Provo City Library’s 2019 Mock Caldecott
This past week Provo City Library held a Mock Caldecott. We looked at 45 different books that had amazing illustrations. After multiple rounds of voting, we picked one winner and two honor books:
Drawn Together
by Minh Lê
illustrated by Dan Santat
This brilliant picture book is the story of a young boy who is dropped off to spend time with his grandfather—only his grandfather only speaks Thai and the young boy doesn’t. There is a lot of awkwardness and silence as the two sit together. When the boy gets bored and pulls out some paper and markers, the grandfather also gets excited and pulls out his sketch book and ink and brush. Then suddenly, through the use of art, the two are able to finally understand each other and build a bond. The brilliant traditional Thai artwork the grandfather draws alongside the brightly colored illustrations the boy produces are very distinct at first and then slowly they begin to influence each other. Our committee thought the melding of these two styles was especially “distinguished” and something that won our hearts. We also liked how when the two characters couldn’t really understand each other they were a lot of graphic novel-like boxes that chopped up the story. Then when the two start drawing together each illustration took up the whole spread. Really, this was one brilliantly illustrated book.
The Wall in the Middle of the Book
by Jon Agee
The clever idea behind this book sure captured a lot of attention at our Mock Caldecott. The simplicity of the wall in the middle of the book’s gutter was stable, yet our ideas as to what each side of the wall represented changed as the story progressed. The expressiveness of the various animals, the knight, and the ogre all capture the imagination and propel the story toward the climax. Our committee truly enjoyed looking at and talking about this book.
Hello Lighthouse
by Sophie Blackall
What a beautiful book! This story of a lighthouse keeper is enchanting. The use of circles—and circular feelings like the circular motion of waves—help the book have a duel feeling of motion and coziness. The colors and even the unusual size of the book add to the important feeling of the lighthouse and what it represented—both as a beacon of light and a lonely, isolated place to live. Truly this book has outstanding illustrations and we know our committee sure loved it.
This past week Provo City Library held a Mock Caldecott. We looked at 45 different books that had amazing illustrations. After multiple rounds of voting, we picked one winner and two honor books:
Drawn Together
by Minh Lê
illustrated by Dan Santat
This brilliant picture book is the story of a young boy who is dropped off to spend time with his grandfather—only his grandfather only speaks Thai and the young boy doesn’t. There is a lot of awkwardness and silence as the two sit together. When the boy gets bored and pulls out some paper and markers, the grandfather also gets excited and pulls out his sketch book and ink and brush. Then suddenly, through the use of art, the two are able to finally understand each other and build a bond. The brilliant traditional Thai artwork the grandfather draws alongside the brightly colored illustrations the boy produces are very distinct at first and then slowly they begin to influence each other. Our committee thought the melding of these two styles was especially “distinguished” and something that won our hearts. We also liked how when the two characters couldn’t really understand each other they were a lot of graphic novel-like boxes that chopped up the story. Then when the two start drawing together each illustration took up the whole spread. Really, this was one brilliantly illustrated book.
The Wall in the Middle of the Book
by Jon Agee
The clever idea behind this book sure captured a lot of attention at our Mock Caldecott. The simplicity of the wall in the middle of the book’s gutter was stable, yet our ideas as to what each side of the wall represented changed as the story progressed. The expressiveness of the various animals, the knight, and the ogre all capture the imagination and propel the story toward the climax. Our committee truly enjoyed looking at and talking about this book.
Hello Lighthouse
by Sophie Blackall
What a beautiful book! This story of a lighthouse keeper is enchanting. The use of circles—and circular feelings like the circular motion of waves—help the book have a duel feeling of motion and coziness. The colors and even the unusual size of the book add to the important feeling of the lighthouse and what it represented—both as a beacon of light and a lonely, isolated place to live. Truly this book has outstanding illustrations and we know our committee sure loved it.
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