Picture Book Review #1

The following is my first book review.

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Marcus, Leonard S. 1998. A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION: Six Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal. New York, NY: Walker and Company. ISBN 0802786561

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Children’s book historian and critic, Leonard Marcus, interviewed six Caldecott winning artists. The book was written to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Caldecott Medal. According to the Introduction, the Caldecott Medal is “the world’s most prestigious illustration award.” Each illustrator featured represents a decade in the past 60 years. The book includes the following winners:
1942 MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS by Robert McCloskey
1955 CINDERELLA; or, THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER by Marcia Brown
1964 WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak
1970 SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE by William Steig
1982 JUMANJI by Chris Van Allsburg
1992 TUESDAY by David Wiesner

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Marcus’s book is well organized and very informative. It is suitable for elementary children, who want to learn more about illustrators, or adults interested in children’s books and art. It contains a table of contents, the artists’ interviews, a list of Caldecott winners for 1938-1998, a glossary of terms used, and an index. Marcus begins the book with a short introduction of Randolph Caldecott and the origin of the awards. Marcus then begins each section on an artist with a picture of the award-winning book and the year it won, the title and author, a picture of the illustrator, and when and where they were born, the publisher and the medium used for the illustrations. Finally, Marcus also includes a quote from the illustrator’s Caldecott acceptance speech. In each section, the artist tell how they got into illustrating picture books, how they made the Caldecott winning book, and how winning the Caldecott Medal has effected their life. Finally, Marcus ends the section with a list of the illustrator’s other Caldecott Medal winners and honor books.

The illustrations in the book serve a functional role. Almost every page includes sketches and drawings from the artists and their Caldecott award winning books. They are separated from the text by a blue border and include captions in italics. The jacket, designed by Claire Counihan, is both fun and informative. Before ever opening the book, you know who the six illustrators are and their Caldecott winning picture books. There are miniature images of the picture books and miniature pages that has the year won, the title of the story, and the author/illustrator. All of these create a colorful boarder around the title of the book. The title is also in fun, colorful letters. The back cover is the same as the front, bordering a summary and a list of the picture books and their illustrators. The end pages are easy on the eyes with light yellow, the front jacket flaps being a light pink with yellow stars, and the back jacket flap is light blue with yellow stars. Finally, there is an underlining theme of stars throughout the book. They are used to offset text and as background.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review): “Filled with witty anecdotes and pithy observations, Marcus's (Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom) approach to examining the works of six Caldecott Medalists will be of as much interest to adults as to picture book readers.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “…This title has just about everything readers might want. Most of all, it has such wonderful tidbits-Robert McCloskey sketching the bottom of a duck's bill from his vantage point on the floor, Maurice Sendak buying an armful of roses for Ursula Nordstrom when he won, etc.”

BOOKLIST (starred review): “A lively, informative introduction to each book and its maker. A beautifully made book, this will serve as a fine resource for children interested in illustration and for teachers researching author/ illustrator studies.”

5. CONNECTIONS
*Activities with this book:
Have children pick one of the illustrators to report on for a Career Day.
Have a week devoted to a specific illustrator, find, and read all of the books by them.
Have children practice making their own illustrations and then hold a contest to give out handmade Caldecott awards for different categories.
*Other books on children’s illustrators:
Cummings, Pat. 1992. Talking with Artists. New York, NY: Bradbury Press.

Happy Reading!
Lonnie :-)