in his or her particular field and is able to evaluate the accuracy of
what
information is provided, you are the
expert when it comes to
how
this information is presented in a book for children.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN A BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION

All reviews must open with a bibliographic citation that includes details such as author, title, and publisher. Although reviewers have many choices to make concerning the content of their reviews, bibliographic citations are fairly standard.

Reviews that are published in general publications such as newspapers and popular magazines, typically include only a brief heading that includes title (including subtitle), author, illustrator (if any), publisher, price, and sometimes the year of publication and number of pages. Every publication has its own in-house style for citations. You will need to include a complete citation at the head of your review. A standard style for citations appearing in general publication is:

For an illustrated book:

Since reviews that appear in professional review journals are used for book selection, the bibliographic citations are more detailed and always include the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for both the trade and library binding. In addition, they also may include the Library of Congress (LC) number, publication date, and
an indication as to whether the book was reviewed from galleys. The reviews themselves are generally arranged by the last name of the author, and that information appears first in bibliographic citations in review journals. Every journal’s style for citing bibliographic information varies slightly but, for the most part, they contain the same information: