Sharon Klug presented a report on Newberry & Caldecott Award Books.

At a recent meeting of the Fredonia Shakespeare Club, Sharon Klug presented her paper on Newberry & Caldecott Award Books.

Klug’s report noted some interesting items. “What is the best way to find an exciting, captivating book for an infant, toddler, a beginning reader — any child or young reader? How can we as adults introduce our children or grandchildren to stories and adventures that will capture their interest and beckon them into the world of imagination?” she wrote. “How do young children learn to love books? Reading to our children is an experience that brings joy and love to each moment spent together: selecting an old favorite to read again, or a new book with all its potentials, is a shared journey as new adventures unfold. Talking about the story, the words used or the artwork helps even a slightly interested child focus on details and start thinking imaginatively.”

A good starting point is to look for books with a gold seal on the cover. The Caldecott medal, for the best illustrated picture books, or Newbery medal, for the best chapter books, are a good place to begin. Other awards also boast gold seals or special banners.

There are online lists of “The Best Books” of the month or the year, or ever printed, or “the 1,000 books you must read.” Educators, librarians, parents and publishers are all ready to pronounce the “best.” Browsing the children’s section in the library or bookstore can lead you to the most recommended or best-loved books for a given age, or books tailored to a child’s interests.

“Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown, first published in 1947, has become beloved by generations of children and adults. There is roughly one copy purchased for every five births in America. “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats, and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle are other books for young children with simple yet enduring themes. It is not surprising that children will ask for these stories again and again.

As children grow, the adventures found in books, especially if shared with adults, can offer explanations of their world, or expand that world into larger, more colorful, exciting places. Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary presents a “complex, vivid, and singular a character as has ever been put to paper,” whose “collision with the civilizing forces of kindergarten is as quintessentially an American story as Huck Finn’s escape or Jay Gatsby’s reinvention,” states Bruce Handy in “Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children’s Literature” as an Adult. Handy discusses books he has read to his children, some that he loved that didn’t earn their love, and some that captured their interest. Handy’s final chapter, “The End,” focuses on perhaps the best-loved spider of all times in “Charlotte’s Web.”