Traditional Literature: Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simonds, Nina, Leslie Swartz and The Children’s Museum, Boston. 2002. MOONBEAMS, DUMPLINGS & DRAGON BOATS: A TREASURE OF CHINESE HOLIDAY TALES, ACTIVITIES & RECIPES. Ill. by Meilo So. NY: Gulliver Books/Harcourt Inc. ISBN 0152019839.

PLOT SUMMARY
To support, build, and educate family traditions of the Chinese culture Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes presents four Chinese festivals: the Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival, Qing Ming and the Cold Foods Festival, The Dragon Boat Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. There are individual meanings and stories, crafts and activities, and cooking recipes that are related to each festival and are fun for all ages.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The collaborations of Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz and Boston’s Children’s Museum have brought the world a fun and educational book to learn about the traditional festivals of the Chinese culture and how some people celebrate them, as noted in the Author’s notes. Another explanation made before delving into the festivals, the book introduces the Chinese lunar calendar, which is vital to determining when each festival begins.

The text is wonderfully detailed and simple to read as it describes the special meanings of each festival, for example the Quin Ming Festival is to honor and celebrate the dead (Simonds, et al, p. 34) provides stories that are related to the celebrations. For example, for the Dragon Boat Festival, there is the wonderfully descriptive tale is the one of the poet and statesman Qu Yuan, who had been banished to the country attempts for fairness in his state and had thrown himself into the river upon hearing his beloved state was being taken over by an enemy troops. From years later as a fisherman made his offer to the river dragon Qu Yuan appears asking to be fed because the swift river dragon does not share the rice offerings. So every year people row their Dragon Boats on the river to honor and celebrate the poet-patriot (Simonds, et al, p. 52).

The crafts and recipes for all festivals are absolutely fun and delicious. There are instructions to make kites and pins wills to celebrate the Quin Ming and the Cold Foods Festival. There are recipes for New Year Dumplings and Fresh Spring Rolls. Along with the crafts there are other activities for all to enjoy such as learning Lantern Riddles which are recited by many during the Lantern Festival.

Meilo So’s watercolor illustrations are full of details, bold in color and full of whimsy. At times the art is quite exact in its design; however, for the majority of the book it is freestyle. There are certain moments that they even resemble the beautiful classic watercolor art of the traditional Chinese culture.

The format Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes is of good size. The pages are primarily dedicated to the text; however, on every page there is at least one of So's artistic illustrations. However, for every introduction page to the each festival there is a double-page spread of brilliantly colored illustrations of that festival. The immense amount of details in the stories and fun activities (both crafts and the recipes) allows both children and adults to get involved in learning about the Chinese culture and building family traditions.

BOOK REVIEWS
BOOKLIST
Gr. 4-6. This brightly illustrated, large-format book introduces Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival, Qing Ming and the Cold Foods Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Each section explains the holiday, tells stories related to it, and offers at least one activity and one recipe. Attractively designed, the pages include plenty of white space, creating a fine background for So's brilliantly colored, stylized paintings. The recipes, some of which require the use of food processors and hot woks, are often beyond the culinary skills of the average child, though interested adults can use them to broaden their children's experience of Chinese culture. The activities--riddles to tell and paper lanterns to make, among them--look like fun for young people. Lists of books and Web sites and a pronunciation guide round out the treatment. Carolyn Phelan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes by Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz and the Children's Museum, Boston, illus. by Meilo So, each of a quartet of holidays includes a brief background and introduces a bevy of crafts, recipes and legends. "The Story of the Kitchen God" kicks off the section on the Chinese New Year (and the reason behind serving the traditional tanggua, or candied melons); a recipe for Five-Treasure Moon Cakes stuffed with apricot preserves, pitted dates, sweet coconut and raisins helps youngsters celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Step-by-step illustrations aid in food preparation or crafts such as New Year Prints or Good Luck Characters in this elegantly designed volume. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

CONNECTIONS
*Learn more about a specific Chinese festival with books like Lanterns and Firecrackers: A Chinese New Year Story by Johnny Zucker and Jan Barger Cohen.
*Read more stories from the Chinese culture like The Dragon Emperor: A Chinese Folktale by Tricia Morrissey and Cat and Rate: The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac by Ed Young.
*Ask the children if the have their own family traditions and if they were based on a specific culture.

