Waiting for Gregory by Kimberly Willis Holt, illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska
A review copy of Waiting for Gregory by Kimberly Willis Holt and illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska arrived in the mail today and suddenly I have a crisis of confidence. See, a few months ago I volunteered to be a judge of the 2006 Cybils Award in the category of Fiction Picture Books. (The Cybils Award is a blogger-inspired literary award for children’s and YA literature in eight different categories that debuts this year. Any blogger is eligible to be on a nominating committee or a judging committee, and all committee slots were filled by volunteers.) The nominating committees narrowed each field down to five titles, and now I and four other judges will decide among these five picture books by early February. But first we have to read them all, and Waiting for Gregory is the first one that arrived.I found volunteering to be a judge eerily easy. All I did was send an email to the committee coordinator and the next thing I knew, I was judging picture books. Wow, they sure will let just anybody do this, I thought. I had a Groucho Marx moment. But then I assured myself that I have plenty of qualifications and yes, they really mean it when they say any blogger can volunteer to be a judge.
But now that the book is actually in my hands, I’m not so sure. What makes my opinion more valid than anyone else’s? Sure, I’ve read countless picture books and I definitely have my favorites. And, well, my job involves reading picture book manuscripts and choosing which ones are good enough to publish. But to publicly and formally assert that this book is better than that book, in a forum other than my own personal rantings, is so much responsibility! I’m no educator, and I have no formal education in any aspect of literature. Who let me on this committee?!?
See the official Cybils Award press release here.
Waiting for Gregory by Kimberly Willis Holt, illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska
posted by Renee at 9:13 PM
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