[LM_NET] HIT: Teaching Book Illustration/Caldecotts

[Toni Buzzeo <tonibuzzeo@TONIBUZZEO.COM>]

ORIGINAL TARGET: I'm working on an article about 
teaching book illustration through the Caldecott 
award and honor books.  What lessons have you 
used or projects have you done?  I'd love to have your ideas!

Thanks so much for all of your responses.  Here they are! Toni

RESPONSES:

We have developed a whole unit/kit featuring the 
art "media/medium" of the Caldecott.  To see the 
contents look 
here: 
http://www.mrsd.org/~library/resourcekits.htm#cald 
We develop a set of posters (original artwork) 
that show an art media and then a tree done in 
that media and a color photocopy of artwork from 
a Caldecott winning book done in that specfic 
media.  At the end of the unit we have a 
worksheet with 4 trees that students can use 
different media to color/decorate.

***

One of my favorite activities to go along with 
either Drummer Hoff or A Story, A Story, which 
both have woodcut illustrations (as do several 
other Caldecotts) was to obtain styrofoam meat 
trays ( I know, not the most earth-friendly 
material these days but perhaps groceries or 
coops have other inexpensive usable 
alternatives), trim off the curved edges and have 
students create a picture they etch in with a 
(not too sharp) pencil point. By the way, this is 
a good opportunity for collaboration with 
building art teachers! Either purchase a small 
printer brayer and printing ink (or borrow from 
said art teacher), use a plexiglass sheet or 
cutting board to roll out the ink evenly , then 
roll out the ink on the "ecthed" piece and press 
the piece onto a sheet of newsprint-Voila!!! You 
may want to dissuade younger students from using 
text on their etchings as they have to be etched 
in mirror image, but older students can handle 
it. It's a great way to show kids how complex and 
detailed these types of illustrations can be.

I think Snowflake Bentley and Once a Mouse might 
be only 2 other Caldecott winners in woodcut. 
There are 3 Caldecott Honors in woodcut: Song of 
the Water Boatman, Tom Tit Tot and House that Jack Built (Frasconi).

Am also sending this link you may find 
informative and fun to read on Caldecott illustrations:

http://www.tr.k12.in.us/trh01/zachk/caldecott_winners.htm

***

I do a Caldecott unit each year with my first and 
second grade students. The idea is not original. 
I think I got it from one of Judy Freeman's books.

Between the lesson intro, the read-aloud and book 
selection, not to mention the next class ready to 
come in, I don't have time for projects. I 
usually start the unit in January and I explain 
about how winners at the Olympics receive medals 
and I make the analogy that books receive medals 
also. I show them books with various award 
medals: Newbery, Prinz, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Siebert, etc.

I also discuss the criteria (on an elementary 
level) for selecting the winner but I emphasize 
that there isn't any "correct" illustration style 
and that it is individual, like their signature or name.

Each week I select a different illustrative 
style. The books for the first and second grade 
are different and I discuss how the illustrator 
creates the illustration or how the illustration 
is telling the story. Some of the techniques I am 
able to demonstrate, keeping in mind that I am 
not at all artistic. For example, I have blocks 
of wood and chisels to show them how Mary Azarian 
created _Snowflake Bentley_ and I have pre-cut 
out figures from the craft store to show how 
David Wiesnewski used cut paper collage in 
_Golem_. I try to give them a variety of styles 
and I usually do some research into the 
background of the illustrator. They are 
interested to learn that Sims  Taback designed 
the very first Happy Meal for McDonald's.

I usually do the "show and tell" for about 6 
weeks and then I divide them up into Ancillae 
Caldecott nominating committees. I tell them that 
we are going to nominate some books and then 
eventually they will vote on the winner. Each 
table has 3 or 4 books to select from. As a group 
they need to unanimously nominate the book they 
think should win our award. I reserve the right 
to be tie-breaker for any tables with recalcitrant students.

Each table has some ringers in them...books that 
have won the Caldecott but don't have the medals 
on the cover (or have their covers removed) or 
other books by some of the illustrators that we 
have read. Not all the titles they have to select 
from are Caldecott winners, but they all have to 
be something that I would be interested in 
reading aloud if the students should nominate them.

