The Picture Book Audience

 The Picture Book Audience

Article 6

by Lyn Lacy

2500 words

For Gail Haley, whose gracious mentorship and friendship I’ve been fortunate to enjoy.

Note: In this Article 6 is a discussion of what constitutes definitions for the picture book and its audience. Both Article 5 and this article are recommended reading as elucidation of the author’s point of view in Article 7 for reviewing a choice of eighteen 21st century award-winning titles. For purposes of these articles, “Medalist” refers to a year’s winning title, “Honor Book” refers to a title of merit and “Caldecotts” refers to the entire collection of Medalists and Honor Books.

ALSC Definitions of “picture book”

The American Library Services for Children of the ALA defines “picture book” as follows: “A picture book for children, as distinguished from other books with illustrations, is one that essentially provides the child with a visual experience; has a collective unity of story-line, theme or concept developed through a series of pictures of which the book is comprised; and displays respect for children’s understandings, abilities and appreciations.”

This excellent definition of a picture book demonstrates the depth of knowledge and appreciation on part of the ALSC and its Caldecott Committees about the uniqueness of an art form that provides a “visual experience” with a “collective unity” of pictures that “displays respect” for an audience of children. 

In the past, a majority of “story-lines, themes and concepts” in Medalists and Honor Books have been stories, folklore, how and why stories, history, biography, poetry, rhymes and songs. Conventional formats for fiction as well as nonfiction are 32 pages with illustrations that complement the text on a majority of the pages. Also included are other formats, such as concept books, interactive books and graphic novels. All such formats are “distinguished from other books with illustrations,” in which a long text has more verbal images than are pictured and illustrations are not a structural part of the book itself. 

A complication arises when Illustrated storybooks, controlled vocabulary easy readers and books with easel art are often called picture books even though they stand outside the above parameters. Added to this is that as many high-quality picture books have become viewed as objects of art and literature, they have become more expensive to publish and are increasingly made attractive not only to older children but to adults as well, who are after all the ones to actually buy books. The result is controversy surrounding the definition for picture books that seems to stem from the conflicting views regarding a most appropriate audience—those for whom the illustrations, text and literacy set are intended to play a role.

ALSC Definition of “children” 

Added to the confusion is that the ALSC defines “children” as “persons of ages up to and including fourteen and picture books for this entire age range are to be considered.” In the past, the Caldecotts had visual and textual content intended for pre-readers and emerging readers (preschool-grade 2, up to age 7). This was not meant to deny that people of any age enjoy the art, humor, excitement and sensitivity in picture books aimed at this group. Older children can benefit greatly from experiences with picture books but should still be read aloud to or encouraged to tell themselves the story. Indeed, a most appropriate picture-book audience is anyone for whom the books are read aloud by someone else, resulting in a pictorial and aural experience rather than a reading experience. The best picture book audience, whether young or old, should be one who looks, listens and talks about what is going on. 

However, when some illustrators leave behind concerns of the very young to apply their skills to the interests of older children, the resulting suitability for middle readers (grades 3-5, ages 8-10) or older readers (grades 6-8, ages 11-14) has not generally presented a “story-line, theme or concept” that also displays respect for “understandings, abilities and appreciations” of children who are much younger. In fact, topics of interest to preteens and early adolescents can often be confusing or even downright unsettling to the very young. 

Thus, expanding the definition of picture books and extending an age range are both thought to be too broad, raising the fear that prereaders will be left behind if Medalists and Honor Books beyond a younger audience’s comprehension and appreciation become the norm. Each year’s list of Honor Books could and perhaps should include at least one title that appeals to interests of an older audience, but the majority of Honor Books and the Medalist itself should remain appropriate for prereaders.

Prereaders as Audience

The specific importance of picture books for an audience of prereaders and emerging readers has been fully explained in research by Meghan Cox Gurdon, author of The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction (2019). 

Gurdon explains that “Prereading youngsters have general characteristics that make them the most receptive to a picture-book format, and the medium can play a vital role in this particular audience’s development. By and large, prereaders still believe in fantasy, hold images in awe even when they do not move, are curious about visual images as symbols since their verbal language is more limited, and are intuitive rather than literal, empathetic rather than self-conscious, innocent rather than experienced.” 

Gurdon further points out that “Younger children have not yet seen a preponderance of book and do not realize from firsthand reading the variety of information in them. They are just beginning to grasp the idea of sequencing and connotative as well as denotative expression in pictures as well as words. They have just discovered that action in pictures can have more than one outcome, and they can predict what happens before a last page is turned. Its slighter text appeals to shorter attention spans but encourages thoughtfulness of response; it can be picked up again and again to divulge new and different delights. This competes well against electronic and digital visuals because a book’s format can be enjoyed at leisure.” 

Gurdon concludes that “Finally, it provides through a shared read-aloud experience a strong feeling of kinship with others. A small child can relax into the experience of being read a picture book. There is a bit of pleasurable challenge in making sense of what he’s seeing and hearing…and crucially, the sight of illustrations that stay still and allow him to gaze at will, all have the combined effect of engaging his deep cognitive networks…The early experiences he’s having, and the wiring and firing of neurons they produce, will help to create the architecture of his mind and lay the pathways for his future thought and imagination.” (“The Secret Power of the Children’s Picture Book,” The Wall Street Journal, January 18, 2019)

Visual Literacy 

For whatever age group, picture books are a unique tool for discussing basic areas of visual literacy, and many in the audience may be ready for some or all of the exercises in critical viewing. Visual literacy is, like verbal literacy, a communication skill, implying that a language exists which must be decoded if visual information is to be understood. Such visual exercises should not be done with every picture book and never for a first reading, but they are useful as a review of the book on another day or during a different part of the curriculum such as art or social studies. 

Exercises for “reading” both content and art in picture books involve a sequential framework from fine arts adapted to the well-known questioning strategies from Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain (1956). The goal of the questioning exercises are that children will become more creative and critical viewers and thinkers.

“What do you see?” (Identification) 

“How is it put together?” (Analysis) 

To discuss what we see, the first objective in visual literacy is to refine definitions of real, realistic, nonrealistic and unreal visual imagery. Picture books offer an excellent avenue for this because a brief text and series of illustrations offer opportunities for slowly paced appreciation of images. Exploring the differences takes time for children to refine, but such analysis can lay a vital foundation for other visuals encountered on television, video games and the computer.

Youngsters often proclaim that true-to-life, representational illustrations are “real.” However, only existing, palpable, actual beings are real. Important to realize is that all recorded images (in whatever medium) are realistic, nonrealistic or unreal. 

A realistic illustration is one that reproduces, represents, idealizes or imitates true-to-life existence. An example in the 20th century is John Steptoe in his 1988 Honor Book Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale (1987), who faithfully represents the people and landscape of the Zimbabwe region. For realism in the 21st century, 2020 Medalist The Undefeated (2019) by Kadir Nelson offers representational portraits of notable African Americans, present and past. Ironically, very realistic illustrations are created by line drawings on scratchboard by Christopher Bing for a an entirely fictitious legendary hero, in 2001 Honor Book Casey at the Bat (2000), the comic ballad by Ernest Thayer.

