ooh the pretty pictures!

In this post, I'd like to share my thoughts on some Caldecott Medal winners and honors

1.       Seuss, Dr. (1947). McElligot’s Pool. NewYork, NY: Random House

Marco’s imagination comes to life once again in McElligot’s Pool.  While Marco is fishing in a very small pond, a farmer stops to let him know that it’s just a small trash filled pool and that he’s foolish to think there would be any fish in there.  Marco disagrees.  He unleashes his imagination, and lets the farmer know just what amazing things could be there!

One theme that could describe this story is: Don’t let others try to suppress your imagination.  Even though Marco is told he’s foolish, he uses the power of his imagination to sway the farmer to seeing his point of view.  Dr. Seuss’s fanciful illustrations re-imagine some fish, while inventing all new ones.  It’s one of my favorites and can be enjoyed by anyone, whether your imagination is developing or going full throttle.

1.       

Allsburg, C.V. (1981). Jumanji. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin

Left alone for the afternoon, siblings Judy and Peter are initially quite excited! Then boredom hits like a ton of bricks.  After they decide to go to the park across the street, Judy and Peter find a discarded game. Strangely, attached to the game the handwritten warning “Free game, fun for some but not for all. P.S. Read instructions carefully”.  The game is called Jumanji.  They soon discover more excitement they bargained for!

        Jumanji is full of amazing adventure and gripping artwork.  The art in the book is drawn from many interesting points of view, not always giving you a complete picture.  Yet in doing so, manage to convey more of the mood for it.  The situation the children in the book face in the beginning is something most kids can relate to: boredom.  When that boredom hits, the imagination springs to life.  With Jumanji though, it’s a bit of a mystery.  Was it all the kid’s imagination?  Or was it real?