SMITTEN WITH CHILDREN'S LIT
SMITTEN WITH CHILDREN'S LIT: Librarian Annette Goldsmith is on a mission to win fans for kids' books -- whether they are 2 or 72.
This article about SFAJL's Vice President, Annette Goldsmith, was published in the Miami Herald on April 3, 2001. Way to go, Annette!
BY DONNA GEHRKE-WHITE
dgehrke@herald.com
In Annette Goldsmith's world, wizards fly, orphans go to live on Scottish isles and fans of The Little Prince savor a warm potato and Lyonnaise sausage salad.
And Cupcake, the golden monkey, entices children into reading.
Such is the life of a founding editor of an electronic children's literature journal who is smitten by the stuff kids read.
This month, Goldsmith, 44, the children's librarian at the Kendall branch of the Miami-Dade Public Library System, celebrates the fourth anniversary of www.the-looking-glass.net, the online journal that reports quarterly on such issues as the Harry Potter phenomenon, the latest translations of children's literature worldwide and even recipes from the hometowns of children's authors.
Since moving to Miami-Dade three years ago, the Canadian-born Goldsmith also has started a monthly children's literature round table for adults at Books & Books in Coral Gables.
And Goldsmith is reaching out beyond parents and their young children: At the library's Kendall branch, she started a teen reading round table a year and a half ago, and last spring she began recruiting retirees to nestle with children in "reading with grandma and grandpa" sessions.
If she's busy -- and she's swamped -- there's a reason: She's on a campaign to let people know that children's books are not, well, juvenile.
"Most adults who enjoy reading would enjoy reading children's books," says Goldsmith, who will begin teaching a children's literature class at Barry University this fall. "A child's book is not a lower class of book. It's really literature. It's easier to read, but there's no dumbing-down content or format." Yet, many adults "dismiss" the books kids reads, Goldsmith mourns.
That's why she is grateful for the hoopla over J.K. Rowling's bestselling Harry Potter series -- and the millions of adults who have sneaked at least a peek at the four books about a kid's world of flying wizards. "They show that a good book is a good book, and it doesn't matter if it is a children's book," says Goldsmith.
Grown-ups venturing into children's literature now are in for a big surprise.
Kids have moved beyond Cat in the Hat and Wilbur the Pig. They are reading about broken families, addiction, poverty, violence, death and prison. An example is the award-winning Monster by Walter Dean Myers, in which a teenager finds himself jailed for allegedly being the lookout in a convenience store robbery that turns deadly. Today's books "are more realistic, grittier," says Goldsmith.
"One reason, I guess, is that these days children have this outward sophistication. Kids are pushed into growing up so fast."
Still, Goldsmith finds youngsters still like what generations before them did: Fun.
That's why she brings her London-bought friend, Cupcake, "a beautiful golden monkey" puppet to reading sessions.
Cupcake recently sat in Goldsmith's lap while she played patty cake and other games with a group of toddlers. The 2- and 3-year-olds roared with laughter as Cupcake "winked" at them and tried to follow along with the exercises.
Then Goldsmith read three books to the children. Among those listening raptly was Dani Sobel, who turns 3 today.
"She loves Annette," says her mother, Michelle Sobel. "She talks about her all the time. At home, she likes to line up her dolls and pretend to be Annette reading."
A bookworm, Goldsmith found her niche early by shelving books in a branch of the Toronto public library system as a 14-year-old library page. She worked in The Children's Book Store while studying library science at York University in Toronto. After earning her master's degree, Goldsmith won a work/study scholarship to study children's literature in Munich. Her classes were held in a medieval castle. "The perfect setting," she says.
Goldsmith worked in the Toronto public library system for 13 years and wrote book reviews and other articles about children's literature.
She and her husband, Don Lloyd, moved to Miami-Dade in 1998, and Goldsmith became a librarian at the Dave and Mary Alper Jewish Community Center. In February 1999, she took her current job.
"She has wonderful ideas," says her boss, Kendall branch manager Phyllis Levy. "She came in with a very enthusiastic approach."
That can-do spirit led her and three others in April 1997 to launch the nonprofit children's literature journal, which is formally called The Looking Glass: New Perspectives on Children's Books.
The volunteers -- no one gets a paycheck -- are as diverse as the articles. They include a Virginia software developer, a Palm Beach librarian, a Washington book acquisitions editor, a Canadian living in France designing knitware and an Australian professor of children's literature.
What they have in common is that "we all love children's books," says Goldsmith.
Like the kids, the contributors like their fun, too. That's why "The Cook" writes a "Pig and Pepper Column."
Katherine Matthews, who uses the pseudonym "The Cook," recently gave an original recipe for "warm potato and Lyonnaise sausage salad," to enjoy while reading Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince. The recipe is from the author's hometown, Lyon, in the east of France.
"She is a wonderful cook and she makes up the recipes for us," says Goldsmith, who enjoys shopping for books for her two stepdaughters -- now grown -- and a niece. Whatever it takes to get their attention, Goldsmith's aim is to make sure her converts discover what she has: "There's a great community of readers out there."
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This page created and maintained by Heidi Estrin, heidi@cbiboca.org. Last updated June 5, 2001.
