Have You Seen My Duckling

Nancy Tafuri

Caldecott Honor  1985

This great little story was one I had never read before. It won the honor medal when I was seven--and this book seems very pre-school, so maybe I was just a bit too old??!!

I enjoyed reading this book to my kiddos. Oliver (3) seemed to get into it more than his older sister. We enjoyed hunting for the hidden duckling on each page. The bold drawings and simple story were appreciated by the young readers the book was intended for.

High: Looking for the hidden duckling on each page.

Low: This book has a limited audience. It is a book meant for the young (which I don't mind--it just isn't probably widely read).

My favorite illustration. I love the little heads peeping under the water. 

There Was an Old Lady That Swallowed a Fly

Simms Taback

Caldecott Honor 1998

This was one of my favorite reads. The familiar song was great fun to sing to my kids as we flipped through the pages. Taback's illustrations were whimsical and humorous.  We loved how the pages had a hole in the middle so that we could view the animals as they were swallowed.

High: I loved how the text was a part of the artwork and wrapped around the "hole" that had the animals inside of it.

Low: I'm getting nit picky--but I do find the old lady to have very strange hair.

  

The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher

Molly Bang
Caldecott Honor 1981

Yikes! This was one creepy book. The illustrations were beautiful. However, they did not seem like they were made for children. I just didn't get it.

High: I loved the illustrations of the trees, and I loved how the grey lady's face would show while the rest of her was grey.

Low: Although the illustrations were beautiful--I really didn't like this book. The strawberry snatcher was a character that was creepy and almost a bit disturbing to me. Overall this book is one of my least favorites read so far.

Pictures I liked:)

Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride

Caldecott Honor 2006

By: Majorie Priceman

We're up at the lake for the week, and the kids got Nonna to read us this Caldecott.

High: I loved the part of this story that was (mostly true). The illustrations of the animals up in the hot-air balloon were humorous, and told a wonderful story without words.

Low: The true parts of this story were long, and my kiddos needed a lot of help to understand. I found the illustrations on these pages to be over detailed and not as much fun to look at as well.

When the Relatives Came

Caldecott Honor 1986

Written by Cynthia Rylant
Illustrated by Stephen Gammel (my favorite illustrator)

We're visiting the relatives in North Dakota, so my Caldecott choice for today seemed obvious. My husband is one of eight children... so it seems like there are a billion children running around.

Tonight after a long day of cousin fun, my kiddos snuggled up for a Caldecott Challenge. Frankie gave this one eight out of five stars. Lots of connections!

Here's our highs and lows:

High: The amazing illustrations true lily are reminiscent of a family gathering. My cousin even cuts hair out on the deck like the family in this book.

Low: Whenever I read this book, I wish for the setting to not be named as Virginia. Instead of feeling like this is my own family-being reminded that the story takes place in Virginia removes me from the story just as I am feeling a part of it.

The Stray Dog

Caldecott Honor 2002

The Stray Dog
Retold and Illustrated by Marc Simont
From a true story by Reiko Sassa

Oliver has been carrying this book around for a few days. I can see why-- it is a fun story with great pictures.

High: I love how the dog looks inside of the dog catchers net--what great illustrations.

Low: Like the dog in this story-- my childhood dog's name was Willy. Only Simont spelled it wrong:)

Our favorite pictures.

Caldecott Challenge

The whole family has been enjoying Caldecott Books! It thrills me to hear my three year old yell out, "Mom! A Caldecott!" I must be a real book nerd.

Pictured on the left is my 5 year old Frankie reading The Paperboy to her dad. When he came home she could hardly contain her excitement to show him this book, because her dad was a paperboy when he was a child. She and her brother decided that Oliver should be a paperboy too, and they played "paperboy" for a good portion of the evening.

Here are some other Caldecott highs and lows:

Baboushka and the Three Kings: A Russian Folktale

by Ruth Robbins ; illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov

Winner 1961

High: My kids loved the connection to the traditional Christmas story.  Frankie let out a gasp, when she recognized the three kings.

