The Field of Contenders
Like any proper tournament, this one has four regions:
The Sandra Boynton Region (New Haven, Connecticut). This region is all about board books. Given the audience, that means it has the best chance on paper to win the whole thing. These match-ups will all be up-tempo (since the average page length here is seven pages). Boynton herself is well represented with three books, and she will look to hold off western rival Leslie Patricelli. The #1 overall seed has done extremely well in exhibition readings, but books like "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" or "Moo, Baa, La La La!" could get into a rhythm that carries them into later rounds.
The Dr. Seuss Region (La Jolla, California). These are the blue bloods of children's literature. The regional final will be played in La Jolla (Ted Geisel's last home) and not New Hampshire or Massachusetts because the tournament was otherwise at risk of looking like a 1940s NCAA bracket. Besides some of the titans of the game-Seuss himself, Eric Carle, and Margaret Wise Brown-there are a few imitators who are hoping that a few rhymes here and there will somehow turn those NIT Championships into the real thing. Patricelli also snuck a book into this region.
The Beatrix Potter Region (2 Bolton Gardens, West Brompton, London, England). Animal books. This will be the one to watch for everyone who picks their brackets based on the best mascots, but some classics made their way into this region, too. "Good Night, Gorilla" has a chance to make some waves at #4. . . it's won honorable mention a few times with Jack's cousins.
The Sandra Boynton Region (New Haven, Connecticut). This region is all about board books. Given the audience, that means it has the best chance on paper to win the whole thing. These match-ups will all be up-tempo (since the average page length here is seven pages). Boynton herself is well represented with three books, and she will look to hold off western rival Leslie Patricelli. The #1 overall seed has done extremely well in exhibition readings, but books like "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" or "Moo, Baa, La La La!" could get into a rhythm that carries them into later rounds.
The Dr. Seuss Region (La Jolla, California). These are the blue bloods of children's literature. The regional final will be played in La Jolla (Ted Geisel's last home) and not New Hampshire or Massachusetts because the tournament was otherwise at risk of looking like a 1940s NCAA bracket. Besides some of the titans of the game-Seuss himself, Eric Carle, and Margaret Wise Brown-there are a few imitators who are hoping that a few rhymes here and there will somehow turn those NIT Championships into the real thing. Patricelli also snuck a book into this region.
The Beatrix Potter Region (2 Bolton Gardens, West Brompton, London, England). Animal books. This will be the one to watch for everyone who picks their brackets based on the best mascots, but some classics made their way into this region, too. "Good Night, Gorilla" has a chance to make some waves at #4. . . it's won honorable mention a few times with Jack's cousins.
The Shel Silverstein Region (Chicago, Illinois). Weird and wonderful books that didn't fit anywhere else. Some of these books clearly did fit somewhere else ("The Snowy Day," "The Water Hole," etc.), but got higher seedings in this region. Shel himself is not represented this year, simply because I'm not reading "Lafcadio" or "Where the Sidewalk Ends" up to six times in 3 weeks (see Rule #1). Given that I'm refereeing this thing and make all 50/50 calls (and some 60/40 calls)-see Rule #2-a lot of these books have a good chance to be the 2020 champion.
Coming soon: a bracket to print, fill out, and hang in your cubicle (living room).
Coming soon: a bracket to print, fill out, and hang in your cubicle (living room).
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