Nonrealistic illustrations also depict true-to-life scenarios but with a stylized slant that is abstract, symbolic, nonliteral, impressionistic or fanciful rather than representational. Figures may be exaggerated, sketchy, flat or otherwise distorted. A nonrealistic image thus imitates a real subject but is not idealized, as in 20th century art in1991 Honor Book “More More More,” Said the Baby: Three Love Stories (1990) by Vera B. Williams and in the 21st century is 2012 Honor Book A Ball for Daisy (2011) by Chris Raschka. 

Unreal illustrations portray imaginary, fantastic, supernatural, impossible situations. Many Caldecotts portray a favorite theme in which a true-to-life person enters an unreal, dream world, often through a portal, such as a door or window. In the 20th century, 1992 Honor Book Tar Beach (1991) by Faith Ringgold is a stylized portrayal (nonrealistic) of a little girl and her brother taking a nap on their mattress (a portal) before they go flying over the city among the stars (unreal). In folklore, unreal characters act out plots in an unreal world, such as in 1970 Medalist A Story, A Story (1969) by Gail E. Haley. An original plot in a 21st century picture book has a similar unreal scenario—2017 Honor Book Du Iz Tak? (2016) by Carson Ellis. Equally as unique, 2015 Medalist The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (2014) by Dan Santat has an unreal creature visiting our own world in a nonrealistic, cartoonish style.

A second aspect of visual literacy is recognizing use of detail that contributes to the whole. After establishing the degree of realism in illustrations, “What do you see?” encourages children to identify people and objects. Closely attuned is “How is this illustration put together?” which prompts them to recognize what is largest or smallest, far away or close. Through exploration of such details about things, colors, shapes, etc. children develop a vocabulary for visual language that encourages more critical examination of all visuals in their environment. In the 20th century, intricate details are found in 1984 Medalist The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot (1983) by Alice and Martin Provensen. In the 21st century, a fun book to compare and contrast is the 2006 Honor Book Hot-Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride (2005) by Marjorie Priceman.

A third aspect of visual literacy is to recognize the unique properties of picture books, such as sequential art, text placement, front matter, etc. Appealing to minds and hearts of youngsters requires that sequential pictures be properly paced so as to reflect text (or implied text as in wordless books) and include a portrayal of more rather than less in the action, scenery or characterizations described. Artistic styles of all kinds are welcomed, and whole book design may be on a grand scale or small.

In the 20th century, the 1985 Medalist Saint George and the Dragon (1984) by Margaret Hodges illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman offers elaborate margins throughout like leaded windows that are purely decorative or sometimes extend the story with scenes or characters. 1998 Medalist Rapunzel (1997) retold and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky established on endpapers the sense of place at Rapunzel’s home, while the book jacket folds onto the front and back, revealing replication of the endpapers underneath. The 2014 Honor Book Flora and the Flamingo (2013) by Molly Idle incorporates lift-the-flaps and fold-outs that help move Flora’s story along. Street noises and dialogue flow across the pages of 2020 Honor Book Double Bass Blues (2019) by Rudy Gutierrez. For discussion of the art and design of picture books, see Article 7.

“Why is it as it is?” (Interpretation) 

A fourth area of visual literacy is the need for understanding a picture book’s main idea, and again children need education in the conceptualization of concrete versus generalized experiences. This is usually a teachable moment, in which the reader provides youngsters with background information about the illustrator or about the picture book’s creation or compares an illustrative style with a work of fine art. A depiction of activity in a picture may provide youngsters with opportunities to form value judgments they can apply in their own lives. They can learn how to generalize about role modeling, group behavior and problem-solving, all of which expand a concept of self and lead toward adoption of a world view that values other environments aesthetically, emotionally and intellectually.

In the 20th century, 1989 Medalist Song and Dance Man (1988) by Karen Ackerman illustrated by Stephen Gammell presents positive ideas about grandparents for youngsters to articulate. In the 21st century, the 2005 Medalist, Kitten’s First Full Moon (2004) by Kevin Henkes gives young children a fun opportunity to feel superior and protective (which five-year-olds love to do) about a little kitten who mistakes the moon for a bowl of milk.

“Is it successful?” (Objective Evaluation)

“Do you like it?” (Subjective Evaluation)

“Can you make one?” (Production) 

For the last area in visual literacy, many youngsters believe that everyone sees things the way they do and indeed feels about them in ways similar to their own. They may be quick to offer opinions about “pretty” or “ugly” and about “good” or “bad” pictures, easily confusing personal taste with artistic excellence and subjective appreciation with objective criticism. Offering suggestions about whether illustrators have satisfactorily  accomplished what they intended—no matter if the result is likeable or not—is important for children to understand the different uses for art in their lives. Following up with respect for youngsters’ individual opinions is also crucial and can lead to art projects during which children express themselves in ways that are alike or different from what they have seen.  

In general, identification, analysis and interpretation are needed by most young viewers before they can evaluate art and produce visuals of their own. Such a study in visual literacy may plant the seed of life-long tolerance for diversity in art and appreciation for other aesthetic points of view.

Some of this Article 6 is excerpted from  Art and Design in Children’s Picture Books: An Analysis of Caldecott Award-Winning Illustrations by Lyn Ellen Lacy (ALA, 1986); Visual Education: An Interdisciplinary Approach Using Visuals of All Kinds by Lyn Lacy (Minneapolis Public Schools, 1986); and Imagine That: Developing Critical Thinking and Viewing Skills Through Children’s Books by David Considine, Gail E. Haley and Lyn Lacy (Libraries Unlimited, 1994).

The Artistic Elements/Page and Book Design

 Artistic Elements/Page and Book Design 

Article 5

by Lyn Lacy

3700 words

For Ed Emberley, who kindly and patiently showed me in whimsical, illustrated correspondence his complicated process for creating brilliant colors in Drummer Hoff. 

Note: In this Article 5 is discussion of illustrators’ uses of the artistic elements and page/book design as indicative of truly “distinguished” illustration. Both Article 6 and this article are recommended reading for elucidation of the author’s point of view in Article 7 for reviewing a choice of eighteen 21st century award-winning titles. For purposes of these articles, “Medalist” refers to a year’s winning title, “Honor Book” refers to a title of merit and “Caldecotts” refers to the entire collection of Medalists and Honor Books.   

ALSC Definitions of “distinguished”

        The American Library Services for Children of the ALA  has defined a “distinguished” picture book variously as “marked by eminence and distinction; noted for significant achievement; marked by excellence in quality; marked by conspicuous excellence or eminence and individually distinct.” (For purposes of this article, “Medalist” will refer to a winning title, “Honor Book” to another title of merit and “Caldecotts” to the entire collection of Medalists and Honor Books.)

        ALSC has also stated that to be considered “distinguished,” illustrations must demonstrate “excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed; excellence of pictorial interpretation of story, theme, or concept; appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme, or concept; delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or information through the pictures; and excellence of presentation in recognition of a child audience.”

        This is a sensitive approach by ALSC about what a distinguished picture book looks like. All that might be questioned is whether an artist’s style is “appropriate,” which is a highly subjective exercise without standards for making judgments. All types of artistic styles, including digital art, have been considered suitable for children and can not be indicators of success of failure. In 1991 Medalist Black and White (1990), David Macaulay even used four styles to tell parts of the same story.

Definitions of the artistic elements

        In addition to ALSC definitions, use of time-honored language of the fine arts regarding artistic elements offers a workable approach for analyzing distinguished illustrations. The artistic elements are usually confined to line, light and dark (value), color, shape and space. A sixth element is texture, which is implied in two-dimensional art and is created by use of the other five elements. Movement is also implied in this way.

