15 Caldecott Medal winners annotations 1

15 Caldecott Medal winners annotations

Tyler Waller

Survey of Children's Literature

Barbara Ward
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Wolf in the snow by Matthew Cordell (Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan)

This book was a really fun read that honestly threw me for a couple twists. When I saw that the

man was going for a walk in the snow and that wolf were close by, my first thought was that the

wolves were going to try to attack him. I didn't even see the wolf cub at the beginning. Being so

focused on the elder wolves, I did not expect for the cub to get left behind and I also did not

think the man would help the cub find his pack. But I think this is where the theme and the

purpose of the book is exposed. I believe the theme was loyalty, a trait that is deeply rooted in

dogs and wolves alike. I believe the author also wanted to highlight the phrase “what goes

around comes around”, what I mean by that is that the man helped the cub find his family so the

pack of wolves did the same for him.

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe (Little, Brown

and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.)

I absolutely loved this story and the fact that it is a true story makes it even more amazing and

fascinated me even more because I love biographies and autobiographies. I think this is a

beautiful that it highlights minorities and puts a spotlight on their excellence. At the political and

social point the United states is at right now, I believe this is a book that should be in every

school library and shared with as many students as possible. It would be nothing but beneficial

for young children as they begin to learn about the world, including the good and the bad. I am

Puerto Rican myself, so I felt a strong connection with this book and an extra sense of pride in

my ethnicity. I specifically loved that he would draw crowns on people and his art pieces he

would make.
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The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat (Little, Brown and Company,

a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.)

I think this is such a unique and fun story that kids could love and cherish for years. It is right up

young children’s alley as many kids have imaginary friends or just struggle to make friends in

general. I felt that this story highlighted that and said that it was mainstream to struggle to make

friends because it is a scary task for kids to do. From an illustration standpoint, I thought the

pictures were amazing and child-friendly by taking something scary like a monster and making it

friendly so that children may feel a sense of bravery and realize that they don't have to be afraid

of a monster. This is defielty a book, I will be wanting to read to my future class because there is

a lot of valuable information that students can walk away with.

This Is Not My Hat​ by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press)

Honestly, in the beginning it was a little hard for me to understand what exactly the purpose of

this book was. I may of had more expectations than I should of going into, I felt like there should

have been more of a plot or storyline. I do however like that the story tells kids not to steal from

one another no matter what. But I do still feel like there should have been a better resolution to

the smaller fish stealing from the bigger fish, where the small fish has to face a reproccusion

cause of his actions. What I really enjoyed about this book was the illustrations, I felt like they

were simple but yet the illustrator paid great attention to detail of the fish and plants. It is a book

I would still put in the library of my class but maybe not center a lesson or book report around.
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A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka (Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House

Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.)

I broke the number one rule of books, I judged a book by its cover or atleast by looking through

the pages and realizing that there were no words. My original thought was how are kids or

anyone who is reading it going to understand the book if there are no words for kids to read, but

of course I was wrong. I think that the exclusion of words made the story amazing and gave kids

the opportunity to make a story for themselves or interpret it in any way they please. For me, it

was clear to see that this book was about a dog and his love for a ball that could easily be

translated to a kid and their favorite toy. It was very fascinating for me to see a story be told so

vividly without any words. The illustrations played a huge role in making this possible. Each

picture showed the dog’s emotions throughout the story, which I think is a hard thing to do.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead (Neal Porter

Books/Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group)

I was so fascinated by this story from the beginning to the end and I know young children would

be too. The driving concept that I loved most about this story was that the author gave emotions

and actions to the animals. I loved this because obviously elephants don't play chess and owls

don't need to be read a bedtime story but through the story, children can feel a connection with

the animals as they might do similar things in their daily life. Kids love when animals are given

human traits and actions. The illustrations for the story were amazing, I was in awe a lot of the

time. I enjoyed the theme that if you do good to others, others will do good to you. I think that is
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an amazing lesson for kids to learn as they are growing up and beginning to make friendships

with the other kids in their class.

The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown and Company)

My immediate reaction to this story was that it reminded me a lot of the very beginning of the

new live action Lion King movie where they follow a mouse’s journey into Scar’s cave. But in

the movie, it is only a small clip that last for only 3-4 minutes so I almost thought of this story as

an extension of the clip. The story itself was full of valuable lessons that young students can

learn from. The first lesson that is told is the power of grace, this is represented when the lion

chooses not to eat the mouse but instead let him go free about his business. But then when the

lion is stuck in a trap the mouse returns the favor by chewing through the rope and setting the

lion free. This showed the 2nd lesson, “do good things to others and good things will happen to

you”. This is definitely a book I will include in my library in my future classroom.

