2011 Caldecott Tidbits

At this time of year, I like to look at the award winners in children's literature...

A Sick Day for Amos McGee written by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin E. Stead, tells the story of a kindly zookeeper who gets sick one day and is unable to care for his beloved animals.  Instead, they all come to visit him.  What Amos thought would be a horrible day turned out to be a wonderful day.

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, by Laban Carrick Hill and illustrated by Bryan Collier, is the story of a little-known African-American artisan.  Told in a rhythmic, rhyming text, the story shows Dave's triumph over adversity in the face of bigoted oppression. 

Interrupting Chicken, written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein, is a humorous book about Little Red Chicken and her Papa.  Papa wants to read a bedtime story, but Little Chicken always interrupts. (Sound familiar to anyone?)  Papa comes up with a brilliant idea to have Little Red Chicken write her own story with hilarious results. 

These three books show the diversity in children's literature today, but also a growing trend to help children accept other people's differences and to care about other people's needs.