1980s Caldecott Winners
1980
Hall, Donald. Ox Cart Man illus. Barbara Cooney. New York: Viking Press, 1979.
This is a wonderful book about the time of the pioneers—when extra goods/ supplies were sold once a year at market. The beautiful pictures are done in acrylics on gesso-coated board and are full of detail that tells the story without having to read the words.
1981
Lobel, Arnold. Fables Boston: Harper and Row, 1980.
This collection of 20 original fables contains illustrations of gouache and pencil framed on opposite pages. These pictures seem to show only one part of the story, but if you look closely, your imagination can fill in the end of the story. For example, the picture for "The Ducks and the Fox" shows the fox sitting on a wall and the ducks talking to him. Because of the look on the fox’s face, you can tell he is a normal fox contemplating duck for dinner.
1982
Van Allsburg, Chris. Jumanji New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1981.
Popularized by the recent movie starring Robin Williams, this story first comes to us in a book illustrated with conte pencil with conte dust, a medium that looks like charcoal drawings of sculptures in very clear 3-D with interesting perspectives. The book is different from the movie in that there is no generational game, only Judy and Peter. More things show up in the book than the movie, like a volcano eruption. All of the action takes place within the house, and they return the game to the park where they found it. Two neighbor boys who never read the directions pick up the game at the end, continuing the cycle.
1983
Cendras, Blaise. Shadow trans. & illus. Marcia Brown. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.
This translation of "La Feticheuse" from Petits Contes Negres pour les Enfants des Blancs contains a forward by the illustrator about what place Shadow holds in African tradition. The pictures all contain a lot of darkness in collage of paper, woodcuts and acrylics. Most of the pictures are double—the item and its shadow.
1984
Provensen, Alice and Martin. The Glorious Flight New York: Viking Press, 1983.
Acrylic and pen and ink help tell this story of Louis Bleriot, the first man to fly over the English Channel. The cover is designed as a newspaper covering the story, and many of the pictures look like paintings of photograph sittings for the paper. This is a good book to use in a history class for older elementary children.
1985
Hodges, Margaret. Saint George and the Dragon illus. Trina Schart Hyman. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984.
Hodges retells the story from Spenser’s Faerie Queen in which George slays the dragon that has been terrorizing the area for years. The pictures are India ink and acrylic and surrounded by borders. On the picture pages, it is like looking through a window—the border is drawn in, but the main picture extends into the borders. On the text pages, the text is within the center of the borders, which are full of flowery images. In the small border pictures on the text pages are stories of travels across a sea of dangers, the story of George.
1986
Van Allsburg, Chris. The Polar Express Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985.
Four years after winning the Caldecott for Jumanji, Van Allsburg is back with full-color oil pastel on pastel paper for his paintings in this lovely Christmas story that reaffirms the magic of believing in Christmas. The story takes place in the middle of the night, but the darkness of the pictures is soft and inviting, not at all frightening. All of the detail of the pictures is in the foreground, and the background of the pictures is blurry, but in a way which allows the imagination to take over. The perspectives are somewhat tilted in many of the pictures, but this just reinforces the magical qualities of the Christmas Train.
1987
Yorinks, Arthur. Hey, Al illus. Richard Egielski. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1986.
These very detailed, carefully drawn watercolor pictures tell a story of a janitor longing for something more. The color in the pictures is designed to capture the feeling of the story. The apartment Al lives in is always a dull brown color; he wears dull clothes. The bird from paradise is colorful, as is all of the island in the sky. When Al returns with his dog Eddie to the West Side, he wears a bright Hawaiian shirt, and is painting his brown apartment yellow—adding a little color to an otherwise dull life.
1988
Yolen, Jane. Owl Moon illus. John Schoenherr. New York: Philomel Books, 1987.
This is a great story of a child spending time with his or her father as they go out at night to find an owl. The pictures of pencil and watercolor capture both the words’ action and the feeling of a moonlit winter night in the country near the woods. I like how the child narrator is only identified by the personal pronouns—even the pictures don’t tell whether the child is a boy or a girl, so it becomes the reader. Although it takes place outdoors in the winter, the story and pictures are curiously warm and comfortable.
1989
Ackerman, Karen. Song and Dance Man illus. Stephen Gammell. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.
The colored pencil drawings in the book are very colorful—even the background on the floors and walls is colorful. The many colors in the pictures are great for the colorful story of a vaudeville song and dance man, especially when the colors seem to flow from Grandpa. The story is also uplifting, a story about a relationship between children and their grandfather with which I can identify.
