The New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2015

Every year since 1952, the Book Review has convened an independent panel of judges to select the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books. Judged purely on artistic merit, it’s the only annual award of its kind.

This year’s judges were Frank Viva, Monica Edinger and Marjorie Ingall. Viva has written and illustrated several acclaimed books for children, including “Along a Long Road” — a previous Times Best Illustrated winner — “Outstanding in the Rain” and “Young Frank, Architect.” He is a frequent cover artist for The New Yorker and the managing director of the design firm Viva & Co. Edinger has been an elementary- and middle-school educator for more than 25 years and currently teaches fourth grade at the Dalton School in New York City. She is also the author of the picture book “Africa Is My Home” and blogs about children’s books at Educating Alice. Ingall is a columnist for Tablet and a frequent contributor of children’s book reviews to The Times and other publications. Her book “Mamaleh Knows Best: What Jewish Mothers Do to Raise Successful, Creative, Empathetic, Independent Children” will be published next year.


Here's the list from The New York Times.

Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer

From TIME magazine:

Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, and Keith Oatley, a professor emeritus of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, reported in studies published in 2006 and 2009 that individuals who often read fiction appear to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them and view the world from their perspective. This link persisted even after the researchers factored in the possibility that more empathetic individuals might choose to read more novels. A 2010 study by Mar found a similar result in young children: the more stories they had read to them, the keener their “theory of mind,” or mental model of other people’s intentions.

"Deep reading" — as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the Web — is an endangered practice, one we ought to take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. Its disappearance would imperil the intellectual and emotional development of generations growing up online, as well as the perpetuation of a critical part of our culture: the novels, poems and other kinds of literature that can be appreciated only by readers whose brains, quite literally, have been trained to apprehend them.

Following the Yellow Brick Road

The M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives Presents:
Following the Yellow Brick Road: Imitation and Influence in Children’s Literature

Classic children’s books endure for their originality and timeless value to generations of young (and older) readers. A handful of these books distinguish themselves as exemplars and definers of entire genres. Six such examples are presented in this exhibit. They are: The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678); Robinson Crusoe (1719); Gulliver’s Travels (1726); Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865); The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900); and The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902).

Presented in the University at Albany Science Library’s Atrium exhibit cases are selections of books, some classics in their own right that take influence from their groundbreaking predecessors in a broad variety of ways. Some are explicit sequels or pastiches, while others borrow structural, stylistic, or symbolic elements, but are otherwise independent entities. Some are written by associates of the influencing novel’s author, and some even share visual similarities with their parent work. Still more are abridged or excerpted versions of classics intended to make them accessible to even the youngest readers, or to convert works originally written for adults into child-friendly formats.

Erin Shoudy, Graduate Assistant, Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children’s Literature Collection, selected the items from over 12,000 titles in the collection. The Mathes collection is accessible in the Department of Special Collections and Archives on the Science Library’s’ third floor. The exhibit will be in the Science Library’s Atrium exhibit cases until December 15, 2010. Further information about the Mathes Collection is available here.

The Fall Festival of Books

The Children’s Literature Connection and the English Department of Hudson Valley Community College present:
The Fall Festival of Books, C.L.C.'s 4th annual greeting/selling/autographing celebration of children’s literature. School and public librarians, educators and the general public are invited to meet authors and illustrators, buy their books and chat as books are autographed. Professionals are encouraged to speak with authors about school visits, and hear about exciting upcoming projects. It’s a great time to think about unique holiday gifts, too.

This year, for the first time, the authors will have the opportunity to showcase their work via individual presentations. This year, authors will include:
Sylvie Kantorovitz (Wickstrom), Matt McElligott, Karen Beil, Kyra Teis, Alexandra Siy, Rose Kent, Eric Luper, Thomas Styles, Marlene Newman, Liza Frenette, Daniel Mahoney, Peter Marino, and Bob Hervey.

In addition, there will be a door prize. Attendees qualify for a free author visit from award winning writer Jennifer Armstrong.

This is a free event; no registration is required. Free parking is available. For directions to HVCC’’s Bulmer Telecommunications Center, go here.

For more Fall Festival info, visit: the Children's Literature Connection.