"Zeus sat looking sad and droopy as an old mule."
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LC CIP Summary: A runaway slave makes a daring escape to freedom with the help of his faithful hunting dog, Zeus. Based on the true story of James Smith's journey from Virginia to Ohio in the mid-1800s.Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; unpaged (Alternate spellings of this award include: Newberry, Newbury, & Newbary)
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7 comments:
This is a title that was suggested for inclusion on our blog. It is a picture book, but that certainly does not remove it from Newbery consideration. The criteria for the award state: "Each book is to be considered as a contribution to literature. The committee is to make its decision primarily on the text. Other aspects of a book are to be considered only if they distract from the text. Such other aspects might include illustrations, overall design of the book, etc. In my opinion, the pictures certainly do not distract, but is the text strong enough to stand alone? What do you all think?
The text is powerful and I like the way Carbone reminds the reader how important the dog is to the story by repeating the phrase "Zeus was good at that".
Spoiler: The full page illustration of Zeus rescuing James from the water makes me think that the text could not stand alone. Without the illustration, there is a large hole in the story.
I haven't seen the book yet, but CYPD will have E.B. Lewis on Monday, Sept. 22 as a speaker! This will be in Ft. Wayne. I can't wait to see the latest book!
I'm very excited about E.B. Lewis being at CYPD. The illustrations in this book are excellent. I have a difficult time with the story line in that I simply can't understand why James kept trying to get rid of Zeus. And, why would he yell at the dog if he was afraid of making any noise?
I agree, Heather, that the scene when James is rescued might need some words. It doesn't seem to be strong enough to stand alone.
I love the pictures and I can see it showing up on our Caldecott list this year.
This is a beautifully told story. I loved reading the story but I also enjoyed the illustrations as I read the story. I have to agree with Heather,that is, James' rescue from the water by Zeus needs the illustration. Now if the author had added just a few sentences about the actual rescue then maybe this part could stand alone but the author didn't. I think this would be a great book for the Caldecott.
It's both a powerful topic and a resonating text; however, I think without the brilliant illustrations we might not get the whole story. I see it as a Caldecott contender this year.
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