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!
The illustrations in The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster, illustrated by Chris Raschka (Caldecott Winner 2006), are wonderful: child-like illustrations done in watercolor, crayon, and marker illustrate a story told by a child. I loved the illustrations, for, despite the child-like feel to them, they were intricate and detailed.
The story is a fun account, especially for grandparents to read to children. A little girl tells us of her overnight visit to Nanna and Poppy’s house, and all the wonderful things about it, from a young child’s perspective.
For example, she says “When I get tired I come in and take my nap and nothing happens until I get up.” What a perfect way of explaining a child’s perspective on the world.