Viewpoint: Children and Young Adult Book Awards play a vital role in engaging young readers
|
|
What an exciting time of year it is for anyone involved in the New Zealand children’s books scene. As I write this, the shortlist is out for the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults (NZCYA). It’s the perfect opportunity to ensure that the reading public – children and teens, and the adults who provide books for them – are aware of the range and quality of available books. The awards showcase books with a real Kiwi voice and a place where readers might see themselves and their world reflected in the books they read.
It was a tremendous privilege to be a judge for the NZCYA book awards in 2018, and convenor in 2019. I got to read the best – and the not so good – books produced in New Zealand for our tamariki. It was hugely interesting to have an overview of the Children and Young Adult publishing scene over that time and intriguing to note that the books entered in the two years were quite different. The issues that were uppermost in one year, weren’t so important the next and the categories that really shone changed too. For example, in 2018 there were many YA novels focused on mental health issues, but not so in 2019. |
It reminded me to be mindful of the fact that the book scene is ever-changing and that in any given year there will be special stars that shine. We can’t make assumptions that one area is better than another, or that the themes that are popular will remain so.
As an intermediate school librarian at the time that I was judging, it was a privilege to be able to share the books with my students and gain an insight into how they saw the books – to not rely only on my own opinion of a book, but to keep an open mind until I had some youthful feedback. I tried to maintain this in my buying for the library, ensuring that we had a true student voice in the collection.
The awards are a great opportunity to talk to students about what makes a good book, and the fact that a book has been published doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a great book. It’s okay to say so if you don’t think a book is very good. It’s not easy to be critical, and there’s a big difference in not liking a book because it’s not to your taste and being able to say that a book is good or bad for specific reasons. Taking the time to work out the elements that make up a book – and then what makes a really good book – will grow readers with more discernment and the ability to communicate with others about their reading (and everything else!) with new clarity. The finalist list provides plenty of examples of the best in our reading material.
One of the great bonuses of awards season is that the authors and illustrators are out and about, being seen and heard, sharing the stories behind their books, their ways of working, what has brought them to this point in their career and the tricks of the trade they have learned.
Unfortunately, in these COVID times, there have not been the usual public events. But in a way that has worked in favour of young people countrywide as interviews, readings and presentations are being shared online. Make sure you check out the LIANZA Books Alive events and storytimes – where many more will be able to experience them than could have attended the usual live events.
Now that we’ve all learned to use Zoom, Facebook and Instagram Live to communicate, these tools are enabling public libraries and schools to stream creative presentations. Students can enjoy the wonderful experience of ‘meeting’ the person who made the book they have read – or will be inspired to read – having heard the author talk about it, or seen the illustrator at work.
These encounters are never forgotten and can nudge the reluctant reader over the line to become passionate about finding the next book by a favourite author, reading titles that author loved as a child, or having a go at creating something themselves. If a student admires an author, encourage them to write a letter and send it via the publisher (contact details are always in the imprint page of the book). Authors and illustrators love to connect with their readers.
I hope that every school has a book week each year, and the awards season is a great centrepiece to build your book week around. Feature the books that suit your age group, get the kids to vote for their favourite and then see if they pick the same winner as the judges. A book character day is always popular, as are storytelling sessions with staff going to different classrooms or perhaps some caregivers coming to take part. This is a great chance to communicate about books and the joy of reading for pleasure, including the way it improves broader academic achievement – not just reading ability. Celebrate our books. Examine them closely rather than just having a quick read, debate their merits, and help young readers work out their own reading identities so they can better choose what they will enjoy reading.
It’s also essential that we support our own publishing industry. If we want our young people to be able to read about a world that is familiar to them, as well as explore all the possibilities of the wider, wilder world, we need to have a healthy industry producing great books by our many talented creatives and sold in local bookstores. The awards are a chance for the adults – teachers, librarians and caregivers – to discover what’s available on our doorstep and to make sure children and teens have access to them, not just the latest bestsellers from overseas. Dig in, read yourself, then share with the young audience. Read the books aloud, novels as well as picture books and non-fiction. Make time. Everyone will benefit.
As an intermediate school librarian at the time that I was judging, it was a privilege to be able to share the books with my students and gain an insight into how they saw the books – to not rely only on my own opinion of a book, but to keep an open mind until I had some youthful feedback. I tried to maintain this in my buying for the library, ensuring that we had a true student voice in the collection.
The awards are a great opportunity to talk to students about what makes a good book, and the fact that a book has been published doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a great book. It’s okay to say so if you don’t think a book is very good. It’s not easy to be critical, and there’s a big difference in not liking a book because it’s not to your taste and being able to say that a book is good or bad for specific reasons. Taking the time to work out the elements that make up a book – and then what makes a really good book – will grow readers with more discernment and the ability to communicate with others about their reading (and everything else!) with new clarity. The finalist list provides plenty of examples of the best in our reading material.
One of the great bonuses of awards season is that the authors and illustrators are out and about, being seen and heard, sharing the stories behind their books, their ways of working, what has brought them to this point in their career and the tricks of the trade they have learned.
Unfortunately, in these COVID times, there have not been the usual public events. But in a way that has worked in favour of young people countrywide as interviews, readings and presentations are being shared online. Make sure you check out the LIANZA Books Alive events and storytimes – where many more will be able to experience them than could have attended the usual live events.
Now that we’ve all learned to use Zoom, Facebook and Instagram Live to communicate, these tools are enabling public libraries and schools to stream creative presentations. Students can enjoy the wonderful experience of ‘meeting’ the person who made the book they have read – or will be inspired to read – having heard the author talk about it, or seen the illustrator at work.
These encounters are never forgotten and can nudge the reluctant reader over the line to become passionate about finding the next book by a favourite author, reading titles that author loved as a child, or having a go at creating something themselves. If a student admires an author, encourage them to write a letter and send it via the publisher (contact details are always in the imprint page of the book). Authors and illustrators love to connect with their readers.
I hope that every school has a book week each year, and the awards season is a great centrepiece to build your book week around. Feature the books that suit your age group, get the kids to vote for their favourite and then see if they pick the same winner as the judges. A book character day is always popular, as are storytelling sessions with staff going to different classrooms or perhaps some caregivers coming to take part. This is a great chance to communicate about books and the joy of reading for pleasure, including the way it improves broader academic achievement – not just reading ability. Celebrate our books. Examine them closely rather than just having a quick read, debate their merits, and help young readers work out their own reading identities so they can better choose what they will enjoy reading.
It’s also essential that we support our own publishing industry. If we want our young people to be able to read about a world that is familiar to them, as well as explore all the possibilities of the wider, wilder world, we need to have a healthy industry producing great books by our many talented creatives and sold in local bookstores. The awards are a chance for the adults – teachers, librarians and caregivers – to discover what’s available on our doorstep and to make sure children and teens have access to them, not just the latest bestsellers from overseas. Dig in, read yourself, then share with the young audience. Read the books aloud, novels as well as picture books and non-fiction. Make time. Everyone will benefit.
|
Crissi Blair is an Auckland bibliophile who has been writing about and reviewing children’s books for more than 20 years.
She is New Zealand coordinator for Australia-based children’s literature magazine, Magpies and was a judge for the New Zealand Children’s Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2018, and convenor of judges in 2019, when she was also Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award recipient. She published New Zealand Children's Books in Print until 2013 and has a Bachelor of Design and Visual Arts, specialising in children’s books. She worked as school librarian until last year and is now a Facilitator National Capability for National Library Services to Schools. |