Traditional Literature: The Legend of the White Buffalo Woman

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Goble, Paul. 1998. THE LEGEND OF THE WHITE BUFFALO WOMAN. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society. ISBN 0792270746.

PLOT SUMMARY
After a great flood that destroyed its people, the Lakota (Sioux) nation was born again by the marriage of a Woman of the Earth and the Eagle of the Sky. However, after suffering devastation from attacks from their enemies, they abandon their forested homes and move to the plains. There, while searching for the buffaloes, two young men discover a beautiful and mysterious young woman who has been sent by the Great Spirit to help their people. By presenting the Lakota leader Buffalo Standing Upright with the Sacred Calf Pipe for the people to use as they pray. Once presenting the gift and telling of its power, the woman walks into the plains, lies on the ground and turns into a white buffalo calf, and joined the herd of buffaloes that had gathered. The pipe has brought the Lakota and the Buffalo Nation together. As another gift to the Lakota, the buffaloes brought the red stone, which is said to be the flesh and blood of their ancestors who were lost in the flood, to allow everyone to make their own pipes.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Out of all of the Lakota legends the one of the White Buffalo Woman and the Sacred Calf Pipe is the most sacred. To tell the this story Paul Goble, as he states in his Author’s Note before the story begins, incorporated several other myths that are related to the legend to make a complete story. One about the great flood that wiped out the nation and how it was brought back.

The text of the books is engaging because it tells such an important story for this Lakota people. It relays the myths and legends in a simple manner. On occasion, Goble included actual Lakota words such as “Wakan Tanka,” meaning Great Spirit, and “Mitakuye oyasin,” which means, “We are all related.”

As wonderful as the story is, it is the book’s illustrations that makes that grabs the reader’s eyes and love this book. Combining watercolor and gauche paint as well as black ink, Goble creates highly detailed double-page illustrations with strong use of lines. The characters are in two-dimensional with primary emphasis on their clothing. Every single element of the clothing and ornamentations are absolutely and amazing accurate to the Lakota, as well as any other western tribes under the Sioux nations, particularly with the use of geometric designs. To continue the discussion of the use of geometric designs, to represent the sunbeams of both the rising and setting sun Goble uses traditional diamond shapes in repetition. To add to this he also uses colors to signify the warm and cool feeling of the sunbeams: red and yellow for the rising sun and red and blue for the setting sun.

The third and final wonderful example of traditional deign element is the illustrations depicting the attacks from the enemies. To approach this sensitive subject with tact as well being another method to keep the sense of the of culture, the illustrations shows the battle through simple yet detailed stick figures that are drawn on a the covering of a tipi. On one side of the tipi cover there are the irregular holes that are the support polls go through, and on the other end, just in the corner, is a glimpse of the traditional quillwork design characteristic to the Plains Indians.

The overall techniques that Goble employs for his illustrations are not entirely in the traditional painterly sense, even though his primary medium is paint. His use of the different thickness of paint gives his work depth despite the fact that everything is primarily in two-dimensional, which ties wonderfully into the traditional style of painterly art done by the Native Americans. Secondly, the unique negative space within the flat artwork, seen as fine white lines around characters and other elements, gives the amazing appearance of being done by relief printing like woodcuts. This is especially seen when examining the cloudy skies and the great waves of water.

In addition to the story and beautiful illustrations, Goble also provides and wonderfully detailed description and meanings of all of the elements a pipe like the one in the story. The amazingly life-like detailed illustrated views of the pipe were wonderfully done by a pipe-make named Myron Taylor.

Because Goble’s The Legend of the Buffalo Woman tells the story of and from a specific culture in our nation and displays illustrations that represent many aspects of Native American art, this book is not only a great storybook but also a book to educate young readers with.

