I second Eric’s comment above, scratching my head at your inclusion of WONDER on “literary merit”. WONDER’s popularity was a case of good timing, that’s all. Easy to poke lots of holes in its “literary merit”.

Want a book about bullying, I stand by JAKE & LILY by Jerry Spinelli. Best Book About Bullying This Year.

Interestingly, as I was reading these comments, I mentioned to one of my coworkers here at the bookstore (a children’s book enjoyer but not a children’s book expert–I mention it merely for the counterpoint) how fascinated I was by the discussion, and he started shaking his head immediately and said (paraphrasing) that he just didn’t see how someone who cared about details and research could just ignore what could be interpreted as a research mistake, no matter how charming a picture it made. But it’s an adorable book and technique isn’t the point, I said, and added that I was a knitter and it didn’t seem like a big deal to me. Don’t care, he said. Then he wagged his finger in my face and said he was surprised at me for being willing to turn a blind eye to an inaccuracy.

Then he asked me to knit him a scarf.

I sure hope that in a book in which the Tiger has made his presence known over and over in OH so subtle ways, that this will have very little (if anything) to do with disqualifying such a stunning work of art.