Low: Not all children can make the same connections that my kids did. It is adapted from a folktale--so I'm not going to let it bug me too much.

The Paperboy
Written and Illustrated by Dav Pilkey
Honor Book 1997

High: I had not read this book before (I was a senior in high school in 1997!) so I was pleasantly surprised by Dav Pilkey (known to me as author of Captain Underpants)

It is a delightful little story. My true high of this book was the illustrations of the early morning skies which were inspired by Starry Night.

On a personal note, I loved hearing my daughter read this medal book out loud to her dad. I think it is her first Caldecott that she read by herself.

*Note upon rereading this post, I noticed I didn't have a low for this book. I honestly can't think one, except that more kids don't read this book by Dav Pilkey.

Hey Al
by Arthur Yorinks ; illustrated by Richard Egielski
Winner 1987

High: I love the details of the pictures.

Low: While the pictures were great, I was hoping for a bit more from the story. It reminded me a bit of Where the Wild Things Are yet the ending wasn't quite as satisying.

Finally Some More Caldecotts

We have been reading Caldecotts...as you can see they were such a hit, they were reread by my five year old.

 

Mother Goose (1945 Honor) Tasha Tudor

High This delightful book of rhymes was a huge hit for both of my kiddos. They loved that it had many "chapters," since there was a table of contents in the front. They also loved reciting the rhymes that they knew. A huge hit was "Ding dong bell, pussy's in the well..." which my mother had just taught them the prior week.

 

Low  I was unfamiliar with many of the rhymes, and had a difficult time finding the rhyme and rhythm of them.

 

 

Many Moons (1944 Winner) by James Thurber, Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin

 

High This clever little tale about a spoiled princess that wants the moon had a fun story that both my kids enjoyed. Above, Frankie is pointing to her favorite illustration of the princess in her bed. Notice all of the pink. We read this story three nights in a row.

 

Low We read this story three nights in a row.  (kind of long....and predictable)

Highs and Lows

My family does highs and lows each day.  It is a great way to capture each person's day.  For this stack of Caldecott Medal Winners I captured my personal highs and lows of each book--giving you a glimmer of my thoughts. I took some photos of my favorite illustrations in each book.

Andy and the Lion (Honor 1939)

High: An appearance of the library--love it!
Low: The only color in this book besides the black and white--was a not so pretty brown (meant to be lion colored??)

Animals of the Bible (Winner 1938)

High: The beautiful illustrations and getting the chance to see/read the first Caldecott
Low: This book was kind of boring. I felt like I was in confirmation all over again--reading Bible Stories.

They Were Strong and Good (Winner 1941)

High: This was one of the first of the older Caldecotts that seemed like it was written for children.
Low: Although the author makes claims of this story being "our story"--and representing all Americans that were "Strong and Good" the racial prejudice was obvious.  Not a  book suited for children of today, unless they are using it to evaluate texts.

Mei Li (Winner 1939)

High: This was a story written for children.  My own kids loved reading it.
Low: IT was hard to read a story that did not have a strong female lead.  Me Lei, was an accurate portrayal of what society thought of girls at that time (not equal to boys)--not exactly the message I wanted to share with my 5 year old little girl.

All the World (Honor 2010)

High: Love that there are interracial families represented in this story that is told in beautiful verse.  The words on the page are beautifully placed.
Low: I couldn't place how the families were all connected to the story...but it wasn't necessary.

Barkis (Honor 1939)

High: My daughter loves Clare Turlay Newbery--she was highly engaged.
Low: Not so much for me. These books are just so long.


In the Forest (Honor 1945)

High: I loved the picture of the animal parade.
Low: Although my kids enjoyed this story (that was clearly actually written for children) I found it to be kind of dull.

The Forest Pool (Honor 1939)

High: The pictures in this book are some of my favorite...and the colors are beautiful (much more intense than other books from its time period). It was interesting to me how the pictures were printed on only one side of the paper (see above). Makes me believe that they were printed separately and inserted into the text.  This book is rare, and was difficult to find--a beautiful example of pictures.
Low: The story did not grab me, it was much too adult for a "children's book."