        Analyzing use of these artistic elements can better determine if an illustration has excelled “in quality” or “of execution…pictorial interpretation…and presentation.” Such an analysis not only elevates illustrations in distinguished picture books into the world of the fine arts where they belong, but also use of precise language from the arts educates an audience of young people and gratifies illustrators when their work is seen to perform in ways they have worked so hard to achieve.

Rationale for considering a “quality” picture book as a fine art form is that an Illustrator exercises power independent of the words by choice of textual subject matter to illustrate in a field of action, which is the page or “canvas” the illustrator works on. Emphasis on certain subjects and omission of others add dimension to the written words and serve as a differing but harmonious point of view. An “excellent” sequencing of visual narration indicates a unique relationship between one visual and the next, often resulting in a graphic narration in its own right, separate from the text.    

Classic 20th century Medalists gave exemplary examples of high standards regarding uses of one or more of the elements—line in Make Way for Ducklings, color in  Drummer Hoff, light and dark in The Little House, shape in The Snowy Day and space in The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship. A discussion about these picture books is more helpful to the reader than a lengthy explanation of the elements themselves, which can be found in fine arts textbooks. Since an entire picture book is being discussed below, having the title nearby is preferred but is not necessary for these brief explanations. 

        Line is a basic artistic element that records what illustrators see, and the various uses of lines express their impressions of fluidity, vigor or subtlety in a field of action. One of the best examples for uses of line is Robert McCloskey, with his masterful 1943 Medalist, Make Way for Ducklings (1942). Printed in a soft sepia, his line drawings of Boston landmarks and intricate pencil portraits of policeman Michael and the Mallard family are beyond compare. The artist drew visible edge lines that are thin or thick, continuous or broken, outlining and contouring figures. What additionally set Ducklings apart was McCloskey’s viewpoints or sight lines that are superb— birds-eye view looking down at Boston landmarks, child’s eye view (notice that his sight lines are not from an adult level) and even the ducklings’ eye level.

Page after page, McCloskey’s compositions have invisible or directional lines that structure scenes on either horizontal baselines (slicing from left to right to intentionally encourage the audience to turn the page), as strong verticals (which stop the eye to absorb what’s going on), as cozy circular (a closed composition with a center point that draws the audience into the picture) or on the dynamic diagonal (upon which motion and action are built).

Dramatic comparisons to the soft, subtle lines in Ducklings are bold, thick lines and boxed-in illustrations by David Diaz for his 1995 Medalist Smoky Night (1994). A 21st century picture book with strong visible and invisible lines is 2019 Medalist Hello Lighthouse (2018) by Sophie Blackall.     

        Color and color harmony are recognized to reflect personal preferences more than any of the other elements. Ed Emberley, in his incomparable 1968 Medalist, Drummer Hoff (1967), introduced the creation of thirteen colors (hues) using only three inks—primaries magenta, cyan and yellow—by overprinting one transparent ink over another to make secondary colors (green, orange, violet) and tertiary colors (red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet), giving the illustrations a sharpness and brilliance not duplicated by any other printing process.

In his illustrations about soldiers gathering to put together a cannon along a strong horizontal base line, Emberley relied on principles of harmonious arrangements found on a color wheel—hues that are opposite, adjacent or in a triad to each other. He also made good use of color temperature, which is a psychological sensation in which reds, yellows and oranges are considered warm and appear to advance toward the audience, while blues, greens and violets are considered cool and appear to recede. 

All colors in Drummer Hoff are set inside strong black lines, straightforward and unsophisticated, with no shades or tints (low intensity or saturation), increasing the boldness, flatness and two-dimensional quality. Additional vibrancy is achieved by backlighting the scenes in white, and the impression is of bright jewels spread across the field of action, a reason why Drummer Hoff has been called the most radiant of the mid-century Caldecott winners. 

The island of exotic creatures was equally colorful in 1987 Medalist Hey, Al (1986) by Richard Egielski. The 2000 Medalist Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (1999) by Simms Taback has all the colors of the rainbow for costumes of the villagers and Joseph’s little house. 

            

        Light and dark (value) can be the most elusive and emotional of the artistic elements. Virginia Lee Burton, in her timeless 1944 Medalist, The Little House (1943), offered the subtle contrast of night and day as well as gradations of black, white and colors for modeling, shading and highlighting of figures to depict her story of a little house in the bucolic countryside that slowly becomes surrounded by chaos of the city. Cheerfulness and cleanness of weak or pale tints and shades in a snow scene are replaced by the dark dull tones that signify gloom and griminess of tenements and pavement, accomplished as much by grays and browns as by addition of ominous shapes crowded within limited space. 

John Schoenherr in his watercolors for 1988 Medalist Owl Moon (1987) made dramatic uses of light and dark with bright moonlight on snow in the middle of the night. In the 21st century, the 2009 Medalist The House in the Night (2008) by Beth Krommes is all about light and dark, with little bursts of yellow on dark nighttime scenes.

        Shape is associated with one’s own feelings and past experiences with familiar, known images, such as the human body. Ezra Jack Keats, with his ground-breaking 1964 Medalist, The Snowy Day (1963), introduced collage to many adults and children as a different way to see a boy and the world around him and by so doing, the artist was first in playing an important role in promoting collage as an effective art technique for picture books. 

His particular style resulted in bold simplifications of both geometric and organic shapes. His art was in stark contrast to representational (idealized or expressive) portrayals. Keats simplified to the extreme with hard-edged line effects that made closed shapes, using no other drawn lines or shading within his figures. Color also defines his shapes, and he makes use of gently distorted proportion, for instance in Peter’s bed and in the near-human shape of a tree.

Sinister, expressive organic shapes dramatically play hide-and-seek with the audience in 1990 Medalist, Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China (1989) by Ed Young. Having fun with sketchy shapes in the 21st century is Chris Raschka in the 2006 Medalist, The Hello, Goodbye Window (2005). 

    The element of space in two-dimensional art is a result of the combined uses of the other elements–lines both drawn and directional, colors that advance or recede, gradations of light and dark, and shapes of varying sizes, often in overlapping positions—and seen altogether, space becomes the element that draws the audience into a picture. Negative space is an empty or unfilled part in a field of action that, large or small, gives the eye a place to rest. Uri Shulevitz, in his mesmerizing 1970 Medalist, The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (1969), shows his mastery of deep space in the first bird’s-eye scene in which “the Fool steered for the highroad and sailed along above it” in his little ship. The scene has aerial perspective, in which the natural world grows less distinct as it takes on the dissolving nature of the atmosphere, and all the other artistic elements dramatically emphasize in their own ways the distances involved from such a height. Hierarchy is prominent in other scenes from a contrasting linear perspective, in which sizes and placements of figures imply their relationship to each other. In “The Bathhouse” illustration, linear perspective is from three separate angles, viewpoints and systems of proportion..

Shallow space is found in the ingenious 1973 Medalist, The Funny Little Woman (1972) by Blair Lent, with his creation of an underground cave for the wicked “onis.” The creation of flat or planar space is unparalleled in 1976 Medalist, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears (1975), illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon, which also employs their unique, cinematic uses of three storytelling devices called continuous narrative (one character portrayed in two places within the same setting in a field of action; also found in The Snowy Day), split narrative (two episodes with different characters portrayed within the same setting in a field of action; also found in The Fool of the World) and double narrative (two scenes with different characters and settings within a field of action; also found in The Funny Little Woman). 

