Stinky Snags Dr. Seuss Early Reader Honor

On Monday, January 26th, the American Library Association announced its choice of Stinky as one of the honorees for the 2009 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, which recognizes the most distinguished books for beginning readers. This is an unprecedented honor for talented newcomer Eleanor Davis, who was hailed by Publishers Weekly in 2008 as one of four emerging comic artists to watch, and made her book-publishing debut in the fall of that year with TOON Book Stinky.

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I was very excited about Stinky winning the Geisel Honor award on Monday. My daughter loves the TOON Books! She’s an early reader and sometimes reluctant to jump in to a book but I quickly came to appreciate how the graphic novel style really appealed to early readers. And even to my 3 year-old who will sit and look at Mo and Jo all by himself for extended periods of time. I’d seen how much my older nephews were drawn to graphic novels (3rd and 5th graders) and I’ve gained a whole new appreciation for the style watching my daughter’s early reading skills grow with these books. I’m pleased to see high quality graphic novels for early readers – it makes such a huge difference.

Kim Wier
Parent/Aunt of new & sometimes reluctant readers

More information about the award
Interview with Eleanor Davis at What Adrienne Thinks about That
Interview with Eleanor Davis at Bees Knees Reads