While doing the research for my article Arrow to the Sun and Critical Controversies (Sept./Oct. 2013 Horn Book Magazine), I came across several references to author Gerald McDermott’s first children’s book editor at Holt, Rinehart & Winston, George Nicholson, and the role he played in McDermott’s move from films to picture books. A longtime children’s […]
Arrow to the Sun and Critical Controversies
September 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
This is the fifth of a continuing series of articles celebrating the history of the Caldecott Medal, which marks its seventy-fifth anniversary this year. Librarian and children’s literature historian Kathleen T. Horning looks at one seminal but unheralded Caldecott book of each decade — identifying trends, noting the changing nature of the picture book, wrestling […]
A Profile of Gerald McDermott
August 14, 2013 by 1 Comment
by Priscilla Moulton The awarding of the 1975 Caldecott Medal for Arrow to the Sun (Viking) concludes a critical period for Gerald McDermott, a period begun two years earlier when Anansi the Spider (Holt) was designated a Caldecott Honor Book. Gerald then realized that his work as a book illustrator was valued by children’s librarians, […]
On the Rainbow Trail
August 13, 2013 by 1 Comment
by Gerald McDermott I’ve been on a journey past paper mountains, flying men, foolish spiders, talking trees, and the flaming arrows of the solar fire. It has been a journey of discovery through the bizarre and exotic forms of world mythology. The Rainbow Trail has become a path for my work as an artist. The […]
Horn Book reviews of Caldecott Medal winners, 1970-1979
August 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
1970 WILLIAM STEIG, Author-Illustrator Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Windmill/Simon) Sylvester the young donkey was a pebble collector; one day he found a flaming red stone, shiny and round — and quite unaccountably able to grant wishes. Overjoyed, Sylvester was planning to share his magic with his family when “a mean, hungry lion” appeared. Startled […]
Gerald McDermott in Paris
January 14, 2013 by 15 Comments
During one of the last times Gerald was here in Paris, we went off hunting for an oyster restaurant. We finally found one in the Quartier Montorgueil on Rue des Petits Carreaux. The owner shipped oysters from his own farm on the Brittany coast so they were guaranteed to be fresh. We ordered a plate […]
An Interview with George M. Nicholson
March 9, 2007 by Leave a Comment
George M. Nicholson introduced and popularized high-quality paperback publishing for young people in the United States. He ran a number of major houses before finding a new career as an agent, remaining throughout an innovative, knowledgeable, and influential figure in the children’s book industry. LEONARD S. MARCUS: How did you come to work in children’s […]
