October 2, 1972
Out of their mutual concern for encouraging children to use all their senses in responding to their environment and in communicating their responses to others, The Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Public Library have joined forces to establish a new award for children’s books, the Brooklyn Art Books for Children citation.
Library director Kenneth F. Duchac and Museum director Duncan F. Cameron announced today that thirty-six books for children in preschool and early elementary grades will receive the 1973 ABC (Brooklyn Art Books for Children) citations. The names of the award-winners will be announced on October 16, 1972, at The Brooklyn Museum.
Curators and art educators of the Museum staff and children’s services specialists of the Library staff carefully considered thousands of currently available books. From these, they selected thirty-six for children ages three to ten. The books are varied in style and content but all are excellent examples of the creativity of both the authors and illustrators.
Elaborating on the establishment of the ABC citations, the two directors emphasized that the Museum and the Library share a commitment to the enrichment of children’s abilities and sensibilities. “While the Museum’s primary concern is with the non-verbal dimension and the Library is essentially concerned with verbal skills, we both believe that a child’s introduction to the print media and to reading is best achieved through books which are both works of art and of literature.”
The Brooklyn ABC citations are designed to serve as a useful guide for all concerned with the education of young children. The award-winning books will be available for borrowing at the branches of the Brooklyn Public Library, and will be on sale at The Brooklyn Museum’s Book Shop.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1971 - 1988. 1972, 071-72. View Original
October 16, 1972
Thirty-six books for children in the pre-school and early elementary grades were selected by The Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Public Library to receive their newly established BROOKLYN ART BOOKS FOR CHILDREN (ABC) citations. The award winners were announced today at a reception held at The Brooklyn Museum in honor of the authors, illustrators and publishers of the selected books.
Library director Kenneth F. Duchac and Museum director Duncan F. Cameron announced the following recipients of the Brooklyn ABC citations for 1973:
[the entries below are in table form, and each includes the following:]
Title/Age Range
Author/Illustrator
Publisher/Date
And Miss Carter Wore Pink: Scenes From An Edwardian Childhood (All ages)
Bradley, Helen (Illustrated by Author)
Holt/1971
Annie And The Old One (Grades 3-5)
Miles, Miska (Illustrated by Peter Parnell)
Atlantic, Little, Brown[/]1971
The Arts and Industry of Sand Castles (All ages)
Adkins, Jan (Illustrated by Author)
Walker/1971
A Boy, A Dog and A Frog (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Mayer, Mercer (Illustrated by Author)
Dial/1967
Brian Wildsmith's 1, 2, 3's (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Wildsmith, Brian (Illustrated by Author)
Watts/1965
Cats And Bats And Things And Wings (Kindergarten -Grade 4)
Aiken, Conrad (Illustrated by Milton Glaser)
Atheneum/1965
Changes, Changes (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Hutchins, Pat (Illustrated by Author)
Macmillan/1971
Father Fox’s Pennyrhymes (Kindergarten-Grade 2)
Watson, Clyde (Illustrated by Wendy Watson)
Crowell/1971
Fletcher and Zenobia (Grades 1-3)
Chess, Victoria (Illustrated by Author)
Hawthorne[/]1967
Frog And Toad Together (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Lobel, Arnold (Illustrated by Author)
Harper/1972
Harriet And The Promised Land (Grades 2-5)
Lawrence, Jacob (Illustrated by Author)
Simon & Schuster/1968
How The Mouse Was Hit On The Head By a Stone And So Discovered The World (Kindergarten-Grade 3)
Delessert, Etienne (Illustrated by Author)
Doubleday, 1971
If All The Seas Were On The Sea (Kindergarten-Grade 3)
Domanaska, Janina (Illustrated by Author)
Macmillan/1971
In The Night Kitchen (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Sendak, Maurice (Illustrated by Author)
Harper/1970
Leo, The Late Bloomer (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Kraus, Robert (Illustrated by Jose Aruego)
Windmill/1971
Little Blue And Little Yellow (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Lionni, Leo (Illustrated by Author)
Asstor-Honor/1959
Look Again (Pre-school - Grade 3)
Hoban, Tana (Illustrated with Photos)
Macmillan/1971
Matilda Who Told Lies And Was Burned To Death (All ages)
Belloc, Hillaire (Illustrated by Steven Kellog)
Dial/1970
Moja Means One (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Feelings, Muriel (Illustrated by Tom Feelings)
Dial/1971
Moon Man (Grades 1-3)
Ungerer, Tomi (Illustrated by Author)
Harper/1967
Nothing Ever Happens On My Block (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Raskin, Ellen (Illustrated by Author)
Atheneum/1966
One Wide River To Cross (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Emberly, Barbara, adapter (Illustrated by Ed Emberly)
Prentice/1966
Ounce, Dice, Trice (all ages)
Reid, Alastair (Illustrated by Ben Shahn)
Little/1958
Santiago (Grades 2-4)
Belpré, Pura (Illustrated by Symeon Shimin)
Warne/1969
Snowy Day (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Keats, Ezra Jack (Illustrated by Author)
Viking/1962
Stevie (Kindergarten-Grade 3)
Steptoe, John (Illustrated by Author)
Harper/1969
Swimmy (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Lionni, Leo (Illustrated by Author)
Pantheon/1963
Three Robbers (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Ungerer, Tomi (Illustrated by Author)
Atheneum/1962
The Tomten (Kindergarten-Grade 2)
Lindgren, Astrid (Illustrated by Harald Wiberg)
Coward/1961
Topsy-Turvies (Grades 1-4)
Anno, Mitsumasa (Illustrated by Author)
Weatherhill/1970
Upside Downers (Grades 2-4)
Anno, Mitsumasa (Illustrated by Author)
Weatherhill/1971
Very Hungry Caterpillar (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Carle, Eric (Illustrated by Author)
World[/]1970
Wedding Procession of The Rag Doll And The Broom Handle Who Was In It (Kindergarten-Grade 3)
Sandburg, Carl (Illustrated by Harriet Pincus)
Harcourt/1967
Where The Wild Things Are (Pre-school - Grade 3)
Sendak, Maurice (Illustrated by Author)
Harper/1963
Yellow, Yellow (Pre-school - Grade 2)
Asch, Frank (Illustrated by Mark Alan Stamaty)
McGraw/1971
The Brooklyn ABC citations grew out of a mutual committment shared by the directors of the Museum and the Library “to the enrichment of children’s abilities and sensibilities.” Feeling that the major emphasis in most pre-school and primary grade education is placed on learning how to read and write, and that less attention is paid to the development of the child’s non-verbal skills, they initiated the ABC citation to encourage the use of children’s books that serve both needs.
“While the Museum’s primary concern is with the non-verbal skills, we both believe that a child’s introduction to the print media and to reading is best achieved through books which are both works of art and of literature.”
A broad spectrum of currently available books were considered by a joint Museum-Library committee. From these, the thirty-six 1973 ABC citation winners were selected. While varied in style and content, the books are excellent examples of the creativity of both the authors and illustrators.
The Brooklyn ABC citations are designed to serve as a useful guide for all concerned with the education of young children. The award-winning books are available for borrowing at the branches of the Brooklyn Public Library, and are on sale at The Brooklyn Museum’s Book Shop.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1971 - 1988. 1972, 074-77. View Original
