I do not profess to be an art critic; however, through the inspiration of my fellow bloggers, I am writing a series of articles about winners of the Caldecott Medal. This series began with my article about the origins of the Caldecott Medal. Since I do not know a lot about art but what I see, I will simply give a brief synopsis of each book along with some comments about the artwork. Because I do not have the will power to write about the winning books and the Honor books (which would probably take me months), I will list the Honor books under their respective years. I hope you enjoy my series. Comments are welcomed!!
1938
“Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book” illustrated by Dorothy P. Lastrop; text selected by Helen Dean Fish
This book is the first recipient of the Caldecott Medal. Like the title of the book suggests, “Animals of the Bible” contains verses from the King James Bible accompanied by artwork to help illustrate those verses. It has verses from the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. All of the illustrations are black and white and wonderfully done. My favorite illustration is the one for “The Story of Jonah and the Great Fish.” It depicts Jonah being whisked into the whale’s mouth with a huge wave. The drawing makes it look like the wind is whipping around them and the sky is stormy. Beautifully done.
Honor Books
- “Four and Twenty Blackbirds” illustrated by Robert Lawson; text compiled by Helen Dean Fish
- “Seven Simeons: A Russian Tale” retold and illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff
1939
“Mei Li” by Thomas Handforth
This book tells the story about a girl named Mei Li and how her family and their village prepare to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The premise of the book seems to be that girls can not do the same things that boys can. Mei Li sneaks out of the house to go into the city with her brother San Yu and tries many different things with performers who are around to help celebrate. Mei Li’s true wish is to have money to bring home a present for the Kitchen God, but she thinks that she would only have money if she were a princess. It turns out that she is considered the princess of her household, which is good enough for Mei Li. This book’s illustrations are also in black and white. It looks like long strokes were used to create the pictures and they are incredible. My favorite picture in this book is the map that is at the beginning, before the title page. It shows the entire village.
Honor Books
- “Andy and the Lion” by James Daugherty
- “Barkis” by Clare Turlay Newberry
- “The Forest Pool” by Laura Adams Armer
- “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Wanda Gag
- “Wee Gillis” illustrated by Robert Lawson; text: Munro Leaf
1940
“Abraham Lincoln” by Ingri & Edgar Parin d’Aulaire
This book is all about — yes — Abraham Lincoln. It tells the story of when he was born, how he grew up, and his journey through life all the way to the presidency. The book ends with the end of the Civil War. The artwork in this book is different from the first two recipients of the Caldecott Medal. Some of the drawings are in black and white, but there are also quite a few that are in color. Many look as if they were done in colored pencil and some look like they were done in chalk, but then again, I do not know what illustrators used back in the 1940s. They are quite bold, nonetheless.
Honor Books
- “Cock-a-doodle-doo” by Berta & Elmer Hader
- “Madeleine” by Ludwig Bemelmans
- “The Ageless Story” by Lauren Ford
1941
“They were Strong and Good” by Robert Lawson
After having two books receive the Honor award previously, Robert Lawson won the Medal in 1941. He wrote this book about his parents and both sets of grandparents. In the Foreword of this book, he states that although he may have mixed some things up that it doesn’t matter. He considers his story to be the story of all people “who call ourselves Americans.” Although the pictures that he drew of his parents do not quite look like portraits, what is important is that this is how he expressed his love and respect for them. The pictures that he drew to help illustrate the stories told are very detailed. He draws each description so precisely that it is easy to see why he won the Caldecott Medal for this book.
Honor Book
- “April’s Kittens” by Clare Turlay Newberry
1942
“Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey
“Make Way for Ducklings” is the beautiful story of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard who are trying to find a proper place to hatch and raise their ducklings. The tale tells how the Mallards fly to Boston and find a little island on which to make a nest. Before Mrs. Mallard lays her eggs, she and Mr. Mallard befriend a policeman named Michael who feeds them every day. When the ducklings are born, Mr. Mallard goes to the Public Garden to find another place for them to live and agrees to meet Mrs. Mallard and the ducklings in one week. In the meantime, Mrs. Mallard teaches the ducklings everything they need to know, including how to follow her. On the journey to meet Mr. Mallard in the Public Garden, the policeman Michael comes to their rescue by helping them get across streets. The drawings are very cute and help to bring the story to life.
Honor Books
- “An American ABC” by Maud & Miska Petersham
- “In My Mother’s House” illustrated by Velino Herrera; text: Ann Nolan Clark
- “Paddle-To-The-Sea” by Holling C. Holling
- “Nothing at All” by Wanda Gag
Please come back soon for the next installment of the Caldecott Medal series, 1943-1947.