Coffee and the Caldecott

It's been 2 weeks since I last wrote here. The last blog entry with its existential question of why I write (and asking why you write) received several great and helpful and encouraging responses. I'm not sure that I have really answered my question, but it was good for me to at least articulate the question. Sometimes that is all that's necessary for a time in the process of searching for purpose.

I'm linking up to Company Girl Coffee with the gals coming through from Home Sanctuary. Welcome. :)

Tomorrow morning I am taking part in a "Brown Bag Day" at my church, where we will be perusing, discussing, and appreciating the value of children's literature. Among a handful of other women, I've been asked to give a presentation; mine is to be about the Caldecott Medal.

Before last month when I was assigned my topic, I did not know much about it. Okay, truth be told, I knew nothing about it. When our pastor's wife asked me to give a presentation on the Caldecott Medal, I thought it was a book and said, "I had never read it, but I could." She is so gracious that I didn't catch her flinch, though I'm sure she did so, on the inside.

Since then, I have borrowed 28 books from my local library, and made great use of the ability to request books from other branches in the county. I have a terrific stack of books in the living room, and it's been a lot of fun to discover so many great stories and artful and creative books.



The Caldecott Medal is an award given annually to "the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the previous year" by the American Library Association. In a way, it is an answer to the Newbery Medal given by the ALA for children's literature, but awarded to the artist, rather than the author. Since 1938, the illustrator has also been the author of the text in 44 of the past 72 awards.

It is named for Randolph Caldecott, an English illustrator from the 1800's, whose paintings graced many nursery rhymes. I didn't realize it until this week, but the pictures associated in my mind with many of the stories were his interpretations of the rhymes.

Part of the criteria involved is that the illustrations be so vital that they are what makes the story what it is.

Of the collection I've gathered, my favorites have been Flotsam by David Wiesner, Time of Wonder and Make Way for Ducklings, both by Robert McCloskey,

Flotsam is fun because it has no text, only pictures. A boy is investigating things he finds at the beach when he discovers an underwater camera washed up on shore. He develops the film and sees fantastical images from under the sea. The final photo is a picture of the last person to have found the camera, holding a photo of the person before, holding a photo of the person before, and so on. So he follows suit, taking a photo of himself and casting the camera back into the ocean to be found by yet another young scientist. If I ever find it at a book sale, I'm picking that one up.

Make Way for Ducklings is one I remember as one a great book that I read and asked my mom to read to me countless times when I was little. McCloskey's "Time of Wonder" is suddenly my favorite, because it is really so well executed. The pictures are beautiful, and the text is creative and poetic. But together, they make you feel like you are on the islands of Maine with this vacationing family for a summer. I wish so much that I had not had to return it to the library because I want to bring it to the event tomorrow. There is one particular scene depicted in which you "watch" rain clouds begin to form, then get darker; then you can see the rain begin to fall, and the storm is heading toward you. As you turn the page you almost gasp and get excited because now "the rain is falling on you!"

I'm excited to bring these books and what I've discovered about them to the group tomorrow. I hope what I can convey is a sense of wonder at the fun and wealth of children's books.