A Northern New Jersey couple, Anna King and her husband Christopher Weyant, are this year’s recipients of the American Library Association’s 2015 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. The award, which is a bronze medal, recognizes exceptional literary and artistic efforts in a beginning readers’ book.
The story centers on two furry bear-like creatures as they discuss who is big and who is small. Eventually they come to the conclusion that size is relative. It is all about perception.
Anna Kang, who is the author, spent several summers in South Korea. She understands the concept of being “the other.” “Children and adults like to label people ….but that’s just someone’s perception of you. Just because it’s their truth doesn’t mean it’s yours.”
Christopher Weyant, the illustrator, has worked in film and was the political cartoonist for “The Hill.” Many of his cartoons have appeared in “The New Yorker.”
The couple has completed two more children’s books. “That’s (Not) Mine” will be published in the fall and “Can I Tell You A Secret?” will be released next spring.
The couple, great fans of Dr. Seuss, truly believes in the message of “Horton Hears a Who:” “A person is a person, no matter how small.”
“You Are [Not] Small is in our collection.