Hall, Donald. Ox Cart Man illus. Barbara Cooney. New York: Viking Press, 1979.
This is a wonderful book about the time of the pioneers—when extra goods/ supplies were sold once a year at market. The beautiful pictures are done in acrylics on gesso-coated board and are full of detail that tells the story without having to read the words.
1981
Lobel, Arnold. Fables Boston: Harper and Row, 1980.
This collection of 20 original fables contains illustrations of gouache and pencil framed on opposite pages. These pictures seem to show only one part of the story, but if you look closely, your imagination can fill in the end of the story. For example, the picture for "The Ducks and the Fox" shows the fox sitting on a wall and the ducks talking to him. Because of the look on the fox’s face, you can tell he is a normal fox contemplating duck for dinner.
1982
Van Allsburg, Chris. Jumanji New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1981.
Popularized by the recent movie starring Robin Williams, this story first comes to us in a book illustrated with conte pencil with conte dust, a medium that looks like charcoal drawings of sculptures in very clear 3-D with interesting perspectives. The book is different from the movie in that there is no generational game, only Judy and Peter. More things show up in the book than the movie, like a volcano eruption. All of the action takes place within the house, and they return the game to the park where they found it. Two neighbor boys who never read the directions pick up the game at the end, continuing the cycle.
1983
Cendras, Blaise. Shadow trans. & illus. Marcia Brown. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.
This translation of "La Feticheuse" from Petits Contes Negres pour les Enfants des Blancs contains a forward by the illustrator about what place Shadow holds in African tradition. The pictures all contain a lot of darkness in collage of paper, woodcuts and acrylics. Most of the pictures are double—the item and its shadow.
1984
Provensen, Alice and Martin. The Glorious Flight New York: Viking Press, 1983.
Acrylic and pen and ink help tell this story of Louis Bleriot, the first man to fly over the English Channel. The cover is designed as a newspaper covering the story, and many of the pictures look like paintings of photograph sittings for the paper. This is a good book to use in a history class for older elementary children.
1985
Hodges, Margaret. Saint George and the Dragon illus. Trina Schart Hyman. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984.
Hodges retells the story from Spenser’s Faerie Queen in which George slays the dragon that has been terrorizing the area for years. The pictures are India ink and acrylic and surrounded by borders. On the picture pages, it is like looking through a window—the border is drawn in, but the main picture extends into the borders. On the text pages, the text is within the center of the borders, which are full of flowery images. In the small border pictures on the text pages are stories of travels across a sea of dangers, the story of George.
1986
Van Allsburg, Chris. The Polar Express Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985.
Four years after winning the Caldecott for Jumanji, Van Allsburg is back with full-color oil pastel on pastel paper for his paintings in this lovely Christmas story that reaffirms the magic of believing in Christmas. The story takes place in the middle of the night, but the darkness of the pictures is soft and inviting, not at all frightening. All of the detail of the pictures is in the foreground, and the background of the pictures is blurry, but in a way which allows the imagination to take over. The perspectives are somewhat tilted in many of the pictures, but this just reinforces the magical qualities of the Christmas Train.
1987
Yorinks, Arthur. Hey, Al illus. Richard Egielski. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1986.
These very detailed, carefully drawn watercolor pictures tell a story of a janitor longing for something more. The color in the pictures is designed to capture the feeling of the story. The apartment Al lives in is always a dull brown color; he wears dull clothes. The bird from paradise is colorful, as is all of the island in the sky. When Al returns with his dog Eddie to the West Side, he wears a bright Hawaiian shirt, and is painting his brown apartment yellow—adding a little color to an otherwise dull life.
1988
Yolen, Jane. Owl Moon illus. John Schoenherr. New York: Philomel Books, 1987.
This is a great story of a child spending time with his or her father as they go out at night to find an owl. The pictures of pencil and watercolor capture both the words’ action and the feeling of a moonlit winter night in the country near the woods. I like how the child narrator is only identified by the personal pronouns—even the pictures don’t tell whether the child is a boy or a girl, so it becomes the reader. Although it takes place outdoors in the winter, the story and pictures are curiously warm and comfortable.
1989
Ackerman, Karen. Song and Dance Man illus. Stephen Gammell. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.
The colored pencil drawings in the book are very colorful—even the background on the floors and walls is colorful. The many colors in the pictures are great for the colorful story of a vaudeville song and dance man, especially when the colors seem to flow from Grandpa. The story is also uplifting, a story about a relationship between children and their grandfather with which I can identify.
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