BOOK REVIEWS
BOOKLIST
Gr. 4-8. In this picture book for older readers, Goble uses his characteristic decorative paintings to help retell an important sacred legend of the Lakota people. He describes a great flood, which killed almost all life on the earth, and relates how the nation came to be born again from the union of a woman of the earth and an eagle of the sky. He then explains how the people came upon hard and frightening times and tells of the arrival of the powerful White Buffalo Woman, who gave the Lakota people the Sacred Calf Pipe, a gift of the Great Spirit. The use of boldface headings and the braiding together of several myths interrupt the flow of the text, leaving readers to pick up additional meaning from the illustrations, but Goble fans, young and old, will enjoy the details in the clothing and landscape. The cartoonlike battle scene, with bloody, rolling heads, will certainly attract the attention of some young readers. In addition to notes regarding the significance of the tale, how he determined the style of clothing, and why he utilized specific related myths in his retelling, Goble lists primary and secondary sources. Additional information about Indian pipes is appended, as is a map pinpointing Pipestone Quarry, now a national monument. ((Reviewed March 15, 1998)) -- Karen Morgan. Booklist, published by the American Library Association.

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
"Goble's crystalline illustrations spread across the double pages, each a model of design, clarity, and balance. From the roiling clouds of the flood scene to the brilliant stylized sun that accompanies White Buffalo Woman, the paintings convey both mood and motion. Goble notes that the pipe portrayed is not the Sacred Calf Pipe, which should never be reproduced, a tangible reminder of the enduring respect the author/illustrator demonstrates in his work. While the sophistication of the story and the episodic nature of the narrative may limit the book's audience, visually it is one of Goble's most stunning offerings to date." (44 no. 5 (May 1998) p. 154)

CONNECTIONS
*Learn more about the legend of the White Buffalo by reading books like The Secret of the White Buffalo by C. J. Taylor and The White Buffalo Woman: An Indian Legend by Christine Crowl.
*Learn about the buffaloes of the Great Plains by reading books like The Return of the Buffaloes: A Plains Indian Story about Famine and Renewal of the Earth by Paul Goble and Where the Buffaloes Begin by Olaff Baker and Stephen Grammell.
*Have the children learn more about reading books like Traditional Native American Arts and Activities by Arlette N. Braman and creating their own artwork in traditional geometric and organic designs.

Traditional Literature: Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lowell, Susan. 2000. CINDY ELLEN: A WILD WESTERN CINDERELLA. Ill. by Jane Manning. NY: HarperCollins Publishing. ISBN 9780064438643.

PLOT SUMMARY
Yee haw! It's a Cinderella story... western style! Cindy Ellen, the sweetest and most talented cowgirl in the west, is treated like a ranch hand by her bossy stepmother and is name called by her two lazy stepsisters. But with the help of a fairy godmother who brandishes a golden six-shooter that fires magic fairy dust, she gathers up the guts and the duds, including diamond studded spurs, to attend the cattle king's two-day rodeo and square dance, and ultimately wins the heart of the cowboy Joe Prince. In classic style, after the second night of square dancing Cindy Ellen leaves behind one of her diamond spurs among the cacti as she runs back to the ranch. Throughout the known territory, Joe Prince searches for the mysterious cowgirl and the boot that fits the spur until he comes to Cindy Ellen's father's ranch. With a final fire from the godmother's pistol, everyone lives happily ever after.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Inspired by the classic French Cinderella tale by Charles Perrault, Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella, with its equal combination of Susan Lowell's funny and descriptive story and Jane Manning's colorful watercolor illustrations, is a wonderful fractured version of the Cinderella fairy tale.

With descriptive expressions like "west of the Mississippi" and "It sounded like sliver bells mixed with dynamite," and words like "fandango," "sugarfoot," and "gumption," Lowell, a cowgirl herself, truly captures the essence of being in the Wild West as it gives the characters and story personality, especially in the case of the magic pistol wielding fairy godmother. With such wonderful language the readers are extremely motivated (it would be too hard not to) to read the story aloud with a western or even a Texas accent!

Manning uses her watercolors in various ways to create depth to her artwork. First, for the background the paint and its colors are soft which, realistically represents the dusty desert. In comparison, the foreground's colors are bolder and the overall design of the faces and clothing of he characters, as well as the cacti and the local animal life. Another great element of the illustrations is their perspective. Instead of seeing the illustrations straight on, Manning put every single picture in a different perspective by focusing on a certain element(s) to match the story, for example as the story describes how the Cindy Ellen’s stepmother orders her to work the coordinating illustration shows Cindy Ellen kneeling at the bottom corner of the page nailing a line of barb wire to a fence post with the stepmother looming over here with a stern face and hands on her wide hips taking center stage.

