Children's Book Debate in the Washington Post

"Plot Twist: The Newbery May Dampen Kids' Reading"-in the Washington Post.

Building on a recent article written in The Horn Book Magazine by Anita Silvey, the Washington Post, as often happens with the news media, presents Newbery books as an either or proposition, not in terms of the word "and"-- as in, Newbery books can entertain and also be works of literary value.

The NCBLA's goal is to create lifelong readers who can think critically and creatively, and to do that you need to have a wide variety of great reads available to young people- great fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama that entertain and/or illuminate. Why can't we provide an abundance of both for kids and teens? Why can't the Newbery represent both?

Read the article by Valerie Strauss and see what you think. Go to:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/15/AR2008121503293_pf.html