go, you! Sounds like you’re a big reader. 🙂

Me too! I misread the recommended reading age for our elementary school. I thought it said AGES 9-12, and instead it was GRADES 9-12. Big difference. A fourth grader took the book to her teacher, who shared it with me. I was appalled. $hi! And the f word were on the same page. Shouldn’t we expect more from an award winner? I am not a prude but I am so disappointed with recent award winners. The 2016 Newbery is another example of this, in my opinion.

The passage I quoted is also from the ALA, from the actual award guidelines page here:

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecottterms

It is being true to it’s purpose, it’s just that most of us have preconceived ideas about what that purpose is that aren’t necessarily accurate. Twelve may be your cutoff, but the Caldecott rules say otherwise. They actually give the same age range as the Newbery.

Hmmm. I appreciate your comment but disagree. On the ALA page it says: “The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.” source: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal
I have always thought of picture books to be appropriate for children up to teen – 13 or 14 is fine. We can agree on that. However, I still would warn parents that this is not for children.
I love graphic novels, and don’t believe in censorship, but I do believe the ALA has a responsibility to be true to it’s original purposes.

“A “picture book for children” is one for which children are an intended potential audience. The book displays respect for children’s understandings, abilities, and appreciations. Children are defined as persons of ages up to and including fourteen and picture books for this entire age range are to be considered.”

This One Summer is about two pre-teens trying to figure out what it means to grow up and whether they’re ready to let go of childhood at all. It’s not perfect for every pre-teen or early teen reader, but it’s definitely appropriate for some thirteen and fourteen year olds–an age, by the way, that’s often overlooked in publishing because it’s stuck somewhere between mg and ya. Nobody is suggesting you’d read that to an elementary student. The Caldecott is SUPPOSED to consider books for older kids as well as younger, it’s just that they don’t often win.