News Stories
College to Present Seventh Bock
Book Award
Neumann College will present the seventh Frances and Wesley Bock Book
Award for Children's Literature on Wednesday, October 4, at 10:30 a.m.
in the college library. The 2006 winner is Daniel and His Walking Stick,
a Wendy McCormick story about how a young girl gains a grandfather.
A committee of scholars and librarians selected Daniel and His Walking
Stick - written by McCormick and illustrated by Constance Bergum -
from dozens of books submitted for consideration. Both the author and
illustrator will be on hand to accept the award at the presentation. After
the ceremony, McCormick will read her book to a group of children in the
college library.
The book tells the story of Jesse, a girl whose two grandfathers have
died. When Jesse and her parents spend two weeks in the country, she meets
Daniel, an old man who always carries a walking stick. As Jesse and Daniel
take daily walks through the woods, he teaches her lessons about nature.
When she asks where he got the walking stick, he tells her that the story
can't be told "until just the right time."
Of course, the "right time" occurs later in the book. When
Jesse returns to the city with her parents, she has her own walking stick
and memories of the time spent with her newly adopted grandfather.
Principal criteria for the Bock Book award are a values-oriented text
that appeals to the wonder and curiosity in children from ages three to
eight; illustrations that instill a reverence and compassion for creation,
in all diversity; and the integration of text and illustrations to promote
a moral attitude or action.
The Neumann College Library and Institute for Franciscan Studies established
the award in 2000 in honor of Philadelphians Frances and Wesley Bock,
who built a strong business and personal relationship with the Sisters
of St. Francis of Philadelphia during more than 50 years.
9/20/06
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