Fun to compare and contrast are uses of spatial perspectives in two titles about high-wire artists, 1993 Medalist Mirette on the High Wire (1992) by Emily Arnold McCully and 2004 Medalist The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2003) by Mordicai Gerstein.  

Much more can be learned about the fascinating uses of artistic elements by perusing the public library’s fine art collection, by taking art classes and by visiting art museums and galleries. Applying the language of the fine arts to picture books is a rewarding gift an adult can give to children who question what they see and would like to know the appropriate words to express themselves. Admiration only grows for the marvelous illustrators who have devoted their careers to this beautiful art form.

ALSC Definition of the form of a picture book

        An ALSC commentary about the form of a picture book reads as follows: “The only limitation to graphic form is that the form must be one which may be used in a picture book. The book must be a self-contained entity, not dependent on other media (i.e., sound, film or computer program) for its enjoyment…Each book is to be considered as a picture book. The committee is to make its decision primarily on the illustration, but other components of a book are to be considered especially when they make a book less effective as a children’s picture book. Such other components might include the written text, the overall design of the book, etc. …Components other than illustration should be considered as they bear on effectiveness as a children's picture book.” 

        The ALSC has done a great service to the publishing industry, illustrators and admirers of the graphic form of the picture book by recognizing the picture book as a unique form of graphic art, offering the illustrator many more possibilities than a painter has with one canvas stretched upon a frame.

Definition of page and book design 

        In addition to studying five artistic elements, intelligently looking at picture books requires consideration of the form itself, such as page and book design, or the exterior and interior features used by author, artist and publisher to meet different literary and artistic objectives for different kinds of audiences.

        Visual narration in a sequence for a picture book must indicate a close relationship between cause and effect from one visual to another and may result in a narration in its own right, even separate from the text. The Illustrator exercises power independent of the words by choice of textual subject matter to illustrate. Emphasis on certain subjects and omission of others add dimension to the written words and serves as a differing but harmonious point of view. 

        The narrative in a picture book may be textual, visual or in combination, as in use of speech balloons within an illustration. In the past, disregard for detail, inconsistency or poorly laid out illustrations not only do a disservice to the story but also frustrate and annoy the audience. A single misstep can be overlooked (and is understandably lamented by illustrators themselves, since they are only human after all), but poor choices throughout a picture book sadly demonstrate ineptitude on the part of artist, editor and/or book designer. A well-planned and executed picture book, on the other hand, is truly a work of art.

        Uses of single pages and/or double page spreads as fields of action are basic to page and book design. The second half of the 20th century saw dramatic changes regarding design by the illustrators mentioned in Article 5. 

        In his revolutionary 1964 Medalist Where the Wild Things Are (1963) Maurice Sendak introduced Max formally in a framed illustration similar to a snapshot. Next were single page spreads showing his small room change into a forest. Then his boat is shown in three-quarter double spreads in which the gutter is not ignored but amplified by the presence of a tree or a beastie. Following those, the island of Wild Things spreads across double pages with text beneath, except for a wordless three-page wild rumpus scene. Max returns to his room pictured again on a single page. The single last page is famous for its five-word description of Max’s supper left by his mom—“and it was still hot.” 

 

        The exemplary team of Leo and Diane Dillon In the 1976 Medalist Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears (1975) offered something new with cinematic uses of three storytelling devices called continuous narrative (one character portrayed in two places within the same setting in a field of action; also found in The Snowy Day), split narrative (two episodes with different characters portrayed within the same setting in a field of action; also found in The Fool of the World) and double narrative (two scenes with different characters and settings within a field of action; also found in The Funny Little Woman). Also intriguing was the flat or “planar” batik-style art with its unmodeled, two-dimensional figures inhabiting a seemingly space-less setting that bleeds off the pages’ edges. The single last page was so satisfying, with “KAPAO!” as text for an illustration of the squashed mosquito. 

  

        Chris Van Allsburg designed his 1982 Medalist, Jumanji (1981) in a very formal format (single page framed illustrations faced by paragraphs of text on the opposite pages). Just once, he extended an illustration slightly outside the field of action, when a chair tips over into our space. 

        Ed Young for his 1990 Medalist Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China (1989) used an ancient Chinese technique of vertical panels to reveal the story as it unfolds, twice in continuous narratives. 

    

        David Macaulay in the 1991 Medalist Black and White (1990) designed double page spreads divided into quadrants, each of which had its own plot illustrated in a different style. The single last page is for copyright information, with an illustration that hints about the possibility of yet another way to interpret the picture book. 

        David Wiesner for his 1992 Medalist Tuesday (1991) had  vertical and horizontal panels that were filmic in nature, allowing him to illustrate as many as four parts of a scene on one double page spread. 

        Other properties of page and book design are size and shape, dust jacket and cover, front matter (endpapers, title, copyright and dedication pages), last single page, gutter, text, typeface and any special features, such as nontraditional paper performances.

The following 21st century Caldecott Medalists and Honor Books offer examples of many excellent design decisions:  

        Regarding size and shape of the book, the popular large square format opens up to a display of rectangular double page spreads for an audience of several children, such as 2016 Medalist Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear (2015) by Sophie Blackall. Large vertical or horizontal rectangles present a similar advantage, as in 2020 Honor Book Going Down Home with Daddy (2019) by Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrated by Daniel Minter. 

        A tall vertical rectangle is 2019 Medalist Hello Lighthouse (2018) also by Sophie Blackall. Small square or rectangular “lap-size” books are best used with one child, like 2005 Honor Book The Red Book (2004) by Barbara Lehman and 2001 Honor Book Olivia (2000) by Ian Falconer.

        The dust jacket or book cover may have a single image on the front or one image on the front and another on the back, all of which compete in popularity with wrap-arounds (in which one illustration extends from front to back cover). An example of a wrap-around is 2020 Honor Book Bear Came Along (2019) by Richard T. Morris and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. 2000 Honor Book Sector 7 (1999) by David Wiesner displays different front and back illustrations. 

        Front matter may include decorative endpapers, as in 2001 Honor Book Casey at the Bat (2000) by Christopher Bing, and an illustration on the title page that begins the story, found in 2014 Honor Book Journey (2013) by Aaron Becker. 

        The last single page may be used to conclude a story creatively with a satisfying, succinct little verbal or visual statements, as in 2012 Medalist A Ball for Daisy (2011) by Chris Raschka. However, many illustrators—such as 201 Medalist The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (2014) by Dan Santat—place copyright and dedication information on this page, rather than in the book’s front matter. This placement offers opportunities for more art in the front and frees the artist from illustrating that last single page, which in the past had appeared to be an afterthought that was inconsistent, insignificant or redundant.

As to single page illustrations, vignettes may have text above, below or to the side while larger illustrations often have text consistently along the bottom like a caption. Double page spreads (or sometimes three-quarters of a double spread) present a horizontal expanse called landscape format. An example of a combination is 2006 Medalist The Hello, Goodbye Window (2005) by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka.    

        Landscape format presents the illustrator with the thorny problem of balancing art to the left and right of the gutter, where the pages are bound. An excellent example of sensitivity to the gutter is 2021 Medalist We Are Water Protectors (2020) by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. 