Prayer for a Child (Winner 1945)

High: The pictures in this book were awfully sweet. I may be a bit biased--the little girl looks a lot like my little one.
Low: Prayers again.

Yonnie Wondernose (Honor 1945)

High: Loved when the grandmother got stuck in the chicken coop, and tried to crawl out--but was too big.
Low: Predictable story. I didn't really like the pictures in this book that much, and I thought Yonnie looked like a girl.

Caldecotts in Korean

One of my favorite things about teaching is when kids make connections between school and home. J. in 2-K, brought me this stack of Caldecott books so I could look at what he had at home.  His excitment was catchy. He also showed me his copy of Freight Train in Korean. How neat to see Caldecotts being read around the world. 

Caldecott Challenge--Mixing it Up

Rereading Barkis
(one of the long ones)--F. loves Turlay Newbery

We are working our way through the Caldecott Books at our house.  The older texts are taking a lot longer to get through than I thought they would.

Unlike many other Caldecott readers out there participating in the Caldecott Challenge, I just can't bring myself to read these books in order.  The challenge is supposed to be stress free--and better yet, fun...and so, I mix it up, and I stay happy. One long book with a shorter one each night. Story time can't take much more than that. Because the books from the earlier years have a lot of words in them--and they aren't that exciting to read to...kids. Shocking, I know. I can't wait until the day when every book in my stack excites me.

As I slowly make my way through the first decade, I have enjoyed comparing books from the same time period, and seeing how they are similar and different than books of today.  My main take away so far is that the history of Children's Picture books is intense, and diverse--and I am so happy with how far it has come.

Caldecott List

My students have been asking about a way to keep track of the Caldecotts that they read.  I told them I would post a link to some resources:

Caldecott Printable Spreadsheet *created by Lorna Wheaton

ALA list of Caldecott and Honor Books

We LOVE Caldecotts

Brimhall Students could hardly wait to hear who won the Caldecott Medal on Monday Morning.  This past week we have been learning about the Caldecott Medal. This week we are enjoying reading A Ball For Daisy and learning about the Honor Books, Me... Jane, Blackout, and Grandpa Green.

Looking at Caldecotts

Since I am new in our library, I wanted all of our students to have an anchor lesson on the Caldecott Medal.  First I expressed my excitement about the award.  Then, students were asked to figure out why a book had won the Caldecott Medal or Honor.  I had pulled many of the Caldecott books off of our shelves and students spent about 5 minutes paging through them figuring out why they would earn a medal. In every class, students were accurately able to discover that the Caldecott Medal is given for the illustrations.  We then discussed that even in the older books, we could see the beauty of the pictures, and that the pictures helped the story.

Reading the New Caldecott Books

I then gave students some background knowledge about Randolph Caldecott and the medal.  My favorite part of the lesson was near the end, when my screen flashed pictures of Caldecott books. No matter what the age, students "ooooohhed and aaahhhed" over the books.  I will never get tired of hearing, "I love that book."

This week. we are sharing the winners.  Students are loving these books.  Nice job Caldecott Committe!

Checking out Caldecotts!

My students are so excited to read Caldecott Medal Books.  Many are joining The Caldecott Challenge: trying to read as many Caldecotts as they can in 2012.  Yeah for reading great picture books!

Inside the Caldecotts

Caldecotts at the Children's Museum

This weekend, the family and I headed over to the Minnesota Children's museum.  My favorite display at the museum is the traveling Storyland (surprise...surprise!) It will be at the museum until February 5th (I wrote a bit about this display in an earlier post). 

On Sunday, there were hundreds of children and families interacting and reading books. As a reader, and librarian hearing the book buzz was music to my ears. I wish I could have these displays in my library! Tuesday by Wiesner (winner 1992) and The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (winner 1962) were two of the books on display. We reread these family favorites, and then crunched in the snow, made snow angels and snowmen, looked for frogs, and play acted the stories. It was a busy room, but these classic stories held our attention.
Notice how the books have been laminated and bound for many small hands to touch and enjoy.  They also had "real" books to hold and read.  When you walk on the footprints in A Snowy Day...crunching noises are made.  A lot of fun for all.

