Category Archives: Caldecott Winners

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble – William Steig

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a well loved children’s book written and illustrated by William Steig. The illustrations of this loving family of donkeys are very dear. Not only did this book win the Caldecott Medal in 1970, it was also selected as one of the 100 Best Books of the Century by the National Education Association. Sylvester is a young donkey who lives with his mother and father. One of his hobbies is collecting pebbles of unusual shape and color. One rainy day he finds a shiny, red, round pebble. As he examines it, he feels the cold … Continue reading →

Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present – Charlotte Zolotow

Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present is a wonderful collaboration between author Charlotte Zolotow and illustrator Maurice Sendak. The book won the 1963 Caldecott Honor and is considered a well-loved classic with many teachers and families. In the story, a little girl asks Mr. Rabbit for help. She’s looking for birthday present for her mother. Mr. Rabbit agrees to help. The little girl says the mother likes red. The rabbit replies that you can’t give “red”. So the little girl says “Something red, maybe.” And the two try to think of something red. Mr. Rabbit suggests red underwear. That line … Continue reading →

When I Was Young in the Mountains – Cynthia Rylant

The picture book When I Was Young in the Mountains was a Caldecott Honor book in 1984. The book is a story based on author Cynthia Rylant’s own childhood in Appalachia living her grandparents and other relatives in Cool Ridge, West Virginia. The illustrations by Diane Goode have an old-fashioned feel as this loving family of grandparents and grandchildren go about their daily lives. Almost every page begins with the words “When I was young in the mountains”. The repetition gives the book a nice oral tradition storytelling kind of feel. This book is great early history about the pleasures … Continue reading →

Blueberries for Sal – Robert McCloskey

Blueberries for Sal is a wonderful classic children’s story. First published in 1948, it won the Caldecott Honor for author Robert McCloskey. Blueberries for Sal is the story of a little girl named Sal who goes blueberry picking with her mother. The mother wants to can the berries for the winter, and is very focused on getting her pail full of berries. The book has marvelous black and white illustrations showing an old-fashioned kitchen and canning jars, an old car, the mother in skirt and sweater, and little Sal in overalls. Little Sal follows her mother up a hillside. Sal … Continue reading →

Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick

When I read that The Invention of Hugo Cabret, an over 500 page novel, won the Caldecott- an award for illustrations in children’s books, I was thoroughly confused. I’ve read a lot of Caldecott books and am quite sure that most of them were under thirty pages. An amazing 284 pages of this book are original drawings. And each picture is an entire double page spread. Hugo Cabret is a fast read because of all the pictures and the action. I recommend it for grade school children and above. The book is about magicians, illusions, machines, early movie making, and … Continue reading →

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat – Simms Taback

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a Caldecott winner and a charming book for young children. Author and illustrator Simms Taback based the story on an old Yiddish folksong. The lyrics and music for the song are in the back of the book. The illustrations are vibrant, utilizing unique multimedia methods and die cut holes. The wording is simple. “Joseph had a little overcoat. It was old and worn.” One page shows Joseph with his worn and patched overcoat. The other has a jacket shaped hole in the page. When you turn the page the hole matches up with the … Continue reading →

Stone Soup – Marcia Brown

Marcia Brown won a Caldecott Medal in 1947 for her version of an old French folktale, Stone Soup. This is a great story of ingenuity and cooperation. In the story, three soldiers are returning home from the wars. They are tired and haven’t had any food for two days. They come upon a village and ask for food. But the peasants have seen them coming and have hidden everything. The peasants try to look hungry and offer up good reasons for not having any food, sick fathers, poor harvests, and grain that must be kept for seed. The soldiers announce … Continue reading →

“More More More”, Said the Baby – Vera B. Williams

“More More More”, Said the Baby: Three Love Stories is a great book for the littlest book lover. This Caldecott Honor book by Vera B. Williams captures those special, silly, tender moments between toddlers and the people that love them. My own boys loved this book when they were little. It’s silly. It’s about those moments when a toddler runs away and you catch them and kiss their sweet little bellies and toes. Re-reading it now for this review, the book struck me as kind of intimate. My boys are way past the stage of toe kisses and no longer … Continue reading →

Owen – Kevin Henkes

Ah, the special attachment to a childhood blanket. In the Caldecott Honor winning book Owen, by Kevin Henkes, Owen is a young mouse that has had a fuzzy yellow blanket ever since he was a baby. “Fuzzy” goes wherever Owen goes, upstairs, downstairs, inside and out. Since Fuzzy likes whatever Owen likes, Fuzzy also has stains like juice, chocolate milk, and applesauce cake. Everything is fine for Owen and Fuzzy until their next door neighbor, Mrs. Tweezers, tells Owen’s parents that Owen is too old to be carrying around that blanket. That night Owen’s parents tell him that he puts … Continue reading →