Illustrations may be framed by margins, considered a formal format, or bleed off the pages’ edges, considered informal format. Margins are usually black or white space, whereas bleeding with no margins extends the art beyond the field of action. David Wiesner is a master of using both formats in the same book, as in 2007 Medalist Flotsam (2006). 

        The formality or lack of it is often closely associated with the illustrator’s consideration for placement of text and the size and shape of its typeface. Formal text can be at the bottom of an illustration or on the opposite page. When text is not separated from illustrations, it is sometimes informally shaped to become part of the art. Examples are found in 2001 Medalist So You Want to Be President (2000) by David Small. Changing size and shape of typeface is uncommon, except for sound words and exclamations, as in 2014 Medalist Locomotive (2013) by Brian Floca.

        Award-winners that incorporate special features are die cuts in 2000 Medalist Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (1999) by Simms Taback, fold-out pages in 2004 Medalist The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2003) by Mordicai Gerstein and lift-the-flaps as well as fold-out pages in 2014 Honor Book Flora and the Flamingo (2013) by Molly Idle.

        In conclusion, a discussion of Caldecott nominees is better served when specific aspects of both art and design are considered. The picture book audience also benefits greatly when children learn the language of fine art to discuss how and why these books bring us joy, sadness, insight and laughter.

For discussion of the definition of picture books and the picture book audience, see Article 6. 

Some of this article has been excerpted from Art and Design in Children’s Picture Books: An Analysis of Caldecott Award-Winning Illustrations by Lyn Ellen Lacy (ALA, 1986).

The Snowy Day: Diversity and Honesty into the 21st Century

The Snowy Day: Diversity and Honesty into the 21st Century

Article 4

by Lyn Lacy

5000 words

In memory of Ezra Jack Keats (1916-1983) and Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) and for David Shannon (1959—), giants in children’s literature who have honestly shown us what little boys can be made of.

 

    In the first half of the 20th century, truthfulness about less-than-perfect children was swept under the rug in favor of a tidy Victorian portrayal of pleasant, well-behaved young ladies and gentleman. American parents preferred early British illustrators Kate Greenaway and Beatrix Potter and American illustrator Jesse Willcox Smith, all of whom presented sweet stories and pictures about little ones and baby animals.

    Just as rowdy behavior was frowned upon, so also was racial and ethnic diversity rarely evident. In fact, picture books perpetuated stereotypes of African-American as servants and Native American as “noble savages”, as in two Caldecott Medalists, They Were Strong and Good (1940) by Robert Lawson and The Rooster Crows (1945) by Maud and Miska Petersham. (The Petershams’ book was reprinted in 1987 without offensive illustration.) Even in the 1960s, an alligator in a headdress represented “I is for Indian” in Alligators All Around: An Alphabet (1962) by Maurice Sendak. 

    Such illustrations influenced each new batch of white American children that came along to view minorities in the same way their elders had, keeping alive into the 21st century an “us and them” mentality— such as the issue of “Indians” as sports mascots, even though Native people throughout the country protested for over seventy years and continue to demand the right to be treated with as much respect as their fellow citizens (Lacy, “’Indian’ Stereotypes in Children’s Picture Books,” Minneapolis Public Schools, 1986).  

    Important exceptions during this period were Hispanic children realistically portrayed by illustrators, such as Leo Politi in his Caldecott Honor Books, Pedro, the Angel of Olvera Street, (1946) and Juanita (1948) and 1950 Caldecott Medalist, Song of the Swallows (1949). Marie Hall Ets also contributed contemporary Hispanics in Gilberto and the Wind (1963) and in1960 Caldecott Medalist, Nine Days to Christmas (1959), written by Aurora Labistida. And Japanese children were sensitively portrayed by Taro Yashima in Caldecott Honor Books, Crow Boy (1955), Umbrella (1958) and Seashore Story (1967).

    However, two prolific young artists (who had been spending their early careers in New York illustrating other people’s texts) were both given a chance in the early 1960s to break free of tradition and illustrate their own stories. Each had a little boy, Peter and Max, who could not have been more different from each other in their adventures. The  book designs were also as different as they could be, but each illustrator in his own way guided the world of American picture books in a new direction.

    The two illustrators were Ezra Jack Keats (1916-1983) and Maurice Sendak (1928-2012). Keats received the 1963 Caldecott Medal for The Snowy Day (1962), and the next year Sendak was awarded the Medal for Where the Wild Things Are (1963),

    These titles signaled a new age for stories and pictures, and both authors/illustrators initially provoked criticism with their bold moves into areas not seen before. However, six decades later, proof that each artist has captured the hearts of the picture-book audience came with the news in 2020 that The Snowy Day is the most checked-out book in New York Public Library’s history, being checked out 485,583 times, and Where the Wild Things Are is fourth on the list, checked out 436,016 times. (NYTimes, 13 January 2020).

    Keats not only presented mixed-media as an introduction to collage for an exciting medium in picture-book art, but his Medalist was the first to portray an African-American child as the main character. “My hero would be a black child,” the artist said. “I made many sketches and studies of black children, so that Peter would not be a white kid colored brown.” Keats was also inspired by four photographs of a little black boy in the May 13, 1940, Life magazine that he had kept tacked to his studio wall for over twenty years. 

    As Andrea Davis Pinkney said in the author’s note for her “tapestry narrative,” A Poem for Peter (2016), illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson, “As an African-American child growing up in the 1960s, at a time when I didn’t see others like me in children’s books, I was profoundly affected by the expressiveness of Keats’s illustrations…Interestingly, the ad copy and the text of the book never mention Peter’s race, which speaks to the story’s universal celebration of every child having fun.” 

    Unthinkable today, however, Keats faced criticism for The Snowy Day by the Council on Interracial Books for Children in the 1960s and early 1970s because its creator was a white man with “no right to fashion books about black characters, stealing money from legitimate African-American creators. But with nearly two million copies in print, The Snowy Day alone would confirm Keats’s place in the pantheon of great children’s book creators. To have made one of the two picture-book masterpieces of the early 1960s would be enough of a legacy. But by bringing multicultural publishing to the forefront of our consciousness, Keats has influenced children’s books for decades…The very success of The Snowy Day opened the door for…an extraordinarily talented group of African-American authors and illustrators who began their work in the 1960s and 1970s” and succeeding generations of African-American creators stand on “the shoulders of giants” like Keats (Anita Silvey, Introduction to Keats’s Neighborhood, Viking, 2002). 

    Meanwhile, Sendak had already pictured unruly little boys like bossy James who took all the crayons in Let’s Be Enemies by Janice May Udry (1961). The next year he wrote as well as illustrated Pierre (A Cautionary Tale), about a sassy boy who obstinately proclaimed about any and everything, “I don’t care!”  When Sendak published Where the Wild Things Are, the mischief-maker was Max – disobedient, defiant, dictatorial, destructive, and yes, homesick and despondent, but only toward the end.

    All the things parents and grandparents know to be true about kids—pouting, tears, exuberance, joy, love, glee—would now begin to be explored through children’s literature. As Sendak explained, “The great nineteenth-century fantasy that paints childhood as an eternally innocent paradise bores the eyeteeth out of children…What is too often overlooked is the fact that from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, that fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, that they continually cope with frustration as best they can…It seems a distortion, rather, to pretend to a child that his life is a never-ending ring-around-the-rosie.” 

