Published 2013 by Simon & Schuster, New York
ISBN 978-1-4424-4673-1
Hardback, 36pp.ill
A$16.99
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| When I was covering this book for my school library, one of my students asked me why I was bothering with such an old book – an indication of the care Simon & Schuster's director of art-work Dan Potash went to, to give it that old, much-loved-picture-book-lurking- at-the-back-of-the-bookshelf-look. |
It is also an ALA Honor Book (Newbery Medal runners-up) (Kidd, 2007), and has won the Gryphon Medal (awarded to books that mark the transition to 'reading alone' from 'being read to' (Barancik, 2014).
Awards in children's literature play a very important role. They indicate standards for other authors, illustrators and publishers (Underdown, 2014); they help adults choose books for children; and they frequently double sales and prolong the life of a title (Kidd, 2009).
Who chooses winners and why? Awards for children's literature have been around for some ninety years; the oldest, the Newbery Medal, was intended to raise the standard of children's books because of the belief that literature can help children become “good citizens” (Kidd, 2007). Since then an educational justification has been one of the judging criteria in most awards (Delp, n.d.).
Book awards are also a subtle form of censorship (Mcleod, 2011) because they promote some books at the expense of many others – others, which children themselves would probably choose. It is interesting to note that the CBCA prize-winners are less popular with their intended audience than the YABBA winners which are chosen by children (Voskuyl, 2007).
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| President Obama seems to morph into President Lincoln... |
Scieszka and Barnett, working with illustrator Matthew Myers, had first to create the 'work of art': a very conventional, syrupy story about a bunny whose friends 'forget' it is his birthday. They then channelled 'Alex', a boy who has outgrown picture books, to give it the 'surrealist' re-working. Alex plays about with the text and the pictures until Birthday Bunny has become the evil Battle Bunny with a plan to destroy the world, finally thwarted by Alex himself, coming to the aid of President Obama (or is that President Lincoln?)
This is a book that is on the side of “creativity vs law and order” (Bird, 2013). It is a book that celebrates playing with language – altering a letter or two, a word here or there, can change entire meanings. It is a book that marks the transition to becoming a more confident reader. It is a book that is constantly off the shelf of my school library and in the hands of the Year 4s and 5s (and older students when they hope no one is looking).
The book has raised some questions – will it encourage children to deface books? As Barnett observed, children have always liked to add graffiti to their books – so this is a moot point. In any case, the original drawings are available as a downloadable PDF so that aspiring graffiti-artists can create their own Bunnies. Will it inspire re-reading (Bird, 2013)? I think it will – the incredible detail in the drawings repays more than one revisit.
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| Is that Beatrix Potter on Bunny's bedroom wall? |
It sounds as if this book was as much fun to create as it is to read!
(To create your own Bunny visit http://mybirthdaybunny.com/make-your-own/)
Topic: Young people's book awards; Activity: Book review
References:
Barancik,
S. (2014). Children's
book awards rated the best by the best. Retrieved
from http://www.best-childrens-books.com/childrens-book-awards.html
Bird,
E. (2013). Review of the day: Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac
Barnett. School
Library Journal.
Retrieved
from
http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2013/07/10/review-of-the-day-battle-bunny-by-jon-scieszka-and-mac-barnett/
Delp,
V. (n.d.). How
professionals evaluate children's literature.
Retrieved from
http://childrens-books.lovetoknow.com/Evaluate_Children%27s_Literature
Jules.
(2013, June 14) Battle Bunny: A Visit withJon Scieszka, Mac Barnett,
and Matthew Myers. [Blog post]. Retrieved from
http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2584
Kidd,
K.B. (2007). Prizing children's literature: the case of Newbery
gold. Children's
Literature 35,
166-190. Retrieved from
http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/journals/childrens_literature/v035/35.1kidd.pdf
Kidd,
K. (2009). “Not Censorship but Selection”: Censorship and/as
Prizing. Children's
Literature in Education, 40,(3)
197-216. DOI: 10.1007/s10583-008-9078-4
Mcleod,
M. (2011). The Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year
and the image problem. Access,
25(1),
27-34. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=60267190&site=ehost-live
Scieszka,
J., Barnett, M. & Myers, M. (2013). Battle
Bunny – cover. [Image].
