Book industry veteran picks the top 100 titles for kids

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Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Book industry veteran picks the top 100 titles for kids

By CECELIA GOODNOW
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

With nearly 9,000 new children's titles published each year -- many of them junk -- parents and teachers face bewildering choices.

COMING UP

ANITA SILVEY

WHAT: Slide show, talk and signing of her new book "100 Best Books for Children"

WHEN: Tomorrow night at 7

WHERE: All for Kids, 2900 N.E. Blakeley St. (just east of University Village)

COST: Free

Here to help is industry veteran Anita Silvey, whose new "100 Best Books for Children" (Houghton Mifflin, 192 pages, $20) represents a 20th-century canon for kids.

Silvey, former editor of The Horn Book magazine and an ex-honcho at Houghton Mifflin, talked to a couple thousand people about their childhood favorites -- then reread 1,000 contenders in six months.

How did you choose the top 100?

"I was looking for those books that lingered in everyone's mind long after the pages were shut. I was amazed that the same books kept coming up time after time. I really wanted those books that bind us together through the generations."

Are you suggesting that every child should read all these titles?

"I guess what I'm suggesting is that parents and teachers at least try to introduce them, because they seem to tie our culture together. But reading is individual.

"I held myself to: 'What if I were stranded on a desert island with only 100 books around?' I did want to say, 'At least pay attention to these books before you pick up some of the newer, shinier pennies.'..."

Is there a disconnect between what critics love and what kids will read?

"Sometimes we give awards to books that have less than an enthusiastic following, and sometimes, as adult critics, we miss the book that's going to resonate with readers. You use your best horse sense, but you can certainly go awry."

What do you think of movies made from popular children's books? (Examples: "Holes," "Tuck Everlasting" and "Ella Enchanted.")

"I never think a movie ruins a book, because if it's a bad movie it goes away, and the book remains. I think we're going to see more of them. For me, how well these movies work simply has to do with how respectfully the books are treated."

The Lemony Snicket books dominate bestseller lists. Your opinion?

"I think they're books that kids tend to love more than adults. They're clever in that way and good at wordplay. When I first saw them, I thought, 'Oh, how fresh.' It got not-fresh pretty quickly."

Is it my imagination, or is the young-adult genre (ages 12 and older) growing?

"It is definitely growing. That is probably the biggest area of growth. A few years ago publishers would not come near young-adult books. Now every publisher asks authors: 'Do you have a young-adult fantasy or edgy novel lurking in the closet?'..."

Any tips for adults trying to size up a picture book in the bookstore aisle?

"If you just want to try a lot of things out, go to a library. When you go to the bookstore, go with some guidance. At least read it and see, 'How does this story evolve?' It can have really pretty pictures, but if it doesn't have a good story ... it is going to be much less compelling to a child. Don't be fooled by the packaging."

Have you ever written a children's book?

"I've struggled with one from time to time. ... I think I probably don't have the talent. Almost all of our great writers have kept that channel open to childhood or children. They still remember, sense, feel what it was like to be a child."

BITS OF THE BEST

Birth to 2: "Goodnight Moon," "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," "Mr. Gumpy's Outing"

Picture Books, ages 2-8: "The Story of Ferdinand," "The Polar Express," "Madeline," "Make Way for Ducklings"

Ages 7-9: "Ramona the Pest," "Little House in the Big Woods," "Stone Fox"

Ages 8-11: "The Secret Garden," "Because of Winn-Dixie," "Holes," "Charlotte's Web" (Editor's Note: The title of "Because of Winn-Dixie" was misspelled in the original version of this story.)

Ages 11-12: "The Giver," "Tuck Everlasting," "Johnny Tremain," "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle"

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