    Fifty years since the two books were published have seen other Peters, Maxes and Maxines in marvelous picture books –including David Shannon’s “David” series– walk right in, sit right down and make themselves at home in our hearts. Thanks in large part to all that Sendak and Keats did, a flood of titles in the 21st-century bring diversity and honest approaches to children who are both naughty and nice, with incredibly innovative artwork and an abundance of people of color. Gentle suggestions for conversation starters are given an asterisk* at the beginning of the following reviews for titles that have the power to help children open up about their own feelings and behaviors.

2000  Shaun Tan (Australian, 1974-), Author and Illustrator.  The Red Tree, Vancouver: Simply Read Books, 32 pp, 9.5” x 12.5”

    *Depression, but with a little sign of hope

    A little girl has a room piled so high with worries that she runs away, only to have a sad journey outside with more troubles at every turn. The colors are very dark, but notice that Tan placed a bright red leaf on every page, like a cheerful promise of joy to come. The artist writes that he wants his art to “say something that is true to real life,” and that his wordless book “is inspired by the impulse of children and adults alike to describe feelings using metaphor - monsters, storms, sunshine, rainbows, and so on.” The Red Tree can be found in a collection, Lost & Found: Three (2011). In the author/illustrator’s Cicada (2019), an industrious bug never gets respect at work, and in Rules of Summer (2014), a little boy learns about arbitrary rules, his bossy brother, despair and hope.

2001  Jerry Pinkney (American, 1939-), Illustrator. Goin’ Someplace Special by Patricia C. McKissack, Atheneum, 40 pp, 8.6” x 11.5”

     *Life can be unfair, but you’re not alone

    “The girl squared her shoulders, walked to the back, and took a seat…Tricia Ann rides the bus to the library, her favorite special place, a place her grandmother calls ‘a doorway to freedom.’” The time for this story is before the civil rights movement when ‘Tricia Ann must sit in the back of the bus because she is African American, and her face reflects her pain, anger, and dignity as she wonders why life’s so unfair. Friends along the way remind her she's not alone in her frustration, and she returns quietly triumphant from her bittersweet journey downtown. An illustrator of over sixty books, Pinkney was awarded the 2010 Caldecott Medal for The Lion and the Mouse (2009) (see Article 5). 

2003  R. Gregory Christie (American, 1971-), Illustrator. Yesterday I Had the Blues by Jeron Ashford Frame, Random House, 32 pp, 8.9” x 11.4”

*Maybe you feel blue? Waiting for a sunny yellow day?

A boy talks about moods as colors of the rainbow – he’s got “the go away, Mr. Sun, quit smilin’ at me blues” while his sister’s got a joyful case of the ballet-dancing pinks. Christie says, “I guess we all have had our bad days from 2 years old and up. So perhaps people like the ability to listen to a small boy's seemingly tragic day, written and pictured in a very beautiful way?” He was awarded a 2017 Caldecott Honor Book for illustrations in Freedom in Congo Square (2016) written by Carole Boston Weatherford. 

2003  Mo Willems (American, 1968-), Author and Illustrator. Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus! Hyperion, 32pp, 8.8” x 8.8”

    *Begging for something (even when you know it’s not good for you!)

    With childishly simple line drawings, the stubborn and willful attitude of the very young comes through loud and clear with Pigeon. Just as a mother says no to a child, the bus driver forbids the pigeon to drive his bus, so Pigeon pouts, wheedles, cajoles and shouts that the audience must allow him to do what he isn’t supposed to do. He explains his cousin Herb drives a bus almost every day, he bribes with a promise of five bucks and he finally pleads that, after all, he has dreams too. Willems wrote about his 2004 Caldecott Honor Book, “Born in the margins of my notebook filled with potential picture book ideas, my doodles of Pigeon were complaining that his ideas were better than mine,” so he created seven more picture books about Pigeon.

2007  Mo Willems (American, 1968-), Author and Illustrator. Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case Of Mistaken Identity, Hyperion, 32pp, 8.8” x 8.8”

*Making a first best friend

Willems was awarded a 2008 Caldecott Honor Book for his second in a series about Knuffle Bunny, in which Trixie’s stuffed toy is accidentally taken home by a classmate before dad comes to the rescue yet again (and Trixie has found a friend). Starting in Willem’s 2005 Honor Book, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (see Article 5), parents and grandparents have recognized such toddler behaviors as a “boneless” meltdown when they see one. Dad’s frustration grows when he simply can not understand Trixie’s baby talk, but he finds the toy and saves the day. The series continued with Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion (2010).

2008  Chris Raschka (American, 1959-), Illustrator. Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie by Norton Juster, Di Capua, 32pp, 10.5” x 11.5”

    *“You’re not my mama!” never gets you anywhere

    “NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO I WON’T DO IT! NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER I’M NOT LISTENING WHO CARES YOU CAN’T MAKE ME I WILL NOT COOPERATE! NO GO AWAY!” All the vignettes of Sourpuss show her as a strong-willed little tyrant until she finally curls up with exhaustion and whimpers, “I don’t like you anymore.” With love from her patient Nanna and Poppy, she can go quickly from Sourpuss to Sweetie Pie. Juster and Raschka had teamed up earlier about Poppy and Nanna with their granddaughter for the 2006 Caldecott winner, The Hello, Goodbye Window (2005). Raschka also wrote and illustrated Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle (2013), in which a father and daughter face her challenge together.

2008 Uri Shulevitz (American, 1935-), Author and Illustrator. How I Learned Geography, Farrar Straus Giroux, 32pp, 10.3” x 10.3”

*Sometimes grownups can be right—more than we even imagined

As a child, Shulevitz survived the Warsaw blitz of 1939 and fled with his parents to Turkestan, where the family lived in poverty. He tells a story in his 2009 Caldecott Honor Book about how furious he was with his father who brought home a map instead of bread from the marketplace. He thought he would never forgive him, and his despair is eloquently shown by his huddled figure beneath a blanket. After studying the map, however, and spending enchanted hours being “transported far away without ever leaving our room,” he did forgive his father and admit, “He was right, after all.” 

The dark and somber palette changes to vibrant explosions of color as he imagines flying high overhead exotic landscapes, reminiscent of the hero’s flight in the illustrator’s 1969 Caldecott Medalist The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (1968). The contented boyish smile on sandy beaches and in shady fruit groves conveys all the joy young Shulevitz found “far from our hunger and misery.” Among forty books, another picture book was about the illustrator’s childhood, When I Wore My Sailor Suit (2009), and he received two more Honor Book awards for The Treasure (1979) and Snow (1999).

2011 Javaka Steptoe (American,–), Illustrator. What's Special About Me, Mama? by Kristina Evans, Jump At the Sun, 32 pp, 10.4” x 8.4”

*What would we do without those we love?

A mother and child’s back-and-forth conversation about what makes the boy special to her is warmly intimate in Steptoe’s textured-paper collages, which are perfect backgrounds for the mother’s large, brightly-colored hand-lettered responses. The illustrator’s bold paper collages also excel in Hot Day on Abbott Avenue (2019) by Karen English, in which best friends Kishi and Renée each wait for the other to apologize after a breakup, even though they’re bored without each other’s friendship. Steptoe was awarded the 2017 Caldecott Medal for his biography, Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (2016), the young graffiti artist who overcame family hardships to ultimately achieve world-wide fame for his paintings (see Article 5). He also illustrated In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers (2013) by Folami Abiade and a dozen other authors.

