My Top Ten Review of Caldecott Award and Honor Winning Books

 Santat, D. (2016). The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary  Friend. Sydney, N.S.W.: Hachette Australia.

This story promotes the imagination of the child. It is a unique story of a childhood imaginary friend, but its told from the perspective of the imaginary friend. This story comes alive as Beekle leaves an island far away where imaginary friends were created. He takes a magical journey to the real world to meet a real child. The illustrations for this book were done in pencil, crayon, watercolor, ink and Adobe Photoshop.  (Caldecott Winner 2015)

Juster, N., & Raschka, C. (2013). The Hello, Goodbye Window. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

The kitchen window at Nanna and Poppy’s house, for one little girl, is a magical gateway. Told through the voice of the little girl the story unfolds the loving and endearing bond between a grandchild and grandparents. The paint box colors beautifully compliment the illustrations of this book. The drawings are those like a child’s drawings.  (Caldecott Winner 2006)

Sendak, M. (1963). Where The Wild Things Are. Harper Collins.

This classic picture book tells the story of Max who is full of mischief and a grin. Max is soon terrorizing everything in the house including the dog. His mother sends him to bed with no supper. Soon Max imagination turns his room into a magical island where he is king of the “Wild Things”. Much of the story can be told from the illustrations and the body language that the characters exhibit. (Caldecott Winner 1964)

McCloskey, R. (1941). Make Way for Ducklings. New York: Viking Press.

The story begins with Mr. and Mrs. Mallard looking for a place to live.  Finally, they find a small tiny island in the middle of Boston Public Garden. Soon Mrs. Mallard thinks it’s far too busy and dangerous to raise a family there. This story embraces a mother’s love for her children. The New York Times describes Make Way for Ducklings “one of the merriest picture books ever”. McCloskey’s soft, brown-tones illustrations sophistically bring to life the Boston of the 1940s. (Caldecott Winner 1942)

Young, E. (1989). Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood story from China. New York: Philomel Books.

This powerful version of The Red Riding Hood story features three young girls who are left alone while their mother goes to visit Po Po. Po Po is the word for grandmother in Chinese. This classic tale takes an unusual twist, when the oldest daughter Shang devises a clever plan to save her and her sisters from the bad wolf. (Caldecott Winner 1990)

 Hader, B., & Hader, E. (1948). The big snow. New York: Macmillan.

 This book shows the beauty of the woodland animals big and small preparing for winter. As the geese fly south and the leaves blow from the trees and drop to the ground all the animals know winter is coming. When the big snow covers all the beautiful countryside. If it weren’t for the animal’s friends in the big stone house who give them food, they might have not survived. The beautiful pictures come back and forth between color and black and white. (Caldecott Winner 1949)

Steptoe, J. (2016). Radiant child: the story of young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

 This is the incredible story of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Jean-Michel is a famous artist who is born in Brooklyn, NY. His father is Hattian and his mother is Puerto Rican. Through the lush, color rich pictures we see the world through the artistic eye of Jean-Michel Basquiat. (Caldecott Winner 2017)

Shannon, D. (1998). No, David! New York: Scholastic Publications.

 This book is about a precocious and mischievous boy named David. All through the book his mother yells No David! David gets himself into a world wind of trouble. Even though David gets into trouble his mother is still there to embrace him in a loving hug! This book is guaranteed to bring out the giggle in the whole family. (Caldecott Honor 1998)

 Stevens, J. (1995). Tops & bottoms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

 This story is an old American folk tale of the clever witty Hare and the lazy spoiled Bear. Throughout the story Hare cleverly makes plans to overcome his family hardships. Through this cautionary tale it sends the reader the strong message of working hard to get the things you want.  (Caldecott Honor 1996)

 Goble, P. (2007). The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses. Paw Prints.

  This story is about a young Native American girl who loves horses. She would ride with them, speak to them, feed them, and take care of them when they were hurt. One day she falls asleep in the valley and a terrible thunderstorm takes her away with her beloved horses. The story takes you away with the rich, vibrant, earth tone illustrations.