A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION: SIX ARTISTS AND THEIR PATHS TO THE CALDECOTT MEDAL by: Leonard S. Marcus

Bibliography
Marcus, Leonard S. 1998. A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION: SIX ARTISTS AND THEIR PATHS TO THE CALDECOTT MEDAL. New York, NY: Walker and Company. ISBN 0802786588.

Plot Summary
Leonard Marcus begins this book by giving a brief history of the Caldecott Medal, and then delves into a brief story about six winners of the prestigious medal (one per decade). The six winners included are Robert McCloskey, Marcia Brown, Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Chris Van Allburg, and David Wiesner. Marcus takes the reader through each winners background and the journey of the creation of their award winning books. Each selection highlights a different perspective of illustration and style.

Critical Analysis
Marcus uses a simple story type narrative to reveal biographical information regarding the winners and their path to the medal. In his descriptions, he tells how each author created their award winning book. He includes interesting sidelines (i.e. Marcia Brown's reasons for choosing the Perault version of Cinderella over the Brothers Grimm version and how Robert McCloskey purchased ducks as pets, letting them roam around his aprtment so he could sketch them) and thumbnails and storyboards of early sketches.

It was interesting to note the different styles of illustration that each winner used including Maurice Sendak's dummy books and how he colored all the same color throughout the book at one time to keep from having different colors on different pages and how Chris Van Alssburg used differing vantage points to lend detail to his stories. Overall, Marcus createde a book "illustrating" illustrators creations in a way that is interesting for young and old alike.

Review Excerpts
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "So many good stories for children and adults to enjoy."
Starred review in BOOKLIST: "A beautifully made book"
THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS: "Eminently Satisfying."

Connections
*This book could be a way of introducing the Caldecott Medal to students and the work that went into creating award winning books.
*Art teachers could use this book to show the different styles of illustration.
*Teachers could use this book to talk about author/illustrators and help students create their own books.
*Other books for children about illustrators:
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. ARTIST TO ARTIST: 23 MAJOR ILLUSTRATORS TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT THEIR ART. ISBN 0399246002.
Evans, Dilys. SHOW AND TELL: EXPLORING THE FINE ART OF CHILDREN'S BOOK ILLUSTRATION. ISBN 0811849716.
Marcus, Leonard. A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION: SEVEN ARTISTS AND THEIR PATHS TO THE CALDECOTT MEDAL. ISBN 0802797032.