2012 David Ezra Stein (American,–), Author and Illustrator. Interrupting Chicken, Candlewick, 40 pp, 8.7” x 10.6” 

*Maybe someone’s begging for attention?

  An irrepressible kid who just can’t resist interrupting a story is well known to anyone who has read aloud to one. Stein’s mixed-media illustrations in his 2013 Caldecott Honor Book engage the reader in moments both funny and sweet as Little Chicken and her exasperated father enjoy story time, each in their own ways. Stein’s sequel is Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise (2018), and he illustrated The Worm Family Has Its Picture Taken (2021) by Jennifer Frank, in which a young worm learns to be proud of her family. 

2013  Courtney Pippin-Mathur (American, 1976-), Author and Illustrator. Maya Was Grumpy, Brooklyn: Flashlight Press, 32 pp, 10.2” x 10.2”

*There’s just something about grandmas

Pippin-Mathur writes about Maya’s hair getting bigger and wilder as she gets grumpier, ”My daughter was three years old and stomping around the living room with her curls bouncing to show everyone just how grumpy she felt. I thought how funny it would be to have a little girl's hair grow as her mood got worse. I added a grandma because my grandmother was the only person who could ever jostle me out of my crispy, cranky, grouchy moods.” To calm Maya down, Grandma suggests a trip to the park, where all the wild things Maya had emulated in her grouchy mood are found to be playground equipment. Pippin-Mathur published Dragons Rule, Princesses Drool! In 2017.

2015 Molly Bang (American, -), Author and Illustrator. When Sophie’s Feelings Are Really, Really Hurt, Blue Sky Press, 40 pp, 8.9”xX10.2”

*“If they don’t get it, that’s their problem, not mine,” said every artist ever

Sophie paints a picture of her favorite tree, but it looks sad being gray. So she paints it a vibrant blue with an orange sky behind it to make the tree look happy. She is hurt and begins to question her choices when classmates laugh at her colorful, expressive painting and tell her it’s wrong because it’s different. The class looks at all of the trees painted by classmates and realize that every tree is different, there isn't a wrong way to do art and they should enjoy expressing themselves. This is a sequel to 2000 Caldecott Honor Book, When Sophie Gets Angry—Really Really Angry (1999), in which Bang floods her pages with red and orange in a demonstration of how ugly anger can be (see Article 5). She published another book about Sophie, When Sophie Thinks She Can’t…(2018).

2016 Raul Nieto Guridi (Spanish–), Illustrator. The Day I Became a Bird, by Ingrid Chabbert, Kids Can Press, 40pp, 8.4” x 11”

*Making new friends means finding out what they like

First love looks pretty familiar when a boy is in love with the girl who sits in front of him at school, but she has no time for the likes of him. Sylvia in only interested in birds, so in order to attract her attention, he builds a fantastic bird costume, shown in delicate pen-and-ink drawings. Wearing it makes him feel handsome even though classmates make fun of it, until the day arrives when Sylvia finally sees him. The author-illustrator team also published The Last Tree (2017) and A Drop of the Sea (2018).

2017 Michael Emberley (American–), Illustrator. Priscilla Gorilla by Barbara Bottner, Atheneum, 40pp, 8” x 10.5”

*Going with the flow

Priscilla is another little girl who is single-minded in her obsession, this time with gorillas, and she wears her gorilla pajamas everywhere, even when it is picture day at school. After being “invited” to sit in the “Thinking Corner” after a clash of wills with her teacher and getting some help from her parents in understanding that gorillas can also be cooperative, she sort of apologizes. A field trip to the zoo results in a spontaneous, four-page gorilla dance similar to the exuberance in Sendak’s “wild rumpus” scenes. 

2018 Jessica Love (American–), Author and Illustrator. Julián Is a Mermaid, Candlewick, 40 pp, 9.4” x 10.3”

*Doing things differently is absolutely, perfectly, categorically ok

A little boy on a train with his grandmother sees ladies dressed up as mermaids (going to a party? an audition?), and when he gets home he creates his own fabulous mermaid costume—a curtain for a tail and fronds from a potted fern for a headdress. But what will his abuela think of him dressed up as female? All children should be as supported as this happy little boy whose grandmother loves him just as he is and wants him to be himself. Love continued the story of Julián and his abuela, this time with cousin Marisol, in Julián at the Wedding (2020).

2018 Matthew Cordell (American–), Author and Illustrator. King Alice, Macmillan, 40pp, 8.7” X 11.3”

*Hey, Dad, you got a super duper “IDEA!” 

On a snowy indoor day, bossy Alice decides to write a book about herself as King Alice the First. (When pressed by her father, she insists she is not Queen, but he gets to be Princess Dad and mother and baby will be royal brave knights). As the family goes along with the scenario, Cordell captures perfectly the way kids talk when they’re pretending—“This is some delicious tea!” and “I’m so, so, so, so, so sorry I bonked you with my unicorn, Daddy.” Cordell illustrated in pen and ink, colored pencil and watercolor again in his 2018 Caldecott Medalist Wolf in the Snow (2017) with a stunning new departure for the shape of a child in a red coat (see Article 5), similar to Keats in The Snowy Day (1962). Cordell also illustrated Special Delivery (2015) by Philip C. Stead and The Knowing Book by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, whose text urges readers to take risks by exploring the world.

2018 Pamela Zagarenski (American,–), Illustrator. Zola’s Elephant by Randall de Sève, Houghton Mifflin, 40pp, 9” x 11”

*Jumping to conclusions can result in “Uh oh.” 

A shy little girl figures that a new neighbor Zola will not want to be her friend because she has a friend already—surely it’s an elephant, which is the only thing possible in the enormous box being moved into Zola’s new home. Zagarenski’s colorful, digital and mixed-media illustrations portray all the chummy adventures Zola must be having with her elephant, until the reality of Zola’s own loneliness is shown and the little girl next door is brave enough to make her acquaintance. Zagarenki has been awarded two Caldecott Honor Books, Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors (2009), written by Joyce Sidman and Sleep Like a Tiger (2012), written by Mary Logue (see Article 5). She also illustrated What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms, and Blessings (2013), a collection of poems by Sidman that “provides comfort, courage and humor at difficult or daunting moments in life” for ages 12 and up.

2018 David Shannon (American,– ), Author and Illustrator. Grow Up, David!, Blue Sky Press, 32pp, 8.5” x 11”

*Long Love the Kings of Mayhem—David and Max!

As the fifth in his David Books series, Shannon continues in precise detail all the ways little David can cause trouble, this time by pestering his big brother. The first in the series, 1999 Caldecott Honor Book, No, David! (1998), introduced the irrepressible little boy as obvious heir apparent to Max, Sendak’s mischief-maker “of one kind and another.” Shannon has said, “A few years ago, my mother sent me a book I made when I was a little boy. The text consisted entirely of the words ‘no’ and ‘David’ – they were the only words I knew how to spell – and it was illustrated with drawings of David doing all sorts of things he wasn’t supposed to do.” 

Shannon wants his illustrations to look like a kid drew them. He draws round heads and nubby teeth just like he did when he was five years old. He has a child’s viewpoint by showing adults from the waist down and went on to create a series also for babies about this rowdy “21st-century Max.” Shannon’s other books portray spot-on understandings about  children’s sensibilities, as in Alice the Fairy (2004), A Bad Case of Stripes (2004) and Too Many Toys (2008).  