The text and the illustrations equally share the pages of this book. For half of the book, in double-page spread format, one page is entirely dedicated to the artwork and the other page displays the text with a small illustration of a rabbit or stepsister flying in the air after being bucked off a bronco in a negative space. The second of the book, the illustrations take up the entire double-page spread with the text between major elements of the art, such as between the Cindy Ellen and Joe Prince and the fairy godmother.

The final element of Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella that makes this a unique modern fairy tale is the fact that the godmother’s magic is not the only thing that transforms Cindy Ellen. She has to look in herself for what Godmother called “gumption” because “[m]agic is plumb worthless with out [it]” and that what Cindy Ellen needs is “some gravel in your gizzard. Grits! Guts!” (Lowell, p.8).

BOOK REVIEWS
HORN BOOK GUIDE
Wielding a golden pistol, Cindy Ellen's fairy godmother not only conjures up riding clothes and diamond-studded spurs for Cindy, she gives her gumption, and Cindy outrides everyone at the rodeo, winning the heart of the cattle king's son. Expressive regional turns of phrase and exuberant full-color comic illustrations in skewed perspectives place the action squarely in the dry desert of the West. Copyright 2001 of The Horn Book, Inc. (September 1, 2000)

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
K-Gr 3-Lowell has set another classic tale in a Wild West setting. Cindy Ellen was a rancher's daughter who had a "snaky old stepmother" and two stepsisters who "never did a lick of work all day." She also had lots of gumption and, with the help of some magic and a diamond spur, she "got hitched and lived happily ever after in a ranch house full of love and rodeo trophies." The characters and dialogue are fresh, but remain true to the spirit of the tale, from the fairy godmother with her magic pistols to Joe Prince, a rich rancher's handsome son whom Cindy beats in the rodeo competition one day and charms at the square dance the next evening. The heroine is the very picture of spirited sweetness, with auburn hair, a "daredevil grin," and a sprinkle of freckles across her nose. The text is lengthy for a picture book, but is told in language as lively, colorful, and detailed as the watercolor illustrations, and is a delight to read aloud. An abundance of action combined with humor and high-spirited hyperbole make this a rip-roaring rendition that will hold children's attention all the way to the satisfying, though expected, conclusion. Round up some listeners and have a ball!-Starr LaTronica, Four County Library System, Vestal, NY Copyright 2000 (June 1, 2000)

CONNECTIONS
*Read other Cinderella books that are both the traditional versions (by Perrault and the brother Grimm) like Marcia Brown’s Cinderella and that are fractured like Bubba, The Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman and different cultural versions like The Way Meat Loves Salt: A Cinderella Tale from the Jewish Tradition by Nina Jaffe.
*Read more books about the rodeo likes Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett and about cowgirls and cowboys like Cowboys and Cowgirls: Yippee Yay by Gail Gibbons and Born to Be a Cowgirl: A Spirited Ride Through the Old West by Candace Savage.
*Have fun while reading the book by creating cowboy and cowgirl hats from brown paper bags for the children to wear.

Picture Book: So, What's It Like To Be A Cat?

BIBLOGRAPHY
Kuskin, Karla. 2005. SO, WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE A CAT? Ill. by Betsy Lewin. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689847335.

PLOT SUMMARY
For a class assignment, an inquisitive boy chooses a dignified cat as his interview subject. With eloquence and expressive movement, the cat addresses the questions that everyone wonders about the life of a cat, such as were does he sleep, if he likes the people he is living with, and what else does he do other than sleep?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Artist Betsy Lewin uses watercolor to create the illustrations. The white background of the page enhances the translucent colors, making their over appearance more vivid. The free and fluid movement of the watercolors truly captures the body language, moods, and facial expressions found in all felines. Half way through the book, the illustrations truly become lyrical works of art. As the cat describes how he leaps and dances, the coloring flows off into the white background, which matches the floating movement of the feline.

