Caldecott Medal 2010 The Lion & the Mouse Illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney (Little) review

Caldecott Honor Books

• All the World illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Liz Garton Scanlon (Beach Lane) review
• Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Joyce Sidman (Houghton) review

How the Horn Book reviewed the winners

Jerry Pinkney, illustrator  The Lion & the Mouse
     Little
     Reviewed 11/09
By retelling Aesop’s fable entirely in his signature pencil and watercolor art, Pinkney encourages closer exploration of the pleasing detail with which he amplifies it. The mouse has just escaped an owl when she makes the mistake of running up the lion’s back; his decision to let her go, over three full spreads, is all the more eloquent for being wordless. Her dauntless attack on the white hunters’ densely knotted rope trap, in which the lion is caught, is related via numerous smaller frames; successful, the mouse takes one tough knot home to her young (as a toy? Or to tell them her story?). On every page, this beautiful book suggests even more than it tells about its real setting, and about that fabulous world where such bargains are made and such rescues may happen. It’s a generous rendition: there are character-revealing portraits of the protagonists, unencumbered by text, on the jacket (a regal lion, sumptuous with golden mane, glances anxiously from the front; the doughty mouse, wide-eyed with intelligence, is on the back). On the front of the book itself is a second pair of telling portraits in lieu of a title; there’s an African Peaceable Kingdom on the back. One endpaper celebrates the animal-crowded Serengeti setting; the second rounds out the story with the lion and mouse families on a shared outing. It will be a challenge for libraries to make every gorgeous surface available, but it’s a challenge worth taking on. Artist’s note appended. J.R.L.

Liz Garton Scanlon  All the World; illus. by Marla Frazee
     Beach Lane/Simon
     Reviewed 9/09
Scanlon’s text has a child-friendly simplicity reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown — “Rock, stone, pebble, sand / Body, shoulder, arm, hand / A moat to dig, a shell to keep / All the world is wide and deep” — around which Frazee’s illustrations build a satisfying narrative. After a trip to the beach, a family stops at a farmers’ market, visits a park, and enjoys a meal at a café; back home at day’s end, they host an informal gathering, where young readers will be able to spot individuals seen earlier in the book. Though the text mentions “nanas, papas, cousins, kin,” the corresponding art has a “family-of-humankind” vibe, encompassing interracial and same-sex couples, old folks and babies — an obvious statement of affirmation but also a natural choice for a book about “all the world.” The West Coast seaside setting showcases not only Frazee’s affectionate mix of people but also her familiar skyscapes, glowing with color and shaded with horizontal lines that lend a sense of both movement and endless connection. While the rolling hills, crisscrossed by roads and dotted with trees and houses, bring to mind Virginia Lee Burton, Frazee’s palette is all her own: fresh-feeling pastels that make everything look rain-washed, faded and softened by the sun. A seashell on the title page reappears on the final page, in the hands of a girl who found it at the beach; Scanlon and Frazee seem to be saying to readers that the world is not your oyster but your seashell — to discover, wonder at, and hold gently in your hand. All the World will win audiences with a sensibility both timeless and thoroughly modern. J.M.B.

Joyce Sidman Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors; illus. by Pamela Zagarenski
     Houghton
     Reviewed 3/09
A poet known for multilayered explorations of nature (Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems, rev. 5/05) rejoices here in the way colors, and how we perceive them, change with the seasons. In spring, shy “Green peeks from buds / trembles in the breeze,” while “Yellow shouts with light!” and “holds hands” with purple in the “bright velvet faces [of] first flowers.” Summer’s blue is “Humming, shimmering .  . . [it] grows new names: / turquoise, / azure, / cerulean.” In winter, “Green waits / in the hearts of trees,” and gray and brown are “the only beauties left.” Zagarenski’s richly patterned spreads (“mixed-media paintings on wood and computer illustration”) capture the poet’s delight in the natural world, extending the imagery with fantastical details like a cardinal’s notes in red, each “dropping / like a cherry / into my ear.” Fabric patterns and bits of newsprint add texture. The artist’s delicate style and surreal details recall Lisbeth Zwerger’s illustrations as well as the paintings of Gustav Klimt. Sustaining the playfulness of the text and its sense of awe, mystery, and beauty, they contribute gracefully to the celebration. J.R.L.

2010 ALA awards