The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson

(Houghton Mifflin Company)

My favorite part of this book is the fact that the only colors in the story are black and yellow. I

think what makes this so great is that because most things are black, the objects that are yellow

are highlighted and as a result have a sense of importance for one reason or another. I felt that the

yellow was supposed to represent light in the night. With consideration that almost all kids are

scared of the dark when they are young, this is the perfect book to read to a child before they go
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to sleep so that they can sleep peacefully and feel protected by a light. I find it amazing that you

can take so much from a book like this solely based on the colors that are included. The storyline

is amazing as well as it almost takes you on a journey to discover all the beauty of nature and

specifically highlighting the “lights” that children see and are around all the time.

The Hello, Goodbye Window illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster (Michael di

Capua/Hyperion)

I thought this was a very sweet book that has a lot of manners and lessons to offer to kids. I

really enjoyed how it was about a girl and her love for her grandparents, I think that would help

remind young kids how much they love their grandparents and appreciate them more. This book

would help kids to think about what exactly makes their grandparents so special. The

illustrations were so unique and made use of many colors in abstract ways that pose appealing to

younger kids and adults too. One of my favorite parts of this book was the fact that both the

grandparents and parents were interracial. I think this is something that is not present enough in

children's literature, so this book’s ability to break the stigma of only white couples is great for

kids to read and become familiar with.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein (Roaring Brook

Press/Millbrook Press)

What I found so amazing about this story was the fact that it is a true story, I love that it shows

kids bravery and to do what you love. The part that scares me though about this story is that it

may give younger kids the wrong idea and try to do very dangerous stunts that may leave them
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injured or get them in trouble. I absolutely love though that the story is based around the twin

towers, something that the next generation will mostly have no idea about, I think this book

could tell kids what their true significance is to the United States in a fairly simple way. I think

the book defines the twin towers as a sense of freedom, which is something that I believe they

should be remembered for. The illustrations are vivid and full of color which helped me to

visualize more clearly what it would look like to see a man walking between the 2 biggest

buildings in the US at the time.

My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Brook Press/Millbrook Press)

This story reminded me a lot of the relationship between friends or siblings, that sometimes they

have good ideas but other times they have bad ideas. It is then up to the child to decide whether it

is good or bad, either way their relationship is too valuable to lose so still support that friend or

sibling. This story actually really resonated with me because it is very similar to my sister and I’s

relationship, but instead we switch off being the rabbit and the mouse. I also enjoyed that the

story shows that the rabbit would do anything for the mouse, no matter how crazy or excessive it

was. I loved that the pictures were very realistic because those are the types of pictures that

appeal to me. I would definitely read this story to my class and keep it in my classroom.

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin)

I absolutely loved this approach to an old traditional story, I think it is refreshing to put a twist on

a story that so many people know and love. I had never read this story before so going into it I

expected to read the same old story but maybe a little bit different, I am very glad I was wrong.
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This might actually be my favorite version of the story. What I loved most was the story

crossovers because I personally find it fascinating to have characters from different stories

interact with each other to see how they would get along. Additionally it helps to point students

out to other great stories that they will enjoy. The drawings of the characters were amazing and

something that kids could look at for a long time just being fascinated.

So You Want to Be President? illustrated by David Small, written by Judith St. George (Philomel

Books)

I think this an essential book that all teachers should have in their classrooms just because of

how much valuable knowledge about presidents it presents. What makes this story so perfect for

kids is both the fun facts about the presidents and the fun pictures. This is a great book to read

for kids as they begin to learn about past presidents so that they can become familiar with them

and as a result they can hopefully begin to build a fascination for presidents and History in

general. Additionally, it shows kids that anything is possible, so don't give up on your dreams. In

my opinion, there is no better message than that. Kids should always feel supported to do what

they love.

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback (Viking)

I loved that this story was simple but yet had such an important underlying meaning. This is what

I’ve come to love about children’s stories and why it is so important for kids to read these kinds

of stories at a young age. I found that this story’s theme was that everything has value and taught

the importance of reusing things to have new purposes. I think this is a great lesson for kids
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because a lot of the time I have found that younger children tend to get fascinated by an item for

a short period than immediately forget its value once a new item is introduced. This honestly

happens to adults as well with things like a new phone or laptop, completely discrediting the

value of the older item. The sooner kids learn this lesson, the less likely they will be to fall into

this habit and they will truly value the things they have.

Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann (Putnam)

I thought this was a very cute story that highlighted the relationship between a man and his dog

while also telling kids how to play and be safe. This is definitely a story that kids would love to

read and learn a lot from the reading. I remember seeing this book in the library of my

elementary schools but I never picked it up to read it but now that I have, I am upset I didn't read

it sooner. I think that the inclusion of animals in stories helps to keep kids interested in books

because it is almost as if animals are mysterious cause they obvious cant speak like humans. This

combination of a great story and great illustrations helps to remind kids be safe and always stick

with your buddy.