Birthday Books

On a side note--look what I got my niece for her 2nd birthday! I started her on a Caldecott Collection--my birthday gift of choice.  Of course I read them to her and all the other kids at the party.  Love. Love. Love. The Lion and the Mouse and A Sick Day for Amos McGee.

I Love Reading

Surrounded by Caldecotts old and new, tonight I thought about the books I have read so far and the Caldecott Challenge. I have been talking to my students about my reading goals and theirs. I am excited to share some Caldecotts winners with my classes next week as we get prepped for The Caldecotte Award Annoouncement on the 23rd.  I had a volunteer pull all of the Caldecott Winners in my library, and we are going to read/admire/learn about them next week.  Then, I hope they will be checked out! Teachers have also been talking to me about the challenge.

Caldecott Stack and F. sorting Winnerand Honor books

In my reflections, I was surprised that my favorite part of this challenge has not been in the actual books. It has been reading them with my own kids, and teaching them about the Caldecott Medal. Tonight my five year old and two year old were looking at the medals on the books and sorting them into two piles (Medal Winners and Honor Books--by the color of the medals). I guess the math teacher is still in me--as my heart soared to see this sort (and with books no less). While they were working away,  my husband shouted from the kitchen, "Does the Caldecott winner have to be illustrated by the author?" My salesman of a husband is even getting involved with this challenge

The kids and their favorites so far (I am partial to these as well)

Tonight we all reflected on the challenge so far.  My kids haven't read all of the books (more on Animals from the Bible  and They Were Strong and Good in another post) but we rated our favorites that we had read. "I think I'm going to have a lot of favorites.  I love reading," said F. as we discussed which book was our favorite so far (F. liked April's Kittens and Madeline) (O. likes Wee Gillis) I can't say that I disagree with their choices.  These books have kid appeal, and the pictures are beautiful.  We have a lot more to go though!

So tonight, we read some more Caldecottes, and loved every minute of it.

Tonight we read Mei Li and Andy and the Lion--both were enjoyed by all!

Some favorite illustrations from April's Kittens (last nights read)--Aren't those cats adorable!

A Family Affair

The Caldecott Challenge is becoming a family affair.  As the kiddos read in bed last night, my almost five year old gave a shout out from down the hall, "Mom, did Officer Buckle and Gloria win a Caldecott Medal or an Honor?" Tonight, I was late too story time, and stumbled upon this delightful scene.

Husband and Kiddos reading Olivia. Notice F. making a connection.

The kiddos chose Caldecotts again tonight.  They read Olivia (honor book 2001) and Where the Wild Things Are (winner 1965).  Olivia is a favorite at our house because F. has so much in common with this adorable pig.  I love Olivia too--the only fault I have with this book is the recent commercialization of so many "Olivia" books that are not near the same quality.  As I reread Where the Wild Things Are for what seemed like the millionth time, I was again enamored with Maurice Sendak's illustrations and arrangement of his pictures on the page.  Love. Love. Love. This book (but who doesn't?!)

As I went to take photos of Yo! Yes? and Wee Gillis (our reads last night) I could not find them anywhere.  They along with The Big Snow were in our guest bedroom, as F. had chosen them for quiet time today.  These books really do have lasting value, with illustrations that can help a very beginning reader retell a story.

Wee Gillis by Munroe Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson (you might know these two as the guys that brought you Ferdinand) was surprisingly a fun read. The pictures and story were quite delightful.We liked this book a lot.

My Favorite illustrations and todays quiet time favorites

I had read Yo! Yes? (written and illustrated by Chris Raschka) the Honor book for 1994, many times before, but never outloud.  My perceptions of this book changed dramatically as I read it to my kids and as I watched F. reread it to her brother using the different kinds of punctuation to change her expression.  What a fun story. I am now embarrased to say I didn't like it before.

It's not to late to join the Caldecott Challenge.  My family and I would be excited to see what you are reading.