As K.T. Horning embarks on her decade-by-decade Caldecott Medal retrospective (Mei Li in January; Prayer for a Child coming up in March) in the Horn Book Magazine, I’m reminded of Leonard Marcus’s own Caldecott Celebration, a book for kids (but you’ll like it too) in which he similarly looked at one winner from each decade, [...]
Here we go again!
September 13, 2012 By 32 Comments
Welcome to Year Two of Calling Caldecott, talking about this year’s picture books — what can win, what will win, what should win. Last year we started with a list so we’ll do the same this year. What follows is a list of picture books that have been starred in more than one journal or [...]
Calling Caldecott back on the hunt tomorrow
September 12, 2012 By 1 Comment
Lolly Robinson and Robin Smith will inaugurate this season of the Calling Caldecott blog tomorrow, and I know that the questions posed in the logo (What can win? What will win? What should win?) will provide plenty of discussion. At the HBAS colloquium later this month, I’m going to be talking to Erin Stead, Phil [...]
Caldecott 2012: “everything…which is yes”
July 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Just as the proof of the pudding is in the eating, real appreciation of a picture book depends on more than a first taste, or a first look; truer evaluation becomes possible only after savoring every nuance. At first glance, illustrations may delight us with their beauty — their drafting, palette, forms, composition; with how [...]
2012 ALA Round-Up
June 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
For those suffering from ALA withdrawal—or envy!—here’s the Horn Book’s take on this year’s events. For even more, check out the July/August 2012 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. Roger Sutton’s Live Five interviews and blog posts about them—videos coming soon! (We’ll let you know when they’re up.) Profile of Newbery Award winner Jack Gantos [...]
Chris Raschka: The Habits of an Artist
June 29, 2012 By 7 Comments
Chris wakes up at five o’clock in the morning and prepares breakfast according to plan: Monday — eggs; Tuesday — cereal; Wednesday — oatmeal. At six thirty he wakes our son, Ingo, and after breakfast they eventually leave the house together. Ingo turns east to cross Central Park to go to school and Chris walks [...]
King of All the Caldecotts
June 20, 2012 By 1 Comment
“If this book doesn’t win the Caldecott Medal I’m going to kill myself.” I heard that from Zena Sutherland, quoting Ursula Nordstrom, while Zena and I were at Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum in 1982, viewing an exhibition of the complete original art for the book in question, Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. That book [...]
Five questions for Erin E. Stead
March 6, 2012 By 8 Comments
After winning the 2011 Caldecott Medal for A Sick Day for Amos McGee, written by her husband, Philip, Erin E. Stead returns with a second picture book, this one about waiting and planning and hope. And Then It’s Spring (5–8 years) grows out of a long friendship; see below. 1. What about Julie Fogliano’s (glorious) [...]
Something to do while Wikipedia is down
January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Go and vote on the final Calling Caldecott ballot. Ruthless elimination has already occurred; there are now just five choices for your three votes. Chills! I’ll be in Dallas for ALA tomorrow through Monday, serving on the Batchelder Award committee and schmoozing with our advertisers, who, it is interesting, are among the supporters of the [...]
From the Editor – January 2012
January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
As we all await the announcements of the ALA book awards from the Midwinter Conference in Dallas on January 23rd, don’t miss the betting and brawling at the Horn Book’s Calling Caldecott blog and School Library Journal’s Heavy Medal, scoping out all things Newbery. Both blogs seem to have done their darnedest to appraise all [...]
