My Caldecott challenge: Although these Caldecott winner and honor books are not, for the most part, books I’ve read aloud to my son, I still found them interesting. A few I had strong negative opinions of; they show that even books that earned the Caldecott award do become dated!
1 is One by Tasha Tudor (Caldecott Honor 1957) has the same style of careful and realistic illustrations that delighted in A is for Annabelle (thoughts here). In 1 is One, we learn our numbers by viewing various scenes, from “one duckling swimming in a dish” to “nineteen flowers that little Jane has drawn” and “twenty geese flying towards the dawn.”
I really liked the illustrations, but I felt that A is for Annabelle had more of a connection (a doll and her accessories) that brought the entire book together. Tudor’s illustrations and rhymes don’t connect in this book. Its art is well worth the Caldecott honor, but unfortunately, as a re-readable concept book, it doesn’t stand out today.