Once the students have nominated their titles I 
will read each one of them aloud in the following 
weeks. I ask each committee to give the reasons 
why they selected the book they nominated. After 
all the books have been read we have a blind 
vote. Each student is given 3 colored tickets: 
one for their most favorite book, the next most 
favorite and the one they think should be third 
place. I put brown paper lunch bags next to the 
books and the students put their tickets in the 
appropriate bag. We count up the number of first 
place books and runners up and I have ribbons to 
place on the books for them to be displayed during the week.

It always interesting to hear the conversations 
and sometimes to see if they vote for the same 
books that the real Caldecott Committee 
nominated.  In cases where some of their 
nominations have not been Caldecott winners and 
others have been, they don't always vote the same 
way the real committee has voted.

This year one of their selections to pick from 
was _The House in the Night_ and I overheard a 
perceptive first grader talk about how the three 
colors are just like the three colors in 
_Olivia_.  I will always remember the boy several 
years ago who would not agree with the nomination 
choice of his table. He wanted Wiesner's _Three 
Pigs_ which had won that year, but they didn't 
know that. He wouldn't budge and neither would 
they, so that is where my tie-breaker comes in. I 
selected that as my nomination. I couldn't tell 
him that he had selected the winner until we were 
finished with the unit. And believe it or  not, 
that was the class winner that year.

All in all, it is a fun unit for both me and the 
students and they look forward to Vote Day. I do 
this with 2 1st grade classes and 2 2nd grade 
classes and many times the students in each grade 
will pick the same books and the same winners, so 
I guess there must be something in the 
illustrations (or the story, no matter how I 
emphasize that we are responding to the illustrations) that they like.

Some of the titles that I've used are: _Snowflake 
Bentley_  woodcuts _Smokey Night_ collage _Golem_ 
cut paper illustration _Make Way for 
Ducklings_  I can't remember the technique but I 
put it in there because it was one of the first 
books to win and shows that not everything has to 
e in color and also as an example of a "long ago" 
book that was a winner _The Dinosaurs of 
Waterhouse Hawkins_  for scale and how it is used 
to evoke emotions in the story and the contrast 
between the sepia pages and the subsequent color 
pages _Joseph Had a Little Overcoat_ die-cuts. I 
also do a comparison read with Gillman's 
_Something from Nothing_ to show how the story is 
essentially the same but the illustrator's vision 
and technique make it different, not better. 
_Tops and Bottoms_ to show how orientation of the 
pages is used to illustrate the title and concept 
All of Wiesner's books to show how you don't need words to tell a story.

There a few more that I can't recall off the top 
of my head. I'd have to check my plan book for 
the others. I don't do any Van Allsburg with them 
because that is reserved for 4th grade.

If you need any other info I'd be happy to 
provide it. Please let us know when the article 
will be published. I am always on the lookout for new ideas or titles to use.

***

I used the Caldecotts last year right after Hugo 
won.  I was doing a year-long "Genre of the 
Month" program in my school library (grades 
3-5.)  I included picture books as a genre 
because I was so excited about Hugo and I knew my 
kids would love it.  I basically had the students 
c/c the illustrations in the last 5 books that 
won.  We started by looking at Hugo.  I had a kid 
hold Hugo open and them I showed them Flotsom and 
we talked about it.  Leaving Flotsam and Hugo 
displayed (kids holding them open) we went on (or 
back, actually) to Hello Goodbye Window.  You get 
the idea.  I have an art background so I used art 
vocab to describe the style, media used, 
etc.  Each lesson was rather organic because I 
wanted to get the kid's points of view.  I have 
to say they really enjoyed it.  I pulled all of 
the Caldecotts and had them available on a table 
next to a poster of all of the winners and the 
years they won.  It was fun for them to find the 
book that won the year they were born.  Then I 
asked the teachers to tell what won the year they 
were born!  It was funny.  I confessed to mine, 
of course. It would be interesting to pull a book 
from each decade and do the same lesson.  Maybe I'll do that next time.