2019 Rudy Gutierrez (American,–), Illustrator. Double Bass Blues by Andrea J. Loney, Knopf, 32pp, 10.2” x 10.4”

*Teasing, taunting and tormenting can’t stop you

In this 2020 Caldecott Honor Book, Nic is a little boy struggling to haul his double bass home from school while he is teased by the other boys, pelted by the rain and tormented on the bus by grownups for taking up too much room. Determined, resolute and resilient, Nic makes the journey to his granddaddy’s jam session and improvises a jazz solo using all the street sounds he has heard along the way (see Article 5).

2019 Vashti Harrison (American, –), Illustrator. Sulwe, by Lupita Nyong’o, Simon and Schuster, 48pp, 9” x 11.4” 

*Black Is Beautiful

A little girl born the color of midnight (and whose name means “star” in the Kenyan language) is teased by her schoolmates and tormented emotionally because she is not lighter-skinned like the rest of her family. Mama comforts her after she tries everything from erasers to diet to makeup to prayer for her skin to be lighter. A shooting star brings magic into her room to celebrate Night and Day, “the dark and beautiful, bright and strong.” Harrison also illustrated Hair Love (2019) by Matthew A. Cherry, a true-to-life depiction of a loving father and his independent little daughter, and How to Become a Fairy Handbook (2021) by Gill Guggenheim, Brooke Vitale, et al., in which Princess Emunah learns that fairies are known for good acts like generosity and forgiveness. 

2019 Oge Mora (American,–), Author and Illustrator. Saturday, Little Brown, 40pp, 10.4” x 10.5”

*A special person makes a special day

Ava’s mother works six days a week, so when Saturday rolls around the two of them cherish their time together. When everything goes wrong to ruin their trip, Mom has a meltdown and needs her loving daughter to remind her that just being together is the part of Saturday that makes it special. Mora’s radiant, warm and mellow cut-paper collages create each character’s sweet face, just as they did when strangers arrived at the door for Omu’s stew in her 2019 Honor Book, Thank You, Omu! (see Article 5). 

2019 OHora, Zachariah (American, –), Illustrator. Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea, Little Brown, 40pp., 8.8”x11.2”

*With friends there to help, things aren’t too bad

Reuben the bear is the familiar kid in a family or class at school who angrily blames everyone else when something goes wrong. When that plaintive strategy does not work, he claims the awful thing causing the problem was broken to begin with and thus, the “accident” is no one’s fault after all. So it is when Reuben wets himself, he gets away without accepting any responsibility and spends the rest of the day without wearing the offensive “leaky broken pants.”  His buddies are empathetic in ways that suggest they’ve found themselves in a similar situation, and they field Reuben’s accusations with such comforting words as, “It could happen to anyone.”  OHora wrote and illustrated Fuzzy, Inside and Out: A Story About Small Acts of Kindness and Big Hair (2021).

2019 Sydney Smith (Canadian,–), Author and Illustrator. Small in the City, Neal Porter Books, 40 pp., 7.3”x11.3”

*Feeling anxious, but then maybe things aren’t so scary after all

When you are little, bustling city streets with their crowds, towering buildings and traffic on a cold winter’s day can be scary. People rush past and don’t see you, loud noises startle and confuse you, and not knowing what to do next, which way to go or who to ask are big worries for a small person. Smith’s book is a quiet monologue by one little boy on the courage needed by the very young to overcome their fears and strike out into the big, loud world to discover all that is out there. He illustrated I Talk Like a River (2020) by Jordan Scott, “a book for any child who feels lost, lonely, or unable to fit in.”

2020 Margaret Chodos-Irvine (American,–), Illustrator. Where Lily Isn’t, written by Julie Paschkis, Henry Holt, 32pp, 9.3” x 11.2”

*Sadness with sweet memories

All the little things that make a girl love a small, brown dog named Lily change to all the things no longer done by Lily after she is gone. The descriptions and illustrations communicate the girl’s sadness while also showing her acceptance and loving memories for one she has lost. Chodos-Irvine is author and illustrator of the 2004 Caldecott Honor Book, Ella Sarah Gets Dressed (2003), in which the five-year-old defies her family’s suggestions that she wear something other than mismatched clothes (see Article 5). Their objections only bring about pouting, stomping and throwing a toy, three scenes with delightfully recognizable postures and gestures, matched only by a double page spread of charming vignettes showing how a little girl dresses herself. After Ella Sarah gets dressed, her friends arrive for a tea party, each sporting—of course—his/her own five-year-old fashion sense Chodos-Irvine also illustrated Best Best Friends (2006), in which jealousy threatened a friendship. 

2020 Molly Idle (American,–), Illustrator. We Believe in You, written by Beth Ferry, Roaring Brook Press, 32pp, 10.3” x 10.34” 

*Believing in yourself

For this poetic text, Idle creates warm, honest illustrations that inspire children to do what they can do best, even if that is just being themselves. Lingering on pictures that show others in activities that are funny and fun validate that even the youngest or smallest or shortest or plumpest can live up to who they are. Messages are many: affirmation of our own uniqueness does not mean we can not rejoice in others’ achievements; families may value different things, so bringing everyone together encourages a sense of how diverse communities are; and everyone faces many of the same challenges. See also Idle’s 2014 Honor Book Flora and the Flamingo (2013) in Article 5.

Ordering Bibliography

Bang, Molly. When Sophie’s Feelings Are Really, Really Hurt, 2015, Blue Sky Press 

Bottner, Barbara. Priscilla Gorilla illustrated by Michael Emberley, 2017, Atheneum 

Chabbert, Ingrid. The Day I Became a Bird, illustrated by Raul Nieto Guridi, 2016, Kids Can Press

Cordell, Matthew. King Alice, 2018, Mcmillan 

de Sève, Randall. Zola’s Elephant illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, 2018, Houghton Mifflin

Evans, Kristina. What's Special About Me, Mama? Illustrated by Javaka Steptoe, 2011, Little Brown

Frame, Jeron Ashford. Yesterday I Had the Blues, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, 2003, Random House  

Juster, Norton. Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie illustrated by Chris Raschka, 2008, Di Capua 

Loney, Andrea J. Double Bass Blues illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez, 2019, Knopf 

Love, Jessica. Julián Is a Mermaid, 2018, Candlewick 

McKissack, Patricia C. Goin’ Someplace Special, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, 2001, Atheneum

Mora, Oge. Saturday, 2019, Little Brown

Nyong’o, Lupita. Sulwe, illustrated by Vashti Harrison, 2019, Simon and Schuster 

Paschkis, Julie. Where Lily Isn’t, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine, 2020, Henry Holt 

Pippin-Mathur, Courtney. Maya Was Grumpy, 2013, Flashlight Press

Shannon, David. Grow Up, David!, 2018, Blue Sky Press

Shea, Bob. Who Wet My Pants? illustrated by Zachariah OHora, 2019, Little Brown

Shulevitz, Uri. How I Learned Geography, 2008, Farrar 

Smith, Sydney. Small in the City, 2019, Neal Porter Books

Stein, David Ezra. Interrupting Chicken, 2012, Candlewick 

Tan, Shaun. The Red Tree, 2000, Vancouver: Simply Read Books 

Willems, Mo. Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus! 2003, Hyperion

Willems, Mo. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, 2004, Hyperion