Retrieved from
http://books.simonandschuster.com.au/Battle-Bunny/Jon-Scieszka/9781442446731
Scieszka,
J., Barnett, M. & Myers, M. (2013). 'President
Lincoln'. [Image].
Retrieved from
http://amybronwenzemser.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Battle-Bunny-Lincoln.jpg
Scieszka,
J., Barnett, M. & Myers, M. (2013). Battle
Bunny's bedroom. [Image].
Retrieved from http://mybirthdaybunny.com/make-your-own/
Underdown,
H. (2014). Award
winning children's books. Retrieved
from http://www.underdown.org/childrens-book-awards.htm
Voskuyl,
H. (2007). Young adult fiction: part of a differentiated curriculum?
Access,
21(2),
5-8. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=27505996&site=ehost-live
Hi Sibylle, I found your post very interesting. With regard to prizes, you point out that Macleod, (2011) criticizes the NBCA for ignoring book popularity. Macloed says this is because the NBCA justifies itself as arbitrators of literary quality, “a last bastion of literary standards” (Macleod, p.27).
ReplyDeleteI love, the way John Marsden (2002, recipient of many literary prizes himself) shows that the CBCA is fallible in arbitrating literary quality. At a CBCA conference (no less), he speaks of the great need for realistic truth in teenage literature. He illustrates what he means by identifying examples of wonderful realistic writing, reading passages from different Australian authors. “Unfortunately not shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia award,” is his conclusion to each excerpt from the six writers. A repeating epithet, the CBCA missed great writing again and again.
Macleod, M. (2011). The Children’s book council of Australia book of the year and the image problem. Access, 25(1), 27-32.
Marsden, J. (2002). Life and truth and fiction. In Write/Right/Rite at the Edge: Proceedings of the Sixth National Conference of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (pp 224-235).Perth: Children’s Book Council of Australia.
Hi Sybylle,
ReplyDeleteI love Battle Bunny (Scieszka, Barnett & Myers, 2013) and I am so glad that you made me aware of it. I love the way it satirizes the “syrupy,” as you a say, and overly cute Birthday Bunny story, by writing a different more interesting story over the top. There are two meanings going at once, and somehow the two stories seem to converge at the end. You raised the issue of whether it would encourage children to deface books. Encouraging children to mark and annotate books could be a very good thing (but not destructively deface for no purpose). There is research which shows annotating a text, can help the student read actively and take in the concepts. However students are afraid to annotate texts because it has been forbidden at school (Hobson 2004, p.7). In the Harry Potter series, Harry makes remarkable improvement in Potions because he accidentally gets hold of the textbook, that Snape had annotated as a student.
Scieszka, J., Barnett, M. & Myers, M. (2013). Battle bunny. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Hobson, E.H. (2004). Getting students to read: Fourteen tips. Idea Paper #40. The Idea Centre. Retrieved from http://ideaedu.org/sites/default/files/Idea_Paper_40.pdf
Sibylle, I agree that children's book awards, through their promotion of particular authors, practice an insidious form of censorship. Family values, religious grounds, political views and minority rights are all motivations for censorship. Offensive language and offensive subjects are also important factors in prompting a desire to censor (Givens, 2009, p. 23). Young adult authors can be particularly affected by such censorship as they tackle difficult topics in their books. Recognition through book awards and awards shortlists have a powerful influence on a book's marketing and it's success. Censorship, because of bias on the part of judges, can result in failure to gain recommendation by a Prize Committee. As information professionals, it is important that we ensure children have access to a broad selection of points of view, values and language.
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