***

I do the project with 1st and 2nd graders, same 
books. They vote for "2" (secret ballot), I tally 
and top vote getter is the Medal, 2nd the Honor. 
I use the Randolph Caldecott nursery rhyme books 
first, then assorted Medal/Honor books. I have an 
"artist pallette" with 
pencil/pen/marker/paintbrush/etc. I always send a 
letter and a copy of the "certificate" to the 
illustrators and have received some special replies.

***

I have a former student who lives in Brazil and 
is taking a course at the University of São Paulo 
in Children´s Literature and Arts, and focusing 
on Children´s Literature from the point of view 
of an Artist.  This is not just on the Caldecotts, however.

***

I have done a couple different lessons. With 
Kitten's First Full Moon I have had the students 
(k-2) draw a picture using only black, white, and 
gray.  I have also had them compare this book 
with Henkes other books - Chrysanthemum or Owen.

With The Very Hungry Caterpillar we compare his 
other books.  I had one student recognize his 
style when I read some of the poems in Eric 
Carle's Animals and go find another Carle book on 
the shelves (3rd or 4th grade).  I have also cut 
out circles (about 3") and given the students 
circles and a 9"x4" piece of white construction 
paper and had them make their own 
caterpillars.  We have also watched the video on 
his website.  Scholastic included a video of Eric 
Carle in their preview DVD, with other authors 
and illustrators, for this spring's book fair previews.

The other book I use is Why Did the Chicken Cross 
the Road?  I have pulled books by the various 
artists and handed them out to the students.  I 
have small classes so most of the time everyone 
gets a book.  Then as I read the pages I have 
them figure out if the book they are holding 
matched the pictures of the one I am reading.

***

I do this very informally with my first graders. 
I concentrate through the year on the Caldecott 
awards and we look very closely at the 
illustrations and talk about them in detail. By 
the end of the year they can tell a Pinkney from 
a McCloskey and a Cooney from a Van Allsburg and 
explain what makes them different. We do a lot of 
traditional literature Caldecott's too. The 
illustrators this year were McCloskey, Van 
Allsburg, Cooney, Hyman, Brett, Young, Jerry and 
Brian Pinkney, Goble, and Zemach, I think there 
were a couple of more, but I am missing them right now.

A number of years ago I also taught a unit with 
my art teacher for 7th graders on the art of the 
picture book. We taught all the elements of 
design using picture books, not all Caldecotts, tho.

***

Your subject sounds fabulous; I can't wait to 
hear what you do collect.  Unfortunately, from me 
you will receive very little to contribute for 
two very important reasons.  Number one, I only 
see my kiddos 30 minutes at a time every ten 
days.  We are talking 9 entire hours throughout 
the school year to "teach" library.  Number two, 
I would love to do this in collaboration with the 
art department, but I do not have time in my 
schedule, much less do they, to schedule time to 
plan or create such a set of lessons.

I am the "Great Provider of Planning Time."  I do 
not feel accepted as a part of the "teaching" 
staff. . . yet.  I will show them the error of 
their ways, but I am a relative newbie to the 
staff and profession, so it will take some 
time.  My principal is already realizing he 
cannot take me for granted and expect me just to 
sit and read nice stories to the kiddos.

With that said, what I have done is run off a 
modified version of the Caldecott Award criteria, 
understandable for the different age group 
classes I have, and little laminated Caldecott 
Medals.  Students then look at the Caldecott 
Award medalists displayed and do their own 
evaluation as to which they think are worthy of 
the award.  I have refinements in mind.
1)  Limit the number of books each student 
evaluates instead of the whole range.
2)  Include some that weren't awarded medals and 
ask (older kiddos) what they felt determined the winners from the non-winners.
3)  Currently I do create a display from the 
earliest winners to the present day.

Again, with the limited time I see my classes, 
in-depth and extensive lessons are a dream.

***

I used to in elementary school but no longer...we 
read the books and identified the type of art and 
then looked for more examples.  I had some 
students who read their way through all of the 
Caldecotts.  I use to use the website that has info about it...
http://www.nc3r.org/jlbocessls/caldecot.htm

***

The Art Institute of Chicago is holding a 
workshop that might be of interest to you: 
http://www.artic.edu/aic/calendar/event?EventID=6032&ProgramCategory=4 
I'm attending the workshop and can let share with 
you, if you are interested.  I plan on doing this 
with students this coming year.

***

I teach a unit on Caldecott winners to my second 
graders.  I read about 3 or 4 books to them.  I 
try to pick books with very different 
illustrations.  And then we discuss the 
artwork.  Lon Po Po is a great book to discuss 
with the art panels.  They also really enjoyed 
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, Smoky 
Night and Rapunzel.  I then pull all my Caldecott 
winners off the shelves, put them in piles on 
tables, and I let the kids look through the books 
and fill out a sheet with information about the 
books, such as the name, the illustrator, why do 
they think the book won the Caldecott, etc. I 
display a Caldecott poster in the room and I have 
them also go find the year that their book won 
the Caldecott.  I then end the unit by having the 
students each pick a Caldecott winning book, 
write down the title, and then create their own 
original cover.  This unit was a big hit.  Hope this helps.

***

I did a mock Caldecott for a few years with my 
media classes (8th grade).  I collected as many 
books suggested on numerous mock Caldecott lists 
(did this in early January)  and had my students 
rate them. I gave them the Caldecott criteria and 
they rated it in two categories, one for the 
illustrations and one for overall story.  One of 
the things they needed to determine was the 
method of illustration, which wasn't always easy 
for them.  It was interesting to see the 
frequency of the method being mentioned on the 
verso, sometimes on a back page, and often not at 
all.  Sometimes they compared known methods to 
the ones in a book where it wasn't listed, or 
they couldn't immediately determine.

My initial goal was for them to also use a 
spreadsheet to determine an average score (I 
created it on a template for them to download), 
but that didn't always get done.   However, I did 
feel like they had a new appreciation for the 
various types of illustrations, and they enjoyed 
the lesson.  Plus, since my district has 
eliminated art for all middle schools, it's 
important that our students get some 
opportunities that are art-related. I think that 
2 out of the three years we did this, we had used 
the eventual Caldecott winner, but it wasn't 
necessarily one my kids picked as the best.

During a Caldecott discussion on another list, 
someone suggested the book Show & 
tell:  exploring the fine art of children's book 
illustration by Dilys Evans, which our public 
library had.  That helped me a little bit and has 
lots of examples, some of which I shared with my students.

***

I would love to read your article when you are 
done. I work at a high school and have purchased 
a small collection (and growing) of children's 
picture books. They a have gotten a fair amount 
of use (for parenting and psychology classes.) 
The purchases started with a collection of 
Caldecott award and honor books that I purchased 
from the Scholastic instructional catalog with my 
credits that I earned from my book fair. When I 
got them, I immediately sent a note to the art 
teachers about them, because even the small 
number I received were so varied in media and 
technique, that I thought they might be a great 
inspiration for some of our students. I didn't 
receive a response from our art teacher, but I'd 
love to be able to follow up with an article.  I 
still think it's a great idea--the sheer range of techniques is amazing!

Also, I'm not sure it helps, but one of the 
things that even made me think of this was an 
article awhile back in Book Links that discussed 
picture books by media. Maybe it was you who 
wrote that article? I can't remember too much 
about it at this point, and I don't know for whom 
you are writing the article. Hard to say if it 
would be better to read the Book Links article 
after you've written your own!  The info is below 
from the Book Links online index search:

"Classic Caldecotts by Decade" Book Links 07/2006

This article examines six Caldecott-winning 
books, one from each decade from 1930-1980, to 
illuminate how the artists' techniques, mediums, 
and compositions play a part in their picture 
books and inspire classroom discussion of how 
illustrations help to convey stories.


Toni Buzzeo, MA, MLIS <mailto:tonibuzzeo@tonibuzzeo.com>
Maine Library Media Specialist of the Year Emerita
Buxton, ME 04093
http://www.tonibuzzeo.com
Adventure Annie Goes to Work , illustrated by Amy 
Wummer (Dial 2009) BRAND NEW!  

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