Though the illustrations take dominance in this picture book, they also compliment the dialogue text. As engaging as it counterpart, the text truly shows the personality of the feline character. The text is written in rhyme; however, the rhyming scheme as no true pattern. At times the rhyming has a good flow as the boy asks his question and the cat replies; however, the cadence, particularly when transitioning form one page to another, becomes interrupted. Thusly said, the book is easier to read aloud than silently in one’s head. To continue the theme of an interview, the text font that is used for the boy’s questions looks like a child’s handwriting while the text font used for the cat’s replies are more bold, which matches his personality.

Through both work of author Karla Kuskin and illustrator Betsy Lewin So, What’s It Like To Be A Cat does indeed capture the essence of the inner thoughts and life of a cat, which readers who have cats as pets will truly relate and agree with.

REVEWS
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Lewin's (Cat Count) title page illustration cleverly makes clear the premise of Kuskin's (Toots the Cat, reviewed above) playful poem by featuring an announcement on a schoolroom blackboard: "Today's Assignment: An Interview." A boy sits in a pupil's wooden chair with paper and pencil while a gray cat reclines in a director's chair, as if she were the prized guest of a late night show. "So, what's it like to be a cat?" asks the red-haired boy. "I'm very glad you asked me that," answers the yellow-eyed feline, and she launches into a description of her habits ("slipping out on silent feet,/ I search for something nice to eat") and the differences between cats and other creatures. The boy's questions punctuate his subject's self-centered riffs about where she sleeps and demonstrations of how well she can leap. Lewin's fetchingly feline black-lined watercolors on stark white pages model how the pet can "bounce and pounce/ and slide and sally,/ rush and run/ and twirl and spring" until she literally knocks her interviewer off his chair. The furry star is fittingly egotistical and arch, whimsical and proud. At times, the rhyming text seems a tad formal for a conversation, but throughout Lewin underscores the humor inherent in Kuskin's depiction of a cat's narcissistic existence, and the black-lined gray heroine exhibits all that a feline should be "Meow. And how." Ages 3-8."(July 25, 2005)

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
"PreS-Gr 3-Two award winners team up to explore playfully the essence of being a cat. The framework of an interview between a boy and a feline allows for a series of skillfully constructed calls and responses. For example, the youngster asks, "Do you have a kitty bed/with your picture at the head?" and his subject replies, "I do not have a kitty bed/to rest my kitty tail and head./I'd rather/sleep most anywhere/that's warm and soft:/a couch,/a chair,/a sleeping loft;/I'll curl up there." Within strong black lines, the loosely composed watercolor cartoons perfectly capture the range of expressions, postures, and mischievous ways of cats. The illustrations are set against crisp white backgrounds and each page offers a diverse layout that enhances the cadence of the poem. This inextricable interplay of art and text works harmoniously to provide a delightful portrait of the capricious nature of felines. A great choice for reading aloud.-Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT" (August 1, 2005)

CONNECTIONS
*Ask the children, who have feline pets, if their cats share the same characteristics as on the one in the book.
*Read more books in the about cats such as Have You Seen My Cat? By Eric Carle, Million of Cats by Wanda Gag, Cat Count by Betsy Lewin, and the Mr. Putter & Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant (Illustrated by Arthur Howard)

Picture Books: My Friend Rabbit

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rohmann, Eric. 2002. MY FRIEND RABBIT. Brookfield, CN: Roaring Book Press/Millbrook Press. ISBN 0761324208.

*Winner of 2003 Caldecott Medal for Illustration*

PLOT SUMMARY
Mouse’s best friend Rabbit has good intentions but, no matter what, trouble always seems to find him. So when he sends Mouse’s new airplane into the branches of a tree, Rabbit comes up with a funny and unique way of retrieving it by stacking an elephant, a rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, an elk, an alligator, a bear, a duck, and a squirrel on top of each other, which in itself causes more trouble. But with all said and done, Mouse is still his friend.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
It is the wonderful illustrations in My Friend Rabbit that truly make this a comical and endearing story. Because of its double-page spread and limited text design, the illustrations take center stage. Rohmann uses a relief cut method, such as woodcutting, to create his artwork. As a result everything has strong black outlines, including the pages. The vivid colors compliment as well as balance the black outlining. The facial expressions of the Rabbit, Mouse, and the zoo animals are easily readable.

To create more dynamics and excitement, Rohmann adds special touches to his artwork. For example, the airplane will fly off the page and will reappear on the next, and because the elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus are so rotund they sometime do not fit on the page, thus a tail or paw will fall off the page. To keep the readers curious of what will happen next, the illustrations will even leave glimpses of what is next to come in the right-hand corner of the page, such as Rabbit tugging on a tail of a large gray animal that will be, once the page is turned, the elephant.

The final tactic, through the illustrations, for keeping the readers not only engaged in the story but also in the book itself, is seen at the climax when Rabbit has all of the animals stacked on top of each other and is close to reaching the tree branches and the airplane. The reader has to turn the book on end to not only read the text but also see the entire illustration.

As narrator, Mouse simply explains that,“[His] friend Rabbit means well. But whatever he does, wherever he goes, trouble follows” (Rohmann, 1-2.) Because of the concise use of text, Rohmann weaves the words into the illustrations, which encourages the readers to turn to the next page to continue the story, as well as help build up the suspense at the climatic point of the book. The story and text also comes laughably full circle. When the airplane is free from the tree, Rabbit once again finds a way not only for the airplane to be stuck in the tree but also Mouse and himself, who once again states, “Don’t worry Mouse, I’ve got an idea” (Rohmann, 30.)

Everyone can relate to the Rohmann’s story of a friendship like Mouse and Rabbit’s. At one point or another we have all had a friend, or even we were the one, that had ideas that never quite went right. The endearing message at the end of My Friend Rabbit is despite all of Rabbit’s mistakes, Mouse still sees him as a friend and even saves him from unhappy zoo animals, as he says, “But Rabbit means well. And he is my friend. Even if, whatever he does, wherever he goes, trouble follows” (Rohmann, 26-30.)

REVIEWS
BOOKLIST
"Ages 4-8. Mouse, the narrator who flies a red and yellow biplane, tells listeners that his friend Rabbit "means well," but that trouble always follows him. Then comes a smart, sassy object lesson on how much trouble Rabbit brings. The fun of this is in the spacing and sequencing of the heavily ink-outlined drawings. After Rabbit has thrown Mouse's beloved biplane into a tree, one full page consists of tiny Mouse staring up, ink accents marking his exasperation. On the facing page, Rabbit darts off, promising a solution. The next double-spread shows an anxious Mouse as Rabbit drags one enormous tail into view. The space fills with a massive elephant. Then Rabbit pulls in, among others, a rhino, a reindeer, and a duck (followed, of course, by ducklings). Now, the two-page spread must be turned vertically to reveal a giant pyramid of animals, topped by a squirrel holding Mouse, who reaches for the biplane--then the mass topples. Rage-filled beasts turn on Rabbit. Mouse, flying in on his recovered plane, saves Rabbit from their clutches and claws. Tremendous physical humor delivers a gentle lesson about accepting friends as they are. --Connie Fletcher” (May 15, 2002)

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“My friend Rabbit means well, begins the mouse narrator. But whatever he does, wherever he goes, trouble follows. Once Rabbit pitches Mouse's airplane into a tree, Rohmann tells most of the story through bold, expressive relief prints, a dramatic departure for the illustrator of The Cinder-Eyed Cats and other more painterly works. Rabbit might be a little too impulsive, but he has big ideas and plenty of energy. Rohmann pictures the pint-size, long-eared fellow recruiting an elephant, a rhinoceros and other large animals, and coaching them to stand one on top of another, like living building blocks, in order to retrieve Mouse's plane. Readers must tilt the book vertically to view the climactic spread: a tall, narrow portrait of a stack of very annoyed animals sitting on each other's backs as Rabbit holds Squirrel up toward the stuck airplane. The next spread anticipates trouble, as four duckling onlookers scurry frantically; the following scene shows the living ladder upended, with lots of flying feathers and scrabbling limbs. Somehow, in the tumult, the airplane comes free, and Mouse, aloft again, forgives his friend... even as the closing spread implies more trouble to follow. This gentle lesson in patience and loyalty, balanced on the back of a hilarious set of illustrations, will leave young readers clamoring for repeat readings. Ages 4-8.” (April 29, 2002)

CONNECTIONS
*Ask the children which animal was asleep through out the whole book, and which type of animal could Rabbit have used to reach the airplane.
*Ask the children if they had a friend like Rabbit.
*Read other books on the same subject, for example Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst (Illustrated by Ray Cruz), and How to be a Friend: A Guide to Making Friends and Keeping Them by Laurie Krasny Brown (Illustrated by Marc Brown.)
*Do an art project where the children can mimic Rohmann’s illustrations by create their own relief prints by using Styrofoam trays or plates and ink.

Picture Books: A Caldecott Celebration

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Marcus, Leonard S. 1998. A COLDECOTT CELEBRATION: SIX ARTISTS AND THEIR PATHS TO THE CALDECOTT MEDAL. New York, NY: Walker and Company. ISBN 0827865861.

PLOT SUMMARY
To mark the 60th anniversary of the prestigious Cadlecott Medal author Leonard S. Marcus highlights six, one from each decade, illustrators and past winners. Through biographical information and anecdotes on creating their books, Marcus relays the stories of Robert McCloskey, Marcia Brown, Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Wiesner of how they became and struggled as aspiring illustrators and award-winning illustrators.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
A Caldecott Celebration is wonderfully formatted and well written for all ages to read and learn about this distinguished award and the story of the artists. Marcus introduces the man behind the award, Randolph Caldecott, explains how the award came to be as well as the process of how the committee decides on a winner. Each artist story begins with the title and picture of the award-winning book, which artistic medium was used to create the illustrations, and a personal quote from the illustrator’s acceptance speech.

The greatest element of this book is the stories of the illustrators discovering their love and the struggle of illustrating. Marcus provides instances of how illustrators researched to create realistic artwork. One wonderful example of how Robert McCloskey, for his book Make Way for Ducklings, lived with sixteen ducks in order to truly capture how they acted and how “the underside of the duck’s bill looked like when the duck was in flight”, and how the thinking and developing process is a rollercoaster ride much like how Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are started out as a book about horses and was for a while marked as “ABANDON!!!” and as a “dreadful story!!” (Marcus 1998, 8, 21.) Best of all of the stories is the reactions upon hearing they were the winners. This truly shows the readers how with hard work good things can happen.

To compliment the stories of how the artists found their love of illustrating and how they were inspired to create their books, there are pictures of initial sketches and book dummies that gives the readers a wonderful glimpses of the physical processes of creating a picture book. Finally at the end, the book provides the list of all Caldecott Medal winners from 1938 to 1998 as well as a glossary of words used within the text, such as “art director,” “lithographic crayon,” and “white space.” These two final book elements allow the readers to continue looking at award-winning picture books and to explore world of the illustration process.

REVIEWS
THE HORN BOOK
"The text is remarkable for the smooth integration of explanatory material with overall commentary, and selective detail creates a sense of intimacy and understanding. The research never overpowers the narrative, but the reader knows that it is there--a firm footing for the structure it supports. A fresh, inviting examination of an established process and ritual." (v. 74 no. 6 (November/December 1998) p. 756.)

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
"While the focus is on the creation of the award-winning book, a great deal of background about the artists' lives and the way in which they work is given. . . . With an index, a glossary (lithographic crayon, pre-separated art, etc.), and a bibliography of all of the Caldecott Medal winners (though not the Honor Books), this title has just about everything readers might want. Most of all, it has such wonderful tidbits--Robert McCloskey sketching the bottom of a duck's bill from his vantage point on the floor, Maurice Sendak buying an armful of roses for Ursula Nordstrom when he won, etc. So many good stories for children and adults to enjoy." (v. 44 no. 12 (December 1998) p. 140)

CONNECTIONS
* Read more books from the Caldecott Medal winners list: Noah’s Ark (Peter Speir), The Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg), Saint George and the Dragon (Margaret Hodges), and much more!
* Do art projects using the same art mediums that the illustrators used for their books: gouache, crayon, watercolor, ink, tempera, and Conte crayons.
*Have the children create their own picture books with their own text and illustrations.
*Read other books pertaining to creating and illustrating picture books: such as the Talking with the Artist series by Pat Cummings.