A River of Words - Caldecott Honor

Library Thing

Caldecott Winner and Honor Books

The Caldecott Book Award is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year.

Here are my thoughts on the Caldecott Books, if I was voting. The winning book is listed first with the Honor Books following.

The House in the Night, Pictures by Beth Krommes

I love the simplicity and detail of this Caldecott winning book- the Ying and Yang of it, the sense of calm it creates.

I think the quality of the pen and ink illustrations are excellent. The seemingly simple illustrations, black and white with yellows to complement and accent the story are actually quite complex. The illustrations transport the reader from place to place as the story moves forward, and then brings them back home again. I thought the typeface was a perfect match for this classic book.

I think this book will be a classic. I really want to place this book as the winner, but see my final summary at the end.

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, Text and Illustrations by Marla Frazee.

I really enjoy this book; it is fun and quite funny in its tongue and cheek humor that is derived from the play on the words and illustrations. However, this award is given for illustrations. The expressive colored pencil type sketches tell every detail of the story from start to finish. Such creative composition, with illustrations as photos, and drawn from the perspective of entering into their life, makeshift tent, and on the dock at night. I think my favorite is the double page where the boys are in their sleeping bags surrounded by their animals.

How I Learned Geography, Text and Illustrations by Uri Shulevitz

I found this wonderful book to be a story for students to ponder and explore further. It leads to many jumping off points for students to think about: the issues surrounding WWII, life with out plenty, use of imagination when times are difficult, and forgiveness. My students enjoyed using Google Earth to locate and follow his travels and to discuss what a journey like this meant. However, the award is for illustrations.

The illustrations, pen and ink, and watercolor, in a cartoon style are interesting. I particularly enjoyed reading the author's note about the market picture. And it is interesting to see how the author's art evolved with age.

A River of Words: A Story of William Carlos Williams, Illustrations by Melissa Sweet.

I had not read this book before this reading. I truly love this book, the words, the story it tells, and the incredible illustrations.

The illustrations and detail of placement of each detail are fabulous. From the moment you open the book the illustrator has made a statement with a collection of poems on the endpapers. The illustrator has utilized a collection of media to tell the story, and does it well with collage, different typeset, and drawings. The illustrator utilizes every piece of the book in this exceptionally well-illustrated book.

I think this book is worthy of the Caldecott Award.

My final thoughts on the Caldecott Books:

Keeping in mind this is an illustrator award, it came down to a decision between 2 of the 4 books. I love the winning book, "The House in the Night", it will be a classic especially with the combination of drawings, typeset and the story it tells. I had not read "A River of Words" until this time. Wow, such creativity in the illustrations. It is nonstop and filled to the brim with talent and a story to tell. I am torn... but in the end my vote goes to A River of Words.

Aloha

Schneider Family Book Award

Given by the ALA, the Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. The book must emphasize the artistic expression of the disability experience for children and or adolescent audiences. The book must portray some aspect of living with a disability or that of a friend or family member, whether the disability is physical, mental or emotional.

Easy Readers

Easy Readers are books expressly written for young and emergent readers.  Many use sight words combined with short words that are easy to for young readers to decode.  Sentences are made up of 5 to 10 words and longer sentences can be broken into 2 lines.  There may also be a lot of repetition and or rhyming to help make the text more predictable.  The illustrations give clues that children can use to help figure out difficult words.  There are different levels of Easy Reader Books to satisfy the need for more difficult words and sentences.

"The Cat in the Hat" and "Little Bear" were the first Easy Readers back in 1957.  And publishers continued the trend to create books that would have engaging and predictable text. The following are just a few titles/series that fall into the "Easy Reader" category. 

 

The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss

Little Bear, Elsa Holmelund Minarik

Frog and Toad, Arnold Lobel

Tales of Oliver Pig, Jean Van Leeuwen

Henry and Mudge, Cynthia Rylant

Pal the Pony, Ronnie Herman

Mr. Putter and Tabby, Cynthia Rylant

Buscuit, Alyssa Capucilli

Kit and Kat, Tomie dePaola

Sleepy Dog, Harriet Ziefert

Cat Traps, Molly Coxe

Richard Scarry's Pie Rats Ahoy!, Richard Scarry

Tiger is a Scaredy Cat, Joan Phillips

Fox and his Friends, James Marshall

Aloha