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readallthenewberys2013-06-13 11:37 pm
justice_turtle) wrote in readallthenewberys2013-06-13 11:37 pm
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The 1923-1925 Newberys Summary Post
The 1923 and 1924 Newberys had no Honor Books, so I'm going to lump them together, and 1925 - which had two Honor Books - as well.
(I really wish the history of the deliberations was public, you know? Or made public after a certain time, like census records are, when the particular award had ceased to be CURRENT DRAMA. I know that for the first year any librarian could make a nomination and anything nominated got onto the list, after which they switched to a committee format; but it's only a guess that for the next two years the committee worked on a "pick only one book" plan, till 1925 changed their minds somehow.)
1923
* 1923's Newbery Medalist was The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting. I gave it four of five stars. It's the second in the Dr Dolittle series, which (for today's lucky ten thousand) is about a medical doctor who learns to speak animal languages and becomes the world's best veterinarian; this volume introduces Dolittle's young assistant, Tommy Stubbins. I was most struck by the naturalistic narrative voice - Tommy narrates the book, and sounds very much like a real nine-year-old boy - and by the amount of ecological activism that got in without slowing down the book.
I docked it one star for a rather long colonialist segment around the two-thirds mark, plus a couple of n-bombs and some rude antifeminist sentiment from a sympathetic character. Still, I think it was well worthy of the Newbery Medal.
1924
* 1924's Newbery Medalist, on the other hand, was The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes, to which I gave two of five stars. It's the story of a young man who falls in with bad company in England and winds up joining a band of pirates. I was most struck by the utter lack of foreshadowing or sense-making in anything ever. (I feel I should be nicer to CBH, since he died suddenly before learning he'd won the Newbery Medal. But his writing is so bad.)
I gave this book two stars because, unlike The Great Quest, it had only a couple of brief racist moments and it began to have the glimmerings of a plot... which is another way of saying, because I'd feel bad if I was giving three-quarters of the Newberys zero stars. ;P But in my opinion it did not deserve the Newbery.
Does anyone know of any other children's books published in America in 1923? Wiki knows nothing. :P
1925
* I gave The Dream Coach by Anne and Dillwyn Parrish (read it free at that link) four of five stars. It's a collection of four short stories about young children of different backgrounds having various dreams. I was most struck by the light, very Hans-Christian-Andersen-esque tone of the writing, and I mean that in the best possible way.
I docked it one star for including an awkwardly racist story about a "Little Chinese Emperor", and some clumsily exoticized black slaves in another story's European-style fairytale kingdom. But the remaining two stories were so excellent that I still think The Dream Coach should have received the 1925 Newbery Medal. (If I were a painter, I'd turn the fourth story into a lavishly illustrated picture book and seek a publisher. It's so, so, so amazingly good, in its old-fashioned way.)
* Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story by Annie Carroll Moore got two of five stars even though I couldn't finish it. It's the somewhat perplexing story of an eight-inch-tall live Dutch doll named Nicholas who visits a fantasy version of 1920s New York City. I was most struck by how really awesome it could have been if it had had more atmospheric descriptions of its settings instead of being a glorified tour-guide.
I gave it two stars for trying, but it was clearly never intended to go beyond its own place and time, so I don't think it belonged on the Newbery list.
* Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Joseph Finger was the 1925 Newbery Medalist. I gave it one of five stars. It's a collection of retold South American folktales the author collected on his travels as a young man, which sounds so much cooler than it actually is. :P I was most struck by the way Mr Finger came across as this horribly snotty colonialist jerk every time he wrote about how he heard a particular story.
I gave it one star "for not being The Old Tobacco Shop", which was about all it deserved. ;P In my opinion, it shouldn't have been on the Newbery list at all, let alone have won, let alone still be IN PRINT (unlike The Dream Coach, whose copyright lapsed long ago).
(I really wish the history of the deliberations was public, you know? Or made public after a certain time, like census records are, when the particular award had ceased to be CURRENT DRAMA. I know that for the first year any librarian could make a nomination and anything nominated got onto the list, after which they switched to a committee format; but it's only a guess that for the next two years the committee worked on a "pick only one book" plan, till 1925 changed their minds somehow.)
1923
* 1923's Newbery Medalist was The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting. I gave it four of five stars. It's the second in the Dr Dolittle series, which (for today's lucky ten thousand) is about a medical doctor who learns to speak animal languages and becomes the world's best veterinarian; this volume introduces Dolittle's young assistant, Tommy Stubbins. I was most struck by the naturalistic narrative voice - Tommy narrates the book, and sounds very much like a real nine-year-old boy - and by the amount of ecological activism that got in without slowing down the book.
I docked it one star for a rather long colonialist segment around the two-thirds mark, plus a couple of n-bombs and some rude antifeminist sentiment from a sympathetic character. Still, I think it was well worthy of the Newbery Medal.
1924
* 1924's Newbery Medalist, on the other hand, was The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes, to which I gave two of five stars. It's the story of a young man who falls in with bad company in England and winds up joining a band of pirates. I was most struck by the utter lack of foreshadowing or sense-making in anything ever. (I feel I should be nicer to CBH, since he died suddenly before learning he'd won the Newbery Medal. But his writing is so bad.)
I gave this book two stars because, unlike The Great Quest, it had only a couple of brief racist moments and it began to have the glimmerings of a plot... which is another way of saying, because I'd feel bad if I was giving three-quarters of the Newberys zero stars. ;P But in my opinion it did not deserve the Newbery.
Does anyone know of any other children's books published in America in 1923? Wiki knows nothing. :P
1925
* I gave The Dream Coach by Anne and Dillwyn Parrish (read it free at that link) four of five stars. It's a collection of four short stories about young children of different backgrounds having various dreams. I was most struck by the light, very Hans-Christian-Andersen-esque tone of the writing, and I mean that in the best possible way.
I docked it one star for including an awkwardly racist story about a "Little Chinese Emperor", and some clumsily exoticized black slaves in another story's European-style fairytale kingdom. But the remaining two stories were so excellent that I still think The Dream Coach should have received the 1925 Newbery Medal. (If I were a painter, I'd turn the fourth story into a lavishly illustrated picture book and seek a publisher. It's so, so, so amazingly good, in its old-fashioned way.)
* Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story by Annie Carroll Moore got two of five stars even though I couldn't finish it. It's the somewhat perplexing story of an eight-inch-tall live Dutch doll named Nicholas who visits a fantasy version of 1920s New York City. I was most struck by how really awesome it could have been if it had had more atmospheric descriptions of its settings instead of being a glorified tour-guide.
I gave it two stars for trying, but it was clearly never intended to go beyond its own place and time, so I don't think it belonged on the Newbery list.
* Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Joseph Finger was the 1925 Newbery Medalist. I gave it one of five stars. It's a collection of retold South American folktales the author collected on his travels as a young man, which sounds so much cooler than it actually is. :P I was most struck by the way Mr Finger came across as this horribly snotty colonialist jerk every time he wrote about how he heard a particular story.
I gave it one star "for not being The Old Tobacco Shop", which was about all it deserved. ;P In my opinion, it shouldn't have been on the Newbery list at all, let alone have won, let alone still be IN PRINT (unlike The Dream Coach